How to plant potatoes correctly to get a good harvest?

Potatoes are planted in various ways. You need to choose the appropriate method for the region and convenient for the grower himself. Determine the right time to plant a vegetable, know how to properly cultivate the land so that weeds do not appear. In this case, the potatoes will delight you with their quantity and quality.

You need to plant potatoes correctly then the result will be

You need to plant potatoes in your country house according to all the rules. Potatoes are unpretentious to the soil. It develops well both in black soil and in loamy, sandy soils. It is best to choose flat areas of land where light flows freely. Fertilizers will help fill the lack of trace elements in the soil.

In the event that groundwater passes close to the surface of the earth, it is recommended to make ridges. In the raised elevation, holes are made in which prepared germinated tubers are planted.

Usually tubers are planted in mid-spring, but can also be planted in summer. Agronomists argue that there are only positive aspects in the summer planting of potatoes.

You can grow potatoes from tubers or sprouts. As soon as the sprouts emerge from the eyes, they begin to be planted in open ground. 4-5 healthy sprouts are placed in one cavity at a distance of 15 cm. The interval between such groups of sprouts should be at least 20 cm.

High-quality potato seeds are the key to a good harvest

There are different types of potatoes, which differ in different periods of ripening of the crop, color and size of the tuber. Which varieties are suitable for a particular region depends largely on climatic conditions.

Early varieties begin to ripen after 65 days. Mid-early varieties will allow you to harvest in 75 days. Ripening of medium-late and late varieties of potatoes occurs only after 100-120 days. In Russia, for example, it is best to plant potatoes of early and mid-early varieties.

When choosing seed potatoes, you need to study the characteristics of the tubers, where it is recommended to grow the vegetable. The seed should be approximately 5–6 cm in size. The tubers should be firm, smooth and dry. There should be no spots of rot, cracks, cuts on the tubers.

Getting ready for planting potatoes

A rich harvest is obtained only if you know the exact time when you can plant potatoes in the ground.

If you plant potatoes too early, in unheated soil, then it will not germinate well, develop slowly. At the same time, immunity decreases, and the risk of contracting infections increases.

Favorable landing dates should not be missed either. Otherwise, all the moisture that the soil has absorbed during the melting of the snow will evaporate. And it is very useful for plant growth.

The best period is considered when the topsoil (about 10 cm) warms up to +8. It is at this depth that tubers are planted. Most often they begin to plant on May 10. By this time, the morning strong frosts usually leave.

Potato rows are best placed from north to south. The distance between rows should be about 70 cm. In each row, the distance between holes with planting material should be at least 30–40 cm for early varieties and 45–50 cm for mid-early and late-ripening species.

Soil and its preparation

The land plot is prepared in advance for planting a vegetable. To enrich the soil with oxygen, the soil is dug up in autumn and spring. During the autumn digging, it is not necessary to level the area with a rake. In the fall, having dug up the ground, it is recommended to apply fertilizers. In the spring, the soil is dug up and loosened again.

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Traditionally, potatoes are planted in spring, around early May. But recently, vegetable growers began to plant even later, at the end of July, to obtain a double harvest.

The rate of potatoes intended for cultivation per hectare per hectare depends mainly on the size of the tubers. If their average weight is 50–80 g, then about 2.5 thousand tubers per hectare will be required.

By the middle of summer, plots are already freed from growing early vegetables (for example, onions, lettuce), so a fertilized plot is already ready. By this time, the peak activity of the Colorado potato beetle and other pests is minimized. The ground warms up well, and the development of tubers is more active, seedlings appear faster.

Late planting of vegetables is widespread in the southern regions. Growing a late harvest in temperate to mid lane requires a number of efforts. Be sure to select a suitable variety, ensure timely and sufficient watering. The peculiarities of weather conditions play an important role.

Warm, not too hot weather with occasional rains will make it possible to harvest a large crop from potatoes planted in July. But most often in the middle of summer there is hot weather, so the vegetable will need to be protected from overheating of the tubers. The ideal option to combat the heat is to mulch the soil.

Early varieties are best suited for summer planting of potatoes; they ripen after 50–70 days. In this case, it will be possible to harvest the crop before frost. The main thing is that the air temperature does not drop below +8 degrees.

How to prepare seed potatoes for planting?

Seed potatoes must be prepared for planting, processed and germinated. Potatoes may not sprout without sprouts. During winter storage, the tubers may deteriorate, so they need to be sorted out. For sowing, leave smooth, dense tubers without damage and deformation. It is also useful to sort by size.

