Why potatoes grow poorly what to do. Poor potato harvest: causes and solutions

Perhaps the most common vegetable crop in our country is potatoes. Despite the fact that this plant has long been known to agriculture, it is not always possible to get a good harvest of root crops. This may be due to the large tops of the potatoes. What leads to the growth of green mass, as well as how to deal with it, our today's article will tell you.

Potato tops are not the edible part of the plant. However, it is a valuable raw material for the creation of organic fertilizers through composting or burning to ash. And also it is used to prepare infusions of traditional medicine in order to combat certain insect pests. At the same time, high and abundant green mass can negatively affect the yield. The fact is that in a situation where the potato has well-developed tops, its roots are formed small. In this case, the plant spends all its energy on forcing greens, leaving very grains on the underground part, for which the gardener plants this crop. Although this situation is not always possible. Whether or not potatoes are small with high tops depends on many factors.

The following moments can lead to a situation where the greenery of the potato grows very much:

It should be noted that a lot of tops does not always mean a poor harvest. This may well be a feature of a particular variety. However, in order not to lose the potato crop, you still need to know what to do in this situation.

Video "Potato Care"

From the video you will learn how to care for a root crop.

What to do

When growing any vegetable crop, you need to know the peculiarities of caring for it in order to prevent the appearance of pests, the development of diseases and a decrease in plant fertility. Potatoes do not require too much care to get great results from them in the form of large and tasty root vegetables. But there are times when it is necessary to take certain measures in order not to lose the crop. One of these moments will be a huge potato bush (more than 80 cm). If the greenery is actively growing, then this indicates that it is necessary to make adjustments to the care of the plantings.

Situations when the tops are higher than a meter indicates too much nitrogen in the soil. In this case, you need to adjust the feeding. With the normalization of nutrients in the soil, the tops, naturally, will not decrease, but the process of tuberization will take place. The introduction of 100 g of superphosphate, diluted in 10 liters of water, will stop the growth of the green mass and force the plants to form tubers.

A growing potato bush must be properly fertilized in order to avoid active growth of its aboveground part. For this, the feeding should be as follows:

• the first time feeding is carried out immediately after the appearance of the first shoots. It is carried out using ammonium nitrate or urea. 10-15 g of the drug should be dissolved in 10 liters of water. You need to know that when carrying out an autumn or spring filling of the soil with manure, fertilizers are not applied for the first time in order to prevent an excess of nitrogen in the soil;
• further feeding is carried out after hilling. The second time, fertilizers are applied at a leaf height of 20-25 cm (20-30 g of nitrophosphate is scattered between the rows). With good soil feeding, no more fertilizer is needed. During the summer, some gardeners carry out foliar dressing several times, which saturate the earth with phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and other trace elements.

It is worth noting that foliar dressing can be combined with spraying the bushes from late blight and Colorado potato beetle.

If you cannot determine what caused the forcing of the bushes, then the tops can simply be crushed and bent. Such manipulations will lead to the fact that the potatoes will stop growing for at least two weeks, which will give a chance for normal tuberization. The method is very popular among gardeners, as it does not require additional costs for fertilizers, stimulants, and also takes little time.

You can simply remove the greens. Today, there are two ways to remove the aboveground part of the potato:

Both haulm removal methods can be applied one week before mowing. Such an algorithm of work will allow for better and easier removal of all shoots and stems, without damaging the roots or garden tools. This is especially important for varieties that form powerful and strong stems and leaves.

It is worth noting that in the presence of prolonged rainy weather, the tops can begin to form anew. In this case, it can be re-treated with special chemical solutions. Before this, you need to carry out the mechanical removal option again.

Also, one of the methods of increasing the yield of bushes is to mow the tops. But here you need to know when you can mow the tops of potatoes.

Mowing tops after flowering

You can mow the tops of potato bushes after the plant stops blooming. Until this moment, it is better not to touch the above-ground part of the bushes, as this can affect their yield.

