How to plant potatoes correctly to get a good harvest? Various methods of manual and mechanical planting of potatoes.

The most popular vegetable, also called “second bread,” is potatoes. Therefore on summer cottage almost everyone singles out at least large garden bed for him. Here's how to plant potatoes to harvest good harvest, not everyone knows.

Preparing for landing

The process of preparing for planting potatoes includes:

1. Prepare the place— it needs to be dug up and fertilized in the fall. The bed in which the vegetable will be grown must be well lit. Very small potatoes will grow in shade or partial shade.

Every year you have to choose new site for landing. It is ideal if cereals, legumes (peas, beans), radishes, and rapeseed were previously grown on it.

It is important to know when to plant potatoes in open ground. By this time, the earth should be warmed to a temperature of 10-15 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, the tubers will lie unsprouted in the cold for a long time, and may simply rot.

2. Select the desired potatoes– do this after harvesting (in autumn time). The dug up potatoes are sorted out, dried in the shade, and then selected planting material.

Tubers should be medium in size (with egg or paintball). But some farmers plant very large potatoes. The important thing here is to know how to cut it for planting. To do this, the sprouted tuber is cut lengthwise into two halves, without touching the sprouts.

You can plant very small potatoes, like a quail egg. It should have nice, thick sprouts. They are placed in a hole several at a time.

Tubers for planting should be free of fungal infections, cuts and stains.

3. Proper germination – the quality of the harvest largely depends on this. As our ancestors did, and even now, farmers adhere to the rule - before planting, potatoes need to be sprouted, and you need to start 40 days before planting.

To do this, potatoes are brought in in a room with an air temperature of about +20 degrees. Seed potatoes are laid out in shallow boxes in one layer and immediately treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. As soon as the sprouts begin to appear (after 15-20 days), the room temperature should be lowered to +10 degrees.

To prepare potatoes for planting and speed up germination, you need to treat them with wood ash and minerals diluted in water.

The best potato varieties for planting

Depending on the climate and geographic location, you need to choose which potato variety is more suitable for growing.

Early ripening potatoes. Its growing season is no more than 60 days. They are usually planted in mid-spring. The disadvantage of this variety is that it is poorly stored. Early ripening varieties include Red Scarlet, Rosara, Udacha.

Medium-early ripening varieties. Harvesting can begin in 60-70 days. This type includes Adretta, Gala, Karat, Nevsky.

Medium ripening potatoes. Ripening time is from 80 to 100 days. Harvesting occurs at the end of summer. Among the varieties are Tuleevsky, Lugovsky, Altair, Skarb.

Mid-late and late potato variety. The crop is harvested 120 days after planting. They are stored better than the previous ones, so they are grown for winter consumption. Late varieties include Kiwi, Zdabytok.

Processing potatoes before planting

To protect potatoes from, they need to be treated with prestige before planting. This drug is stored in tubers for up to 70 days, so early potato varieties are not treated with it. Such drugs as Tabu and Cruiser are suitable for them. Their shelf life in the vegetable is 45 days.

Everyone who grows potatoes should know how to treat them before planting against late blight. One of the best drugs– Matador Grand. It has a triple effect, protecting potatoes from beetles, beetles, whiteflies, aphids and flea beetles. Including late blight, peronospora, alternaria and rhizoctonia.

Treating potatoes with boric acid before planting will help prevent the reproduction of the Colorado potato beetle. You need to take boric acid - 2 tbsp. spoons, 1 tbsp. spoon copper sulfate, potassium permanganate on the tip of a knife, stir it all in a bucket of water (10 liters). Then process the seed material and dry it.

Preparing the soil for planting potatoes

In order for the potato harvest to be good, you need to prepare the soil for planting in advance. The ideal soil for potatoes is well-drained, loose, with oxygen access to the tubers.

The acidity of the soil for planting tubers should be at pH 5.5 – 7.5. Alkaline reactions of the soil will have a very negative impact on the development of potatoes. Also if the soil is too waterlogged for a long period of time, or too dense. Potatoes develop poorly in such conditions and are poorly stored; they quickly rot.

The designated bed must be thoroughly cleaned of roots and weeds, especially wheatgrass. With its roots it penetrates the potato tubers right through, preventing further growth.

In spring the soil is loosened. Do this with a pitchfork or a shovel, half bayonet size.

If the planting soil is too acidic, you should add wood ash or bone meal to it. Peat or mullein is added to alkaline soils.