The selected tubers are placed in boxes with holes for ventilation and moved to a warm, bright room (air temperature is about +11 degrees).

You can roughly calculate the rate of planting material. To do this, gardeners need to multiply the length of the row by their number. Then divide the resulting number by the number of eyes prevailing on the tubers selected for planting. The answer received is considered an indicator of the rate of planting potatoes per one hundred square meters.

The planting rate depends on the quality of the planting material and soil composition, variety, and the level of agricultural practices. For example, for the northern regions, where the soil is rarely black earth, the planting density is about 50 thousand bushes per 1 ha. For the central regions - 45-50 thousand.

What if the ground is not warmed up?

In the middle lane, potatoes begin to be planted at the end of April, beginning of May. You can warm up the soil yourself:

• In the spring, the beds are marked out and covered with a light-colored film.
• To speed up the melting of snow, you can scatter coal dust, which will attract the sun's rays.
• All beds can be raised by 5–7 cm. In this case, the ridge dries out faster.
• Compost is considered an environmentally friendly and economical way to warm the soil. Compost warms and nourishes the soil with beneficial trace elements.

If the earth is not warmed up, the seed material may freeze, rot, and then there will definitely not be a harvest.

It's time to board

Any of the selected potato planting schemes involves marking on the land.

You can plant potatoes in the usual way under a shovel. The soil is dug up in the fall and it is advisable to apply fertilizers. In the spring, it only remains to level the site and loosen large clods of earth.

Potatoes are planted in early May. By this time, the earth warms up well enough. On the prepared plot of land, rows are made at a distance of 70 cm. In each row, shallow holes (about 10 cm) are made with a shovel and one potato is planted sprouting up. It will be useful to pour compost and wood ash on top of the planting material. The previous potatoes are buried in the ground from the next dug hole. The distance between the planted tubers is about 30 cm.

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Can be planted in pre-prepared furrows. A furrow is dug about 19 cm wide and up to 14 cm deep. Then the tubers are distributed at a distance of 30 cm and slightly covered with earth. As the potato tops grow, soil is added and, as a result, a mound is formed near each bush.

The Dutch method of planting potatoes involves making ridges up to 36 cm high. The distance between the ridges is about 70 cm. Dig holes and distribute the tuber.

On average, the seeding rate of potatoes per one hundred square meters is about 3-4 buckets of seed, which is about 30-35 kg.

How and when to plant better?

Potatoes can be planted not only in spring. Summer planting of potatoes can be done in two main ways. The first of them is planting a vegetable with tubers from last year (so that the tubers do not germinate ahead of time, they are placed in a cold place). But you can also use freshly dug tubers.

A special way has been invented for the lazy. Using this method of planting potatoes, you can harvest a good harvest. They practically do not dig the land for planting vegetables. They begin to plant in early May, it is better to take early varieties. Compost is poured into the prepared rows (layer thickness is about 5 cm), tubers are placed and covered with earth.

As soon as shoots appear, hilling is carried out, during which the shoots are again covered with earth. This will prevent frost damage. The second hilling is carried out when the bush reaches 20 cm. It is recommended to cover the soil with a layer of straw.

How to properly cut tubers for planting?

A full crop, rich in nutrients, can be grown from a fraction of a potato tuber. The yield of potatoes will be no different from a planted whole tuber. It doesn't matter what size it will be, the main thing is that there is a place for the kidney on it. Ideally, there should be two of them.

The only drawback of planting cut potatoes is considered a high susceptibility to rotting during rainy weather. To prevent this, cuts can be treated with wood ash.

It is best to cut the planting crop in advance. Approximately 5 days before the start of planting in the ground. Store cut up in a warm room. During this time, the place will become weathered and coarse, and the buds will begin to sprout.

The work will take a lot of manual labor, but if you have a couple of buckets to plant, then you can try.

Landing scheme

For any method of growing potatoes all recommendations must be followed. How far to plant potatoes depends on the growing method. Most often, the distance should not be less than 70 cm.In a row, planting material is laid out every 30 cm.

A new method is the smooth planting of potatoes under the film. The place, which is set aside for planting the vegetable, is dug up, fertilized in the fall and covered with a black film. At a distance of 30 cm, holes are made in the film, into which the planting material is laid. There is no need for weeding from weeds, no need to huddle and water too often.

The smooth fit has similar rules to the shovel method. The only difference is that the rows are made even with the help of markings (pegs and twine will help). The potatoes are laid out in the holes and covered with earth.

The method of growing potatoes in trapezium beds is becoming common. On the ridge, tubers are planted in two rows, staggered. As the bushes grow, 2-3 hilling is carried out.