It should be noted that mowing the tops of potatoes after flowering is an important part of the harvesting process. This procedure is carried out for the following reasons:

• removal of green mass stimulates the maturation of root crops;
• the quality of the fruit increases;
• furrows and beds dry out rather;
• the risk of infection of tubers with diseases, carriers of which may be on the tops (for example, late blight), is reduced. Mowing the aboveground part of the bush serves as a good prevention of various diseases, and also allows you to get rid of pests that have not yet managed to move from the tops to the soil for wintering. But it is impossible to determine the infection of tubers from healthy ones, since at this stage the disease does not manifest itself in any way;
• increase the shelf life of potatoes in the basement.

In addition, mowing the tops greatly simplifies the further collection of potatoes. However, to get all the benefits described above, you need to know exactly when to do this procedure. Otherwise, your efforts will not bring the expected result. Experienced gardeners are advised to harvest the greens at least two weeks before the expected harvest time. You can find information that this process can be carried out a week before digging up the potatoes. But also you need to wait a week before mowing in a situation if the bushes have been treated with fungicides. A slight delay, especially in the presence of rainy weather, can lead to massive infestations of tubers due to the strong accumulation of fungal spores on the infected leaves.

When mowing the tops, it must be remembered that pathogens, as well as insect pests, can exist in the soil for a long time. Therefore, in order to prevent fetal infection, an integrated approach should be taken. It involves not only the removal of the green mass of the bushes, but also the processing of the soil. To treat crops from pathogenic microflora and pests, it is necessary to use fungicides. In this case, chemicals can do an excellent job of protecting root crops from harmful microorganisms.

Mowing should be carried out only after the end of the budding period. If you do this during flowering, you can slow down the tuberization process.

As you can see, large tops of potato bushes in most cases leads to a decrease in yield. Therefore, the tops must be monitored in order to prevent its overgrowth.

Video "Mowing"

From the video you will learn how to mow the tops.

How to kill two birds with one stone - reduce the growth of tops and increase the yield

A method that was used more than a hundred years ago!

It often happens that, despite good care and significant growth of the tops, the tubers of potatoes are nevertheless small.

The reason for this phenomenon is that strong tops use too many nutrients to the detriment of the tubers, especially the so-called seed potato balls, while they do not bring any benefit at all.

To eliminate this phenomenon, many authoritative owners have developed the following purely practical technique. This very simple method consists in the fact that after the flowering of the potatoes, after one to two weeks, the tops are broken.

To clarify how this technique is applicable from a practical point of view, the following experience is given. In 1909, 2 sq. fathoms were planted with two equal squares of potatoes.

On the first plot, 10 days after flowering, the tops were crushed by manual breaking, and the second was left under an ordinary crop for control.

In the fall, over 30 pounds of beautiful, uniform and large potatoes were harvested from the first plot, and from the second, control, less than 27 pounds, and much more small than large.

Thus, from breaking the stems, in addition to size, we also get an increase of 3 pounds per 1 square meter. fathoms, which per tithe will be 2400 x 3 = 7200, that is, 180 poods of excess harvest.

("Farm" 1913, No. 1)

Mowing tops

The best time frame for this work is budding period... You should not be late in mowing the tops. If this work is performed during the flowering period, then the regrowth of young stems slows down and the yield of tubers decreases.
When pruning, they leave stems 15-20 cm high in the later varieties and 10 cm in the early ones.

In all the years of testing, the potato yield was 16-21% higher on those plots grown with tops trimming.

Simultaneously with checking how the seed quality of potatoes improved, the effect of cutting tops on the yield in the year of planting was studied. And in this case, the annual collection of tubers was 19-34% more than the usual method.

"Potatoes and Vegetables" (1957, No. 4)

Tricks of hilling potatoes

Perhaps even those who have never planted potatoes know that potatoes should be hilled. But how to do it correctly? It turns out that there are some small tricks here, writes Marina, Nekrasovskoe.

When to start hilling?

A variety of answers can be found in the literature to this question. The reference point in all recommendations is the height of the shoots, but the numbers are called different: from 14 to 20 cm.