It is also necessary to enter the main ones. They will saturate the soil and attract worms, which will loosen it well.

Solonetzes, clayey and peat soils need compost, rotted straw and sand. Sandy soil improved by peat and rotted straw with the addition mineral supplements. Mullein, sawdust and compost are added to the swamp-peat soil. Also potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.

Sandy loam soils should be regularly diluted with compost and peat. And very often, in small quantities, feed with mineral fertilizer.

Loamy and medium loamy areas need organic fertilizers. Fertilizers are applied only as needed.

The soil must be disinfected before planting. This can be done using chemicals– “Iprodione”, formaldehyde and lime. Use them strictly according to the instructions. And biological solutions - “Fitosporin”, “Gamaira”, “Trichodermina”, “Glyokladina”.

It is important to know that you cannot use several of these remedies at once.

After harvesting potatoes, agronomists recommend planting garlic or marigolds to renew the land.

Ways to properly grow

When the ground is warmed up and the sprouts begin to reach one or two centimeters in length, you can begin planting potatoes in open ground.

The optimal planting depth for potatoes is 10 cm. The distance between the bushes should be equal to the number of tubers planted in one hole. The more there are, the farther the bushes should be planted from each other. The distance between rows is no more than 1 meter.

It is necessary to fertilize the potatoes when planting, adding humus and wood ash to each planting hole. Then use the sharp end of a shovel to mix the bait with the soil. Afterwards, carefully lay the tuber, preferably with the sprouts facing up, and carefully sprinkle with soil without damaging them.

Already seven days after planting, the soil must be weeded. This will provide additional access to oxygen and clear the soil of weeds.

When the bushes grow to 15-20 centimeters in height, they need to be hilled. They do this to protect against spring frosts and let the bush grow wider. After 15 days, repeat hilling.

Before the bushes begin to flower, it is necessary to feed the rhizomes. For this potato bed watered with fermented infusion of weeds. You can use cow manure or bird droppings diluted in water.

Methods for planting potatoes

There are many ways to plant potatoes. Below are the main methods used by gardeners.

Planting potatoes under straw

This is a method of planting potatoes on unplowed land. Well-sprouted potatoes are laid out on virgin soil and covered with a thick layer (at least 20 cm) of straw. There is no need to do anything else until autumn. During harvesting, the stale straw is removed, and then the potatoes are collected.

Planting potatoes using Dutch technology

Potatoes are planted in a high continuous row, the width of which is at least 40 cm and the row spacing is 70 cm. Throughout the entire growing period, the potatoes must be constantly hilled, collecting soil from the row spacing.

Landing on ridges

This method of growing potatoes is suitable for clay soils. The ridges are made using a walk-behind tractor. Its height should not exceed 20 cm, and the width between rows should be 60-80 cm.

Growing potatoes in a barrel

A tuber planted in a barrel is sprinkled with earth as it grows. By the time of harvest, a whole pyramid of potatoes will grow in the barrel.

There is no need to be lazy and, having learned how to plant potatoes, work in a timely manner. Then throughout the autumn-spring season there will be potatoes from your own garden on the tables.

Of course, it depends on the soil and variety. Fertilizers alone are often not enough, since you can collect 5 buckets of potatoes from one bush only by using modern technologies. If this is your first time starting to develop a plot, you may be pleased with the harvest in the fall, but in the future the amount of potatoes harvested will decrease.

How to grow a bucket of potatoes from one bush?

What's difficult about growing potatoes? Having dug up a large area, we generously fertilize it with manure. Now we plant good and large potatoes in the ground. With this method, we usually grow a bucket of potatoes with square meter and we consider this sufficient. If we discard the spoiled and diseased tubers, then the remainder we get is a completely disappointing figure. Continuing to work the old fashioned way, we break our backs to eat our potatoes only in late summer - early autumn. Meanwhile, a bucket of potatoes from a bush is a completely common thing. The harvest may be greater. There are several ways to significantly increase it.

What does productivity depend on?

First, let's figure out what affects the final result. Of course, we need to take into account some nuances:

The larger the potatoes, the higher the yield.
The more root crops set, the more promising the potential harvest.
You need healthy, undamaged potatoes - the less waste the better.
It is important to wait a certain time to obtain the harvest. The quantity of potatoes can be large, but some of them are peas, while other root vegetables can be quite ripe. It is important that all the potatoes have time to grow.

Let's look at how to ensure each of these conditions in more detail.

