Do you need to pick flowers from potatoes during flowering to increase yields?
There is no unequivocal answer to the question whether it is necessary to pick flowers from potatoes. Some believe that this will lead to disruption of plant development. The opinion of others is that the plant spends a lot of energy and nutrients on flowers. Therefore, they only interfere with the development of tubers. It is necessary to understand in detail each of these opinions.
Flowering period
Productivity of any kind potatoes are not associated with flowering... Breeders are breeding all new varieties that do not even bloom. In this case, the need to pick flowers from potatoes completely disappears. The plant does not spend energy on the formation of buds. Their tubers are formed even before flowering. This further reduces the risk of common infections and avoids pest attacks.
Flowering is fast in some potato varieties. The flowers are very small. Sometimes you can even overlook this period. There are varieties of potatoes that may or may not bloom. So, in dry weather, potatoes do not bloom, but in rainy season they may appear.
The flowering period may not come due to improper care of the vegetable beds. Insufficient light penetration, overfeeding with fertilizers (especially nitrogen), too abundant watering, poor soil. Pests can eat flower ovaries.
Should you pick flowers from potatoes? Many agronomists believe that it is not worth interfering with the flowering period. You can simply help the potatoes grow by adding organic or mineral fertilizers to the soil. During the emergence of buds, it is useful to feed with wood ash; during their blooming, chicken droppings are useful.
During the period of inflorescence formation, it is important to observe the watering regime. If there is no precipitation, then one bush should take at least three liters of water. It is better to water in the morning or evening hours. The next day, you need to loosen and huddle the earth.
All these measures will be enough to save yourself from the painfully long procedure of cutting flowers. Cut bushes have an increased risk of infection. The injured bush will either hurt or form even more buds. And the nutrient components for growth will again be spent on their development.
New inflorescences will not appear if already pollinated flowers are torn off. But in this case, the procedure will not make sense, since by this time they already have time to absorb the necessary nutritional components.
Should I pick flowers from potatoes?
The potato is a flowering vegetable. During the flowering period, tubers are actively formed. It is believed that if you pick flowers from a potato, then one of the development cycles of the plant drops out.Next year, the potatoes will be smaller and will soon degenerate completely.
Scientists conducted an experiment that was to observe the growth and development of a plant. In a part of the potato, all inflorescences were left unchanged, in the second studied group of vegetable crops they were plucked and in the third part, the top with flowers was cut off completely.
At the end of the growing season, a comparison of the harvested crop was made. A small number of tubers formed in potatoes with flowers, but they were all large. A large crop was harvested from the second part of the plants, but the tubers were of different sizes and mostly medium-sized. The third study group of plants formed about 30 small potatoes.
In this case, the experiment showed that it is better not to make changes in development. Potatoes do not need flowers, since they do not play a role in the formation of tubers. But injury occurs, and the plant devotes a lot of energy and time to recovery. If it becomes necessary to remove flowers from potatoes, it is better to pick only the buds. Shoots should not be cut, otherwise there will be a large harvest, but small.
The variety will determine whether the flowers can be plucked. There are varieties of potatoes that do not form inflorescences at all or form them in small quantities. In this case, you shouldn't touch them at all. The life cycle will be disrupted and the plant may die. In addition to the variety, whether it is necessary to pick flowers from potatoes during flowering depends on the composition of the soil and weather conditions.
In places where the climate is arid, pollen is usually sterile, seeds do not form, ovaries are poorly formed and this does not affect the development of underground shoots. Therefore, the cutting process will lead to unnecessary damage to the bushes. Abundant rains provide adequate nutrition to all parts of the potato bush. Therefore, in this case, there is no significant benefit from such a procedure.
Why not carry out a similar procedure? Plucking flowers is bad for plant development. After the procedure for cutting off the inflorescences, potato bushes spend energy on recovery, and not on the formation of tubers. The crop begins to ripen later and the risk of infection increases.
Plucking flowers will not do without trampling the earth between the beds. The soil becomes dense and the development of tubers becomes slow. Hilling due to the large size of the bushes becomes impossible. Hilling at earlier stages of plant development is carried out in order to remove excess moisture and better warming up the soil.
Why pick flowers from potatoes?
Whether or not to pick flowers depends on many factors. The decision is made by the grower himself, taking into account the weather conditions, the variety of potatoes, the purpose of the harvested crop.
The advantage of removing flowers is the formation of a large number of medium to small potatoes. But not all potato varieties respond to cutting buds and flowers with increased yields.
Whether it is necessary to cut flowers from potatoes is influenced by the further purpose of the tubers. You cannot pick flowers from potatoes that are grown for planting a vegetable crop for the next year. In the future, the worst harvest will be obtained, with small potatoes. Experts recommend planting potatoes separately for growing seed and separately for eating. The buds are cut from the part of the vegetable crop that is grown for human consumption.
All nutrients that enter the plant are evenly distributed throughout all its parts. During flowering, a lot of energy is spent on the development of inflorescences, in which seeds will ripen in the future.Vegetable growers do not see any benefit in them, since they take up about 30% of all nutrients.
There are a number of reasons why some vegetable growers pluck buds and inflorescences:
- It is believed that this procedure is good for the tubers. For a long time, inflorescences have been cut off in potatoes to increase yields, form large fruits and rapid growth of tubers.
- The effectiveness of cutting off buds and flowers depends largely on the variety planted.
- If the flowers are not cut off, then they, together with the buds and leaves, will take about 50% of the nutrients for their development. Because of this, the starch content in the tubers will decrease, and such potatoes will be unsuitable for further sowing.
- If the soil is poor, dense, then it is still recommended to remove the flowers so that more nutrients penetrate into the underground part of the plant.
- If the potatoes were planted late, then it makes sense to cut the flowers. This will increase the yield.
As a result, if the potatoes being grown are intended to produce seeds, then picking the flowers is not worth it. If it is grown for the purpose of human consumption, then the flowers must be picked.
Procedure rules
After cutting off the flowers, you need to be prepared for the fact that side shoots will begin to actively form, the growing season will lengthen by about 14-15 days.
For those who decide to get rid of inflorescences to increase the yield, some recommendations must be followed:
- Be sure to take into account the weather conditions. It is better not to start the procedure in hot and rainy weather.
- You only need to cut the buds with a sterile garden tool. This will reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
- They move between the rows carefully so as not to trample the ground and not damage the leaves.
- Flowers begin to harvest before the buds gain strength. It is necessary to break off the ovaries (they are green). If you break off the inflorescences, then the lower leaves may dry out and turn yellow and then the yield will decrease.
- Tip: "Cut brightly colored flowers that rise strongly over the entire bush." In this case, the plant will not grow and form many shoots.
You can increase the yield by cutting off the set fruits or flowers that have already faded. Cutting off flowering branches will only harm the plant. A bush cut in this way will bear small fruits.
It is very important to know when to start the tearing procedure. Cut the buds before they bloom. If you pick a flowering branch, it helps to reduce immunity. The plant is often exposed to viral and fungal diseases. If the moment was missed, then it is better to wait until the petals begin to fall by themselves. In this case, you need to remove the formed berries.