I myself prefer to start hilling as early as possible. At the same time, I am guided, however, not by centimeters, but by the signals of a completely irrational "device" - intuition :)) Over time, probably, every gardener has such a flair: you just look at the plants and understand what exactly they need right now.

In fact, early hilling replaces both weeding and the recommended loosening of the soil. In our unstable climate, it serves, moreover, to protect seedlings from recurrent frosts. Traditionally, potatoes are planted in our country in early May. And in the second half of the month - just in time for the emergence of seedlings - cold weather usually comes. Sprouts covered with a layer of soil can calmly tolerate even a short-term drop in temperature just below zero (sometimes this happens ...)

Not once noticed: after hilling, potatoes seem to accelerate growth. If the weather is also favorable, the bushes grow and get stronger literally before our eyes. Therefore, I am never too lazy to once again walk with a hoe along the rows, loosening the earth and rolling it to the ridges.

How many times to spud?

Classic - 2 hilling: the second is carried out 2-3 weeks after the first, before the potatoes bloom. But if you start this activity early enough, two times are not enough. In this matter, too, I prefer to focus not on abstract "norms", but on the needs of real plants.

If the grown bushes fall apart, or the nest is not formed along the ridge, but grows across, in breadth, and tubers begin to peep out of the ground, turning green in the light, then it is necessary to spud, no matter what they say.

I happened to huddle potatoes 3 and 4 times per season. Someone will say that it is too laborious ... I don’t know, for me weeding is much more tiring. And then I walked across the field with a hoe - and the earth is loose, and there are no weeds, and the potato bushes are vigorous and beautiful, even)) And then they thank you for an excellent harvest.

What is the preferred time for hilling?

At the time of hilling potatoes, you can often see gardeners with hoes in the fields in the middle of a hot summer day. And this is not good for health either, and the plant is not good for it. When we huddle, we still bother him, we hurt the shoots, it happens inadvertently to disturb the underground part. In the heat, all this becomes critical, and the plants can wither. Therefore, in hot weather, you should spud potatoes in the morning or evening, when the activity of the sun decreases.

It is best to do hilling after rain. The benefits are twofold. First, moist soil does not fall off the ridge. Secondly, by adding moisture-saturated soil to the base of the stems, we stimulate the formation of additional stolons (underground shoots on which potato tubers are formed) - and this is an increase in yield.

But then in theory)) In practice, it also happens that it is high time to huddle, but there is still no rain. Naturally, we will not postpone an important matter in anticipation of a favorable weather forecast, but if the soil is completely dry, we will water it before hilling.

Is hilling always applied?

Inventive gardeners and inquisitive minds everywhere are looking for alternative solutions, and hilling potatoes is no exception. First, they came up with fitting methods that make this procedure unnecessary (for example, fitting under a black non-woven fabric). Secondly, they proved empirically that uncooling "works" just as well.

What's the point? Hilling potatoes, we solve several problems at once: we loosen the soil; we create an additional volume of it, in which tubers are formed; push the plant to form stolons in the lower (covered with soil) part of the stems; we improve the lighting of plants, collecting them "in a pile" and not allowing them to shade each other; getting rid of weeds. But it turns out that the same tasks can be solved in exactly the opposite way.

Uncooling- This is a method in which the growing tops, instead of being lifted up, are spread on the ground. Soil (options: grass, straw, other materials) is poured from above, leaving only the tops of the shoots on the surface.

As they grow, everything repeats itself. In this way, my friends grew potatoes under the grass (in the absence of straw) - they were satisfied with the result. True, more space is required than with the traditional method of cultivation.

fan-shaped boredom, or "Zamyatkin's way".

In the fall, we immediately put all the vegetable waste from the garden into the beds and spill it with one of the organic disinfectants: "Radiance", "Fitosporin", "Vostok", "Baikal". The distance between the beds is about 1.2 meters, since the tops grow huge, almost human-sized.

If in the fall they did not manage to prepare such beds, then they can be made in the spring from the contents of the compost heap.

To begin with, in order to compare, only a few tubers are planted in this way.

After the tubers are laid out in the garden, the potatoes are covered with organic waste by 15 centimeters. After the potato tops have grown by 15 centimeters, the branches move apart and from above are again filled with organic matter from the compost heap.