Potato sizes

There are specially bred large-fruited varieties. For example:

You can find Idaho potatoes in fast food restaurants. This variety produces perfectly smooth, elongated and fairly large tubers. It has an atypical taste, which is why restaurant potatoes are very different from home-cooked food. It is quite possible to get 550 centners of such potatoes from one hectare of land. In Russia it is successfully cultivated, not only for the purpose of selection. The variety is early ripening and disease resistant. Idaho is very nutritious and contains a lot of starch.
Bellarosa is a Slovak variety, cultivated in Russia, Poland, and Belarus. Has high yield and large sizes. The variety is highly starchy (up to 19%). It cooks quickly and has crumbly white pulp. The peel is brownish. With regular watering, potatoes can reach 500-600 grams.
Gala - potatoes grow 400 grams. And there are 5-6 of these on the bush. In addition, the variety is quite early. Up to 80% of all potatoes are large. It is characteristic that nothing seems to say anything about high yields. Outside, Gala is a bush 45-50 cm high.
Udacha is not only a large-fruited variety, but also a productive one. 25 root crops per bush with an average weight of 180 grams allow you to get a harvest of up to 960 centners per hectare.
The Rosara variety is also distinguished by its many tubers. You can easily dig up 20-30 pieces. Everyone is different good size- at least 150 grams. The variety is starchy and disease resistant. The stems are large, but are susceptible to attacks by the Colorado potato beetle.
Slavyanka is a Ukrainian variety with very large tubers. Potatoes weighing up to one kilogram are a reality. Grows even in poor soils. Contains little starch - 12% strength. Used as fodder crop due to low taste.

The use of high-quality and modern planting material greatly facilitates the cultivation of potatoes. Every village knows how to get a bucket from a bush with a good variety. The cost of planting varietal potatoes is, of course, higher. So why not increase the yield by an order of magnitude?

What determines the number of potatoes on a bush?

On average, two dozen potatoes are formed on a bush, but there can be five or forty of them. Back in the eighteenth century, the Russian agronomist Bolotov counted one hundred potatoes on one bush. If everything is clear with the size of root crops, it depends on the variety and suitability of the soil, then it is more difficult to increase the number of potatoes. Of course, the variety plays a big role. Also, the number of tubers directly depends on the looseness of the soil. In heavy clay, there is simply nowhere for roots to develop.

There is a certain dependence of the number of tubers on the number of trunks in the bush. The more branched and lush the plant, the more active photosynthesis is, the more it stores nutrients in tubers. For more trunks you need larger number eyes. Traditional methods selection and training seed material in this case they are completely justified.

Potatoes are ripe

Before growing a whole bucket of potatoes from one bush, you need to choose suitable variety. It is advisable to focus not only on productivity, but also on climatic features your area. Mid-season and mid-early varieties are suitable for the middle zone.

Large root vegetables will take longer to grow. On average, potatoes are mid-season and late varieties slightly larger than the earlier one. Do not expect greater yields if you decide to dig up a potato bush immediately after flowering.

Most often, the ripeness of potatoes is determined by the tops. Agronomists believe that this is not entirely true. Tops can also wither due to a lack of nitrogen or heat. There is also no point in keeping “dried” potatoes. Withering tops will draw moisture from the tubers, and the quality of the crop will decrease.

It is recommended to cut off fallen tops a few days before harvesting. The potatoes will still have time to absorb the juices. You can check the readiness of the crop by digging up one bush. Ripeness is indicated by the firmness of the peel. It should not come off due to friction.

Harvest preservation

Additionally, you need to take care that your entire rich harvest is not destroyed by diseases and pests. As mentioned above, cutting off dead tops before harvesting additionally helps protect the tubers from disease. The main enemy of potatoes is late blight. Almost no varieties resistant to it have been bred. Chemicals are used to protect the plant. It is also recommended not to plant potatoes in one place, using crop rotation. Minimum 3-4 different cultures must precede new landing potatoes. Among the predecessors there should not be tomatoes or other plants susceptible to late blight.

Fertilizers

There are many proven folk remedies and tips on how to grow a bucket of potatoes from one bush and not lose the harvest. Hardening the planting material in a special solution gives good results. Usually they use water with the addition of potassium permanganate. The solution should be slightly pink. Boric acid and Bordeaux mixture are also used.

Fertilizing potatoes gives excellent results and significantly increases the yield. The best for the plant is considered to be a combination of organic and minerals. In the old fashioned way, potatoes are fertilized with manure, ash, and crushed ash is added. You will find such tips when wondering how to grow a bucket of potatoes from one bush. This is not entirely correct. Benefit eggshells not proven at all. Manure can become a source of disease and excess nitrates. Rotted manure is applied for autumn plowing at the rate of 400-500 kilograms per one hundred square meters of land. Potassium and are added in a 1:1 ratio. The best effect is achieved by fertilizing the soil with organomineral complexes.

Soil preparation, loosening and watering play a vital role in the potato harvest. You will practically not need to dig up the field in the spring if you dug it up before winter. Hilling up will remove excess weeds and prevent the formation of excess moisture in the soil. Regular watering can increase yield. Tubers absorb moisture well, but the quality of the potato and its keeping quality are reduced.

Potato growing experience: 20 bushes - 40 buckets

Experienced vegetable growers know a similar secret. Some may find it quite unusual.

The point is to properly prepare the planting material and then allow the bush to grow as much as possible. For the experiment you will need:

20 seed potatoes with eyes. If there are a lot of sprouts, the potatoes need to be cut so that there are 2-3 of them left per piece.
Mixture for processing planting material. For 10 liters of water take a glass of ash, 1 teaspoon boric acid and one tablespoon Soak the seed material in the solution for 15 minutes.
Throw a teaspoon of Amofoska into the designated holes.

We plant potatoes at a sufficiently large distance. Add some drops lightly. After the sprouts appear, carefully spread them apart, sprinkling each one with earth in a circle.

When the stems grow, the procedure must be repeated, carefully bending the tops. It turns out that we divide the bush into several parts, and each will grow as an independent plant. Well, you already know how to grow a bucket of potatoes from one bush. It is better to dig up such a bush with a pitchfork so as not to damage the tubers. We carefully undermine it from all sides, lifting the ground. There will be a lot of potatoes!

Conclusion

If we add to this method quality fertilizers, good variety, watering and fertilizing, leaving not 2 eyes, but all available ones, then we can get a bucket from each sprout.

Theoretically, you now know, buckets of potatoes from 1 bush. This bush will take about a square meter. That is, the question of whether or not to divide potatoes when planting remains rhetorical. From the same area you will get approximately the same yield. What remains is the choice - what do you like best: hilling the beds on fresh air or sprouting eyes indoors.

A person is always looking not only for “where is better,” but also for what is best.

Therefore, summer residents who are passionate about gardening reinforce their interest with knowledge. And then: theory - practice.

There is no general pattern for growing a crop, even just planting potatoes.

At least 100 methods of planting potatoes are now known. A lot, isn't it? Of course, I won’t describe everything.

Here are a few basic methods for planting potatoes.

It’s worth experimenting a little to choose your own method of growing potatoes, which will give a good harvest on your site.

How to please potatoes

Culture is not local, it is widespread everywhere. Therefore, you will have to navigate: when to plant it and how best to plant it, keeping an eye on the region.

Landing dates

There is considerable variation in the timing of potato planting. The specific time is determined by the region and its climatic conditions.

In the North Caucasus, tubers are planted at the end of March, in warm spring - even in the middle.

The Orthodox even have a belief: on forty saints (this is March 22) you need to plant the first forty potatoes, then the harvest is guaranteed.

This is, of course, a sign, but it guides the timing.

March planting is for early varieties. In order to follow them with a harvest in the fall, other varieties of medium ripening are planted.

They are planted later - in April, its first ten days. The main guidelines are heat and moisture.

It is not possible to land in the central regions at the same time as in the southern regions.

The tubers should lie in warm soil suitable for their preservation and growth. This is no less than 8°.

Otherwise, the yield will decrease (in best case scenario) or the tubers will rot and become sick.

That's why middle lane aims to plant potatoes by the end of April.

And only closer to the northern border of the “potato area”, and in Siberia, do suitable conditions occur in May, the first ten days of the month.

All these deadlines can realistically be moved up by a week and a half. That is, plant earlier.

success early landing potatoes are promoted by their germination. The technique is well-known and used by almost everyone.

If the land is “fed” with organic matter, the potatoes will also be fed without additional feeding with fertilizers.

You can pour handfuls of ash into the holes, but this is optional.

How to grow potatoes is up to the gardener to decide for himself; there are many options.

Holes (pits). The holes are filled with a garden hoe (hand hoe) if the soil is good and light.

On heavier soils, plant under a shovel. These will already be holes.

Both holes and holes are made with the expectation that the tuber will be buried at least 5 (preferably 10) centimeters.