Only the very tops remain on the surface. On the second day, the sprouts rise up. In this case, organic matter can be added during the entire period of potato growth.

Collecting such potatoes is also easy and pleasant. Since it is not in the ground, the tubers remain clean, they are not afraid of the wireworm and the Colorado potato beetle. A large amount of organic fertilizers, and as a result, a good harvest of large potatoes.

Between the rows of potatoes planted in the "Zamyatkin method", you can also plant siderates: phacelia, vetch with oats, mustard, oil radish, which will then be used for mulch.

Everything you need to know about growing potatoes

Ways to increase the yield of potatoes
and receiving it 1.5 months earlier than usual

The best planting material is potatoes weighing 30-100 g.

In spring they are germinated in the light for 30-50 days.

In the last 10 days before planting, it is advisable to harden the planting potatoes at + 4-6 ° С, bringing them into the cellar.

Large tubers with filamentous sprouts should be discarded (discarded).

It is more convenient to sprout potatoes in an apartment in large open glass jars, but not in the hot sun.

It is also successfully vernalized in plastic bags. The bags can be hung. Be sure to make holes with a diameter of 1.5 cm over the entire area of ​​the plastic wrap, every 10 cm.

To obtain early potatoes, 7-10 days of germination is required in wet peat or sawdust.

For early production, it is better to plant large tubers.

Before germination, an annular cut "yield ring" is made in the middle part of the tuber. Stick in a knife and turn the potato around the blade so that the jumper becomes as small as 1-2 cm in diameter.

Before planting, large tubers are broken in two in size. As a result, not only the apical buds, but all the eyes give strong shoots.

The bushes become thicker and more powerful.

Before planting, large potatoes are not cut across, but lengthwise. Then they are dried for about a day.

Attention! If the soil is waterlogged, planting with cut potatoes is risky, as it can rot.

The soil is dug to a depth of 15-20 cm. The distance between the rows is 60 cm, between the nests is 30-35 cm. 200 g of manure or peat-compost is placed in the hole. The fertilizer is sprinkled with soil 2 cm, on which the tuber is placed. The planting depth is 5-7 cm on light soils and 4-5 cm on heavy soils.

Ridge planting accelerates the production of early potatoes. At the base of the ridge, where the tubers are planted, a favorable water-air regime is created, the temperature rises. Early potatoes are difficult to grow without watering. It is very useful to sprinkle the soil with a 2-3 cm layer of peat chips or sawdust, cover with plastic wrap with holes (the film can be used, either transparent or black). The main thing on each square meter is to make 100-200 holes with a diameter of about 1 cm. The beds are covered with this film immediately after planting, covering the edges with earth. And they remove it after full shoots appear.

Using these techniques, you can even get early potatoes in the Arctic as early as mid-July. Since the potatoes in this case are going to be small, it is better to make the planting thickened.

To obtain an early harvest, planting is carried out with whole tubers of an early ripening variety, moreover, large, 80-100 g each or medium 50-60 g.

To increase the yield by 10-15% and to increase starchiness, the potatoes are powdered with ash before planting, having previously moistened the tubers in water. For 50 kg of potatoes - 1 kg of ash. Potatoes planted early but in cold soil will yield higher yields than those planted later, albeit in warm soil.

You can protect seedlings from frost if, with an unfavorable prognosis, you close the beds with old newspapers, and then with film. As soon as the temperature rises above freezing, the film is removed. If frosts are expected at a time when sprouts have already appeared, they need to be covered with earth. With warming, the earth is not raked away.

Gardening begins 5-7 days after planting. The site is harrowed, weeds are pulled out and the soil is loosened. After a week, the treatment is repeated.

According to scientific recommendations, potatoes are spud twice a summer. For the first time, when the sprouts have reached 10-12 cm. Experts recommend finishing all inter-row treatments before the tops close. If the soil is too dry, do not huddle.