Both are not enough for potatoes. Shallow embedding is compensated for by hilling, after which the depth where the tuber has settled becomes optimal.

When planting potatoes, the potatoes laid out in the holes are raked with the selected soil using a hoe.

It is interesting to plant potatoes using a shovel: “under the shovel.”

The first row is dug up and the tubers are planted. When digging holes in the second row, the soil from them is placed with a shovel on top of the tubers of the previous one.

This way, uniformity is achieved (the hole is opposite the hole) and two operations are performed in one movement: a place is prepared for the next tubers and the already laid out ones are covered with earth.

Furrows. Longitudinal furrows are formed using a walk-behind tractor with special attachments, or manually with a hoe.

To make the rows neat and parallel, in the second case, string the twine, preferably white, visible, between the pegs.

This is how a furrow is marked, it is filled according to this orientation, then the pegs with twine are moved to the distance between the rows. For potatoes this is the standard 70 cm.

An amendment is possible - wider or narrower. This depends on the bushiness and growth of the potato variety being planted.

The distance in the row for the full formation of a nest of tubers is 30 cm.

Lay out the planting material carefully, trying to preserve the sprouts. Then they close it up.

When embedding, methods vary. Planting potatoes for each grower has its own nuances.

Some prefer a “smooth” planting - they are planted flush with the rest of the surface, others form a ridge about fifteen centimeters above the furrow.

This is a preliminary hilling of potatoes, it is desirable, it increases the yield, speeds up its production, but is not applicable everywhere.

Combs. They save time and reduce labor intensity by combining work.

It turns out to be planting and hilling at the same time. In parallel with the growth of the stem, the laying of stolons occurs.

On some soils (loose, sandy) with little organic matter, ridges are impractical. They fall apart.

Therefore, methods of planting potatoes greatly depend on the type of land.

Planting potatoes on ridges is practiced when groundwater is close to the surface.

This saves from waterlogging (and therefore potato diseases), while simultaneously providing optimal humidity soil.

Tubers are planted in a ridge formed mechanically (with a walk-behind tractor) or manually with a hoe.

The height of the ridge is such that the tuber is at the usual depth for the crop (8 - 10 cm).

Correct the holes in the ridge, filling them in and leveling the row. The distance is the same as in the furrows - standard. This is 30 cm.

Koptsy. The growing method is not for the lazy. Labor costs are justified by productivity.

Use cops to obtain in one season large quantity tubers. This is how rare and popular varieties are propagated.

The technology is aimed at creating “royal” conditions for the tuber and subsequently the bush.

Autumn preparation is usual: plowing/digging, organic matter - manure - is added for this operation. Semi-rotted in the southern areas, rotted and ready - in the north. In the south, the warmth will allow the fertilizer to reach the desired condition for planting potatoes. In cool climates, apply immediately prepared.
In spring, the soil is processed again (ploughing or digging). The surface is leveled (mechanical harrowing or raking).
Squares are cut into approximately one and a half meter sides. It’s difficult to do it manually, it’s better to use a walk-behind hiller, where the distance is adjustable, you can increase the side of the square or decrease it.
Each square is a “living space” for a separate bush. Only one, but large, tuber is planted in the center of this area. The usual embedding depth is 10 cm. Then the future tip (square area) around the hole is fertilized. This includes organic matter (compost) and mineral nutrition– nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Nitrogen fertilizers You shouldn’t get carried away, because... The soil has already been replenished with organic matter since the fall, and compost is added. Organic matter contains predominantly nitrogen. Dosage of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium per square in grams, respectively: 50; 50; 25. It’s easier with compost - a bucket on your end.
Sealing by harrowing (raking), fertilizer should not remain on the surface. When harrowing, they are mixed with the soil, and fertilizers spill into the soil.
After germination, the soil is periodically loosened around so that there is no crust and the fertile layer does not dry out.
With a stem height of 20 cm, it is carefully bent to the ground, with the top towards outside designated bushes square. Sprinkle with soil, deepening to 10 cm, leaving only the tops. Since there are many stems, according to the number of awakened buds, they are directed to different sides, spread out evenly. It turns out to be a kind of fan.
Particular care will be required in subsequent loosening and weeding. It is necessary not to disturb the stems that are in the ground when weeding potatoes.
From the sprinkled buds of the stem, new stems are forced out. When they grow, each formed row is hilled.

With proper care, such a square will produce an average of 70 new tubers from one.

By weight, this can be about 15 kg or half a standard mesh bag in which potatoes are now sold.

By planting four tubers (four in total!) the gardener will receive two bags of potatoes.

True, for a fabulous result you will have to work hard.

Trapezoid bed. The optimal growing method for potatoes.

Potatoes are planted either on ridges or in furrows. But as it grows, not one, but two or three hillings are carried out.

As a result, a bed is formed, in the center of it is a row of potatoes. The height and width of this trapezoid bed is 30 cm.

Its base is almost twice as wide – up to half a meter.

Advantages of the method:

Such an array of loose soil retains moisture in the heat;
Excess moisture drains from the raised bed during rains;
The soil is warmed up better than when buried in a flat surface - shoots grow earlier and faster, tubers form;
The soil is not over-compacted - this promotes tuber formation;
Productivity increases - knowledge of potato biology works. New tubers are formed no lower than the parent tubers. Only nearby and higher. Trapezoid bed – perfect solution for the formation of full-fledged young tubers. Here, aeration is normal, humidity is optimal, there is warmth, and the substrate itself is comfortable for them;
When weeding, the potato roots are minimally damaged or not damaged at all. They are located in the bed, at the bottom of it, and the row spacing and surface of the bed are loosened, mainly during hilling.

Square-nested. This method is suitable for growing many crops that require a lot of light, space, and nutrition.

The distance between the tubers is equal to the row spacing. In the south they take the larger side of the square - 70 cm, in the north it can be less, up to half a meter.

Planting is carried out “under the cord” so that even squares are obtained.

Bunk. Interesting by the name itself. The method is not for everybody.

The gist is this:

Fertilizer for digging is better organic, humus and ash.
Dividing the area into strips: alternating narrow (30 cm) and wide - 70 cm. Narrow - the area for planting, wide - row spacing.
Narrow stripes are bordered by shallow – 10 cm – furrows.
The tubers are laid out along the furrows, the distance is standard, the arrangement is “checkerboard” - in a checkerboard pattern.
Cover one furrow with earth, leave the second open for now - for orientation.
The second tier - above the already planted potatoes - will be 10 cm higher. The tubers are laid out in the same way as they lie in the second furrow, then they will be optimally offset and will not interfere with the bottom row.
Fill the first tier of the second furrow, the height will be equal to the second.
Arrange the tubers of the second tier in a checkerboard pattern, focusing on the other side.
Sprinkle the entire strip shallowly, up to 5 cm. If you overdo it, the first tier will take a very long time to break through and the sprouts will weaken.
After the seedlings reach a height of 15 cm - hilling. The seedlings are completely covered. These are all planting procedures, all that remains is watering and fertilizing.

The method is exotic, the plants of the first tier lose in growth power and sunlight.

Proponents of two-tier planting claim that they save time, reduce labor costs (which is doubtful) and make plantings denser (undoubtedly).

The yield is unlikely to please, but the number of tubers (most likely small ones) will certainly increase.

Trenches. There is also something for those who like to experiment.

Although the technique is not new and environmentally friendly.

Some of the work has been shifted to autumn - digging trenches. If the soil is loose, you will have to prepare the trenches in the spring. The trench itself is the same depth and width: the bayonet of a shovel. The soil from the trench is piled up side by side, not on the edge, so as not to crumble.
The area intended for potato trenches is prepared as follows - the entire area, with a standard 70 cm retreat between the trenches.
Dried weeds and tops after harvesting vegetables will come in handy. Do not burn plant residues when cleaning the garden; use them for trenches. Line the bottom of the trench with them, add unnecessary paper and food scraps. Anything that can rot, including small twigs from cutting currants or other shrubs. The rotted filling will serve as food for the potatoes next season. Make sure that there are no nightshades or tops of vegetables of this family (pepper, tomato, potato) in the trench. They may contain microorganisms that are dangerous to potatoes - wintering forms common diseases or pests.
Don't miss out on leaf fall: Rake leaves from the garden, fill trenches with them and cover them with soil. It is advisable not to place trenches close to the garden. Something that is not good for the garden can overwinter in the foliage, but the potatoes will not be harmed.
In the spring, add the additive to the soil that has settled in the trenches. To do this, soil was left between the rows from the fall after digging trenches. Everything is ready to plant potatoes.
It is advisable to feed them when planting tubers: a handful of wood ash, Matchbox bird droppings. Place fertilizer next to the tubers. Not on them and not under them. Bird droppings are a nitrogen concentrate and can cause burns. Sprinkled with earth, it will flow to the roots gradually, giving benefits.