How to grow a sack of potatoes

on every square meter

1. Planting is carried out in a square-nesting manner at a distance of 60-70 cm from nest to nest. At the intersection of the marking lines, nests are pulled out with a shovel (you can use a shovel). Judge for its size for yourself: a bucket of humus is poured into each nest, a tuber is placed in the middle, a second bucket of humus is placed on top.

The nest is filled with a slight slide. The first hilling is carried out when the seedlings reach a height of 10 cm. The stems are bred in different directions and so much humus is poured into the space between them so that the leaves remain outside.

In the same way, as the stems grow, the 2nd and 3rd hilling is carried out. If necessary, when the soil is compacted, it is loosened. In dry times, the plantings are watered, and water is certainly warmed up in the sun.

2. The area for potatoes is divided into strips 30 cm wide with 60-70 cm intervals between them. For every 3.5 meters, 8-10 kg of humus and 500 g of ash are introduced. They shift and along the edges plus on 2 sides make grooves with a depth of 8 cm.In the first groove, potatoes the size of a chicken egg are laid out at a distance of 30 cm from each other, and in the other at the same distance, but departing from the edge 15 cm. ( see the figure for more details).

Thus, the potatoes in the second furrow are staggered in relation to the first. The ridges fall asleep and begin to plant the second tier of potatoes. Having retreated 15 cm from the beginning of the first furrow, the tubers are laid out at the same distance of 30 cm from each other, but already on the soil surface.

In the second furrow on the opposite side, the tubers are also located on the soil surface, but in a checkerboard pattern. From above, the rows of potatoes are covered with earth from the tracks to a depth of 3 cm.

So, in each furrow, two vertical rows of planting are obtained: one at a depth of 11 cm (8 + 3 cm) and the second at a depth of 3 cm, with one tuber shifted relative to the other by 15 cm.The ridge takes the form of a trench with four rows of potatoes - two rows at a depth of 31 cm and two others at a depth of 23 cm. Each of the two rows does not interfere with the other, being in a vertical plane.

How to grow potatoes in the month of May

You can have it on the table in May and even in April, but you need to grow it in the previous year. In August, old sprouted potatoes should be planted in well-fertilized soil. You can use areas from which vegetables have been harvested. Potatoes sprout and even bloom. A temporary greenhouse should be arranged over the ridge in order to use warm days as long as possible. Before freezing, the tops are cut to the very level of the soil, otherwise it will freeze and the tubers will begin to rot. Then the bed is covered with a 10-15 cm thick layer of manure or peat and then with straw or hay. In severe frosts, they are covered with a large layer of snow. As soon as the soil thaws in the spring, you can dig out fresh young potatoes.

How to harvest 5 buckets from one potato bush
(Chinese method)

Dig three holes 70x70 cm in size, half a meter deep.

Pour half a bucket of rotted manure (humus) at the bottom, and mix the excavated earth with two buckets of humus and pour it into the pit too.

Then put 3 potatoes at the bottom of each pit and cover with soil 10 cm. As the bush grows, fill up the soil, water and fertilize with poultry droppings with diluted water 1:20. (these operations need to be performed six times).

In the fall, you will dig up a crop of 5 buckets from each bush. Between the bushes, potatoes grow beautifully: garlic and marigolds - which the Colorado potato beetle is very afraid of. Try this method and you will certainly have a good potato crop!

How to get two crops of potatoes per year from one site

This method is used in two cases: when they want to increase the yield of potatoes from the site or have fresh tubers for use for a long time.

Success is ensured on the condition that the site is freed from snow very early in the spring, dries out and warms up quickly, and this makes it possible to start the first planting early.

To get two harvests, you need a lot of nutrients, so the soil must be fertile, since autumn it is filled with organic fertilizers, preferably with ripe pus of 6-10 kg / sq.m. Wood ash (ash) and chicken droppings can be added at 0.5-1 kg / m2. They also scatter 50-60 g of superphosphate and potassium salt per 1 sq. M.