The grown seedlings are hilled up, and the soil between the rows is removed.

After harvesting, there is already a reserve for new ridges. They are dug between the rows of the site.

Rules for caring for potato plantings

The hardest thing is to plant potatoes. Caring for it is much easier.

Only hilling is stressful - there you have to use more force, raking the earth towards the bushes.

All other operations are not difficult and do not have strict frequency.

Weeding– the need is determined visually. The weeds are growing, so it’s time.

Subsequent ones will not grow back immediately. For about a week and a half you can forget about weeding.

Loosening. The earth itself will show when it needs it.

It is covered with a crust, a network of cracks - you need to go through it with a hoe or a flat cutter and seal off the moisture.

Loosen upper layer, destroy the crust. You need to check after watering and (especially) heavy rain.

Wind and sun can form a crust very quickly.

When it cracks, it damages the roots, and moisture intensively evaporates through the cracks.

Remove the crust as quickly as possible.

Watering. If the season is not dry, the potatoes usually have enough moisture.

It is only demanding when it blooms - you may need to water the potatoes.

Simultaneously with flowering, tubers form and grow. Lack of moisture during this period means a lack of harvest.

Feeding. There is rarely a need. At the beginning of growth, the tuber itself nourishes the plants, plus planting in soil that is fertilized according to all canons.

Observe the color of the leaf. Healthy green (or light green, depending on the variety) “speaks” about the nutritional norm.

Pale – a little mineral nitrogen before flowering won’t hurt.

You can give a weak solution of phosphorus fertilizer with watering when the potatoes bloom.

Nitrogen can no longer be given, it will “drive” the tops, worsen the formation of tubers, their taste and keeping quality, and increase the nitrate content.

Whatever methods of growing potatoes we choose, we must be guided by the existing conditions:

Climatic;
Soil type;
Possibility of watering;
Availability of organic fertilizers;
Estimated costs (purchase of mineral fertilizers;
Even the frequency of work, if the site is remote.

If the gardener has correctly oriented himself and chosen the exact method of planting potatoes, then he will provide himself with a harvest.

Well, we planted potatoes and provided care. But the process of growing second bread does not end there.

Ahead of us is still the fight against numerous potato pests and diseases.

You also have to harvest the crop on time, store it correctly and try to preserve the grown potatoes without loss until the next season.

See you soon, dear readers!

Tell me, when can I plant potatoes? For the second year now, we have been plagued by failure: we just can’t get the timing right. Last year, it seemed like they planted it two weeks later than usual, but the seedlings still froze.

Most summer residents approach planting potatoes “responsibly”: in early spring They purchase a couple of dozen buckets of seed material and anti-pest preparations. This is not surprising, because potatoes often form the basis of the diet, which is why gardeners strive to provide themselves with its reserves for whole year. But if you can protect the future harvest with the help of “chemistry,” then it is almost impossible to predict the vagaries of nature.

Often all efforts are in vain when you go out to the garden beds in the morning, and there lie frozen bushes that were still standing so vigorously yesterday. Most often, the reason for this picture is a rush - the whole family has gathered for the weekend, and let's quickly throw the tubers into the holes before the helpers run away. But the earth is still cold, and winter is not yet completely gone and threatens us with return frosts at night...

To avoid a similar fate and preserve the future harvest, you need to know when you can plant potatoes, because, like most other garden crops, she loves warmth and reacts painfully to nighttime drops in temperature.

Compliance with planting deadlines is very important point When growing potatoes, a “miscalculation” in any direction can not only deprive a tasty and nutritious harvest, but also completely destroy the planting:

if planted early, the tubers will “freeze” in cold soil and will simply lie there and wait for warmth, but then they will develop extremely reluctantly and the emergence of seedlings will be delayed;
if planted late, the land will already be “dehydrated”, and in dry soil without additional watering the harvest will be small.

In addition, failure to comply with potato planting dates often leads to the development of crop diseases, especially fungal ones.

Planting dates depending on weather conditions

The soil should warm up to a depth of 10 cm to 8 degrees Celsius or more.
At night, the air temperature should not drop much, which means the frost has already ended.

There is no single date for planting potatoes, since different regions warmth comes in different time. The general planting period is April-May, but in the southern regions, March planting is also allowed in early spring, while in the northern regions it often shifts until early June.