In the spring, 30-40 g / m2 are applied. ammonium nitrate. Very early varieties are planted (Priekulskaya early, Varmas, Vorotinskaya early, Forget-me-not, etc.). Tubers are especially carefully prepared before planting. They must be germinated, first in the light, and then in a humid environment, soaked in solutions of mineral fertilizers, micronutrients, sprayed with growth regulators, etched against phytophthora. They are planted as early as the condition of the soil allows, according to the scheme 60x25 cm to a depth of 3-4 cm, sprinkled with humus or peat chips, covered with plastic wrap.

When the threat of frost passes, the site is opened and harrowed for a day. When the plants reach a height of 12-15 cm, they are spud. Periodically, every 10-15 days, it is deeply loosened between the rows.

Harvested from the first half of June to July 1. Then the site is thoroughly cleaned of the remains of the first crop, superphosphate 30-40 g / m2 is added, dug up and harrowed. If necessary, watered at the rate of 500 liters of water per 10 sq. M. The tubers planted last year, prepared in the same way as before the first planting, are planted in early July (do not plant later than July 25).

Shoots appear quickly. Plants huddle, protect from the Colorado potato beetle, from late blight, loosen between the rows. One month after sprouting, you can start selective digging of tubers. The tubers of the second harvest period have good seed properties, so part of the crop should be left for planting next year.

From each bush - three harvests of potatoes

This is how the amateur potato grower V. Yelchaninov from the village of Streletskoye, Astrakhan Region, does it.

I have a small garden - only two hundred square meters. It is clear that every piece of land has to be used to the maximum to meet the family's needs for fresh vegetables and potatoes. I think my experience in the rational use of the site can be useful to other gardeners.

I'll tell you how I harvest three tubers from each potato bush. First, starting in March, I germinate the planting material, plant it in open ground in April.

I do not use mineral fertilizers, I only use cow dung. I water in dry time once every 2 weeks.

115 days after planting, I collect the first crop from the site (when growing early maturing varieties, it can ripen earlier).

I dig out the tubers very carefully, without damaging the root system. I choose only large specimens, and leave the small ones on the roots, after that I deepen the hole and put the bush in the ground again, trample it down and water it abundantly.

After transplanting, the bushes usually take root well and even bloom. After 10-15 days, I dig them in again and harvest a second crop. I leave the tops together with small tubers in the ground and after 3 weeks I choose all the potatoes.

The aboveground part is already drying up by this time. Thus, I harvest from half a hundred annually 16 buckets of large potatoes and only a bucket of small things.

Dutch method of growing potatoes

By its natural nature, a potato plant has a yield of at least 200-250 kg per one hundred square meters.

Any other yield depends on the hands of the person. Of course, the task of any potato growing technology is to create the best conditions for its growth and development. And that's why our gardeners are attracted by the experience of Dutch potato growers for a reason.

Although their technology is intended for the production of potatoes on an individual basis (the processes are all fully mechanized), however, some of its elements can be successfully used in the conditions of a backyard economy.

So, first of all, the placement of the potatoes.

The ridges of potatoes are located from north to south. The tubers are planted in well-loosened soil: the constant access of oxygen activates all biochemical processes in the soil. Its top layer is enriched with essential nutrients. The ridges that cover the tubers are formed from it.

The height of such a ridge is 8-10 cm, the width at the base is 30-35 cm. The future crop of tubers is formed in the ridge just above the bottom of the furrow, which subsequently facilitates harvesting. The rest of the aisles is used for the subsequent formation of a more capacious ridge when leaving.

On the 14-18th day of planting, when most of the weeds germinate, and the potato sprouts are approaching its surface, the first inter-row cultivation is carried out. Its purpose is to destroy weeds and create the most favorable conditions for the growth and development of plants. On the emerging seedlings of potatoes, a layer of well-loosened soil is poured from the aisle. A ridge is formed with a height of 23-25 ​​cm. The soil should be such as if it was dug by a mole.

The comb remains in this form until harvesting. It is an ideal environment for the growth and development of potatoes. To get a solid increase in yield, experienced gardeners feed the plants during budding and flowering. For each bush, they consume 3-6 g of superphosphate, 3-4 g of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate, 1-3 g of ammonium nitrate or urea, 5-10 g of wood ash or 20-40 g of peat ash. If there are no mineral bales in stock, potatoes can be fed with a solution of bird droppings, spending 50-80 g per 1 m 2. The droppings are poured into a barrel (1/2), filled with water and kept for several days until the end of fermentation. The resulting liquid is diluted with water at the rate (1:10).

This solution is poured over the soil around the plants, spending 1.2-1.3 liters per bush. They do the same when feeding plants with slurry, although they dilute it at the rate of 1 part of slurry to 5 parts of water and spend a little more - 1.5-2 liters per bush. To combat diseases and pests, it is necessary to choose the right potato predecessors.

It can be planted in the garden after cabbage and cucumbers, as well as after carrots and beets, spinach, lettuce, radish, pumpkin, legumes.

You can not place it after tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, as this threatens infection with late blight.

* I don't know the best way *
Expert advice

A few years ago I read about the Dutch way of growing potatoes and decided to give it a try, although the home ones didn't really support me.

I started with three rows.

Happened. The next year, my family agreed to half of the garden for planting potatoes, and later I began to plant the entire plot using this method.

The result is excellent. Winnings in everything from planting (including tillage) to harvesting.

Firstly, I spend less time, which is very important for a villager in the spring.

And processing also does not require much time and costs. But I must say that for this you need to have special tools that a craftsman can make himself. I have been using homemade tools for 5 years now.

So, growing potatoes in the Dutch way, I did not make 75 cm aisles, but 70 cm.However, I soon realized that the wider the aisles, the easier the processing and the higher the yield.

The planting depth of tubers is 6 cm. The fact is that in the future it is necessary to build up the ridge with earth from the row spacing. And to take the land, you need to make at least 70 cm aisles.Now I do 90 cm.

But who does not have it, you can build up the comb with a hoe (hoe) on one side, and then on the other side.

The taller and wider the ridge, the greater the potato yield.

I make the height of the ridge from 25 to 30 cm, it is a pleasure to remove it, the tubers are large, they are not damaged during digging, they are not cut, they are easy to dig with a shovel, the time required is minimal. This method is especially good on damp and highly moist soils.

Ushakov's potato weaving

Three operations performed simultaneously serve as the basis for increasing yields, writes Vladimir Petrovich Ushakov.

The first is dumping the topsoil to a depth of 5-6 cm with simultaneous loosening to the depth of the soil horizon. So in the upper layer, weeds are destroyed, and in the lower layer, good conditions are created for the development of earthworms and microorganisms that form the basis of the fertility of the earth.

The second operation is to apply semi-rotten manure with a moisture content of 40-60%, and not over the entire area, but in the places where the tubers are planted.

And the third is to plant them so that they are evenly distributed over the area at a distance (for the conditions of my site) 45 cm from one another.

The first year (it was a long-term deposit) with a bayonet shovel cut the sod to a depth of 5-6 cm and piled it. I returned it to the site after complete decay, two years later. He loosened the entire plot with a garden pitchfork so as not to turn the soil over.

In subsequent years, the upper layer was cultivated with a hoe, cutting weeds, and the lower layer was loosened with a pitchfork. But soon the weeds disappeared, and I use only a pitchfork to prepare the soil.

I work like this.

In the spring, when the soil warms up to +8 ° C, I mark the area with a marker (a diamond-shaped frame, at the corners of which wooden fangs are fixed from below to form pits). At the site of the first hole at the beginning of the site, I dig a depression deep into the bayonet of the shovel. At the bottom of the hole I pour 500-700 g of semi-rotten manure (it must contain worms, they are the basis of the crop). I cover it with a layer of 1-2 cm and plant one tuber weighing 50-70 g.

A month before planting, the tubers from the cellar are taken out for germination in a warm room so that on each tuber there are 5-7 sprouts 0.5-1 cm long.

After that, I dig a second hole, fill the tuber with soil from it, not pouring it, but moving it off the shovel. I do all the work in one day.

In the summer I carry out one hilling, when the tops reach a length of 20-25 cm. I perform this work with a ripper with 4 teeth 10 cm wide so that a mound is formed, from which the stems emerge 5-8 cm. In the fall, when digging up potatoes, I loosen the entire plot with a pitchfork. Under each bush there are 20-22 tubers with a total weight of 1.4-1.6 kg.