The influence of potato variety on planting dates

Each has its own vegetation development cycle, which should also be taken into account, namely:

early varieties are planted first, around mid-April;
mid-season species - in early May;
late varieties - at the end of May.

People's planting calendar

Our grandmothers, when planning the opening of the garden season, did not use the weather forecast, but rather trusted the facts that had already happened, verified by own experience. Yes, according to folk signs, you should plant potatoes no earlier than the bird cherry blossoms and the dandelions bloom, which is quite consistent with reality and scientific recommendations, because at this time the long-awaited warmth arrives. But, still, when you are planning to go for a shovel and a bucket of potatoes, check the weather for the near future to be on the safe side.

Potatoes are vegetable crop, without which it is impossible to imagine the life of a Russian person. Roots of this plant contain many nutrients (starch, protein...), which is why they are also called “second bread”. In gardening, this crop is a favorite; as a rule, it is used for most vegetable garden Many people believe that to get a good harvest, you don’t need to make any effort at all - potatoes grow on their own and require virtually no care. This is far from true. This culture, like many others, needs attention at certain stages of development. This article will tell you which one.

Planting potatoes: deciding on the timing

Potatoes are planted when the soil warms up well. This period occurs at different times in different latitudes.

Southern regions of Russia (for example, Krasnodar region). Here potatoes can be planted in the last ten days of March. True, this only applies to early varieties. Mid-season planting occurs a little later - around the beginning of April.
Central Russia (for example, Moscow region). The deadline for planting potatoes for this area is the end of April.
Ural and Siberia. Warmth reaches these regions the latest, so potatoes are planted only in early May.

Potatoes must be planted within the strictly designated time frame. If you are ahead of your time and in unheated soil, there is a high probability that the tubers will develop poorly - they will germinate slowly. You also need to pay attention to soil moisture. If the indicator is quite high, the root crop may rot and be sick for a long time .

How to plant potatoes: diagram, planting time

Landing scheme. Potatoes are planted in rows. The distance between them should be approximately 70 cm, and 50 cm is the indicator that should be between the bushes. If the root crops are closer to each other, then the potatoes will not have enough space to develop and they will grow too small.

Boarding time. You can plant potatoes at any time. Only correct option No. Gardeners usually plant in the morning. However, this can also be done in the evening.

The main stages of potato care: fertilizing, hilling, watering

Potato feeding occurs in three stages:

Hilling potatoes is perhaps the most important stage in growing this crop. The essence of the process is to rake the soil to the potato bush. It is recommended to carry out hilling twice a season. The first treatment occurs when the plant reaches 5-10 cm in height. This procedure can be carried out both in the evening and in the morning. However, many gardeners have noticed that it is best to hill up potatoes after rain. The second stage occurs during the formation of buds. This period usually occurs at the end of May (depending on the region). Hilling allows you to increase the yield by at least 30 percent. This happens because the stems of the bush, due to the addition of soil, send out new shoots, which subsequently form additional tubers.

We must not forget about potatoes. Without it, this crop is sometimes very difficult to grow. In particular, the situation is most difficult in the southern regions of Russia (for example, Crimea). Here, due to the hot climate, potatoes need to be watered at least once a week. If we talk about the central and northern regions of the Russian Federation, then, as a rule, there is enough atmospheric precipitation for root crops. However, this does not mean that you should completely abandon watering. Still, plants will need water three times during the season: when shoots appear, buds appear and flowering begins.

How to deal with the Colorado potato beetle

Sometimes pests interfere with getting a good potato harvest. The main enemy is Colorado beetle. This insect lives in the ground and attacks root crops from the inside. If no measures are taken, then, according to researchers, it can destroy up to 2 hectares of plantings per season. There are several methods that gardeners use to combat this pest:

Chemical. The name implies the use of special chemicals. Among the most common: “Decis”, “Fastak”, “Ratibor”, “Arrivo”, “Bankol”. All these drugs show good results. However, it is not worth using them often, despite all the assurances from the manufacturers.
Traditional methods. They are not as effective, but they are 100% safe. Lingonberry leaves (dried) are widely distributed among gardeners. They are sprinkled (the leaves must be ground) on top of the entire potato bush. This method is believed to have a deterrent effect. True, it is effective against young individuals (larvae).

The last chemical treatment of potatoes should be carried out at least 20 days before harvest. Otherwise, you can easily get poisoned.

Grow potatoes in your dacha or personal plot not difficult at all. The main thing is to know when to carry out hilling and do not forget to water the bushes of the plant from time to time.