Thus, from 1 square meter I get 8-11 kg of selected potatoes. To what has been said, it remains to add that Vladimir Petrovich planted potatoes only on one hundred square meters.

And he also constantly repeated: the scraps will not feed us - only those fields on which intelligent technology is used can do this. And this requires new cars. And not only talked about it, but also developed drawings and models of such machines. I wish I could use this wealth of the innovator and put it into action.

10 sacks of tripudovy potatoes from a hundred
Growing potatoes according to the Usenko system

Plowing or digging should be carried out to a depth of at least 25 cm with half of the required rate of mineral fertilizers previously applied to the soil surface.

Scatter the other half over the plow.

Fertilizer rates are given per 100 square meters (per hundred square meters):

1. Humus - one ton in two years for the third. In the year of planting potatoes or vegetables, do not give humus at all, or give, but not more than 200-300 kg.

2. Magnesium sulfate - 5 kg annually for 10 years. Apply in autumn or early spring.

3. Urea - annually in the spring 1-2 kg and without nitrogen fertilization in the summer.

4. Amophos or superphosphate - 3 kg annually for 3 years, and then after 2 years for the third twice.

5. Potassium magnesium - 4 kg annually.

6. Chalk - only depending on the acidity of the soil, given that the universal acidity of the soil for most of the crops is pH - 6.0-6.5. If they are lower, then to increase the pH per unit, it is necessary to add 30-40 kg of chalk, or one and a half times more lime.

7. Iron vitriol - 1-6 kg annually, but only if the pH is above 6.0. At pH 6.0 - 1 kg, at pH 0.7 - 6 kg. And thus, after 10 years, 1 g of pure iron is found in 1 liter of soil (such a measure is adopted in world practice).

8. Zinc sulfate - 1.5 kg once, if the pH of the soil is not higher than 6.0, and with two repetitions after two years on the third, if the pH is close to 0.7.

9. Copper sulfate - 500 g with a double repetition in two years on the third.

10. Boric acid - 100 g annually and 200 g if the pH is below 6.5.

11. Molybdenum ammonium - 30 g annually, and if the pH is less than 6.0, then more is possible.

12. Manganese - if introduced, do not give humus, because 1 kg of humus (especially on acidic soils) has 30-40 mg of manganese.

Such a soil fertilization system is designed for 10 years. In the future, only urea, potassium magnesium, boric acid and ammonium molybdate are introduced into the soil at the same rate, and other elements of top dressing only after soil analysis.

But already in 4-5 years after fertilizing the soil, opportunities are created to obtain consistently high yields of vegetables.

For example, potatoes of at least 500 centners per hectare are 10 three-pound sacks per hundred square meters with high taste and a minimum amount of nitrates.

I want to warn you once again that with a competent balanced application of fertilizers in an appropriate respect, nitrates are not created in vegetables, and humus, especially fresh, creates a poison that exists in a polluted ecological environment and transfers them to plants.

Therefore, it, especially in large quantities, contributes to the appearance of nitrates and undesirable harmful substances in vegetables and potatoes.

Sweet potato cultivation technology

Many newspapers and magazines write about sweet potatoes as if they were a novelty, a curiosity, wanting to praise the quality of this culture in different ways.

But probably not everyone knows that sweet potatoes are not a novelty in the south of the country. In the 30s, it was grown in large areas, including research work.

Therefore, we can say that sweet potatoes are untapped opportunities for our regions.

Our potatoes cannot even approximately compare with sweet potatoes in terms of starch content (30%), sugar (2.5-7.8%), the calorie content of the latter, for example, is 1.5 times more and more valuable with proteins in sweet potatoes, because it is easy assimilable albumin.

And the consumption of planting material is approximately 90-200 kg / ha, while potatoes - up to 3 tons.

The sweet potato has tremendous vitality, takes root well and does not require special care.

It is especially valuable that this culture is not affected by the Colorado potato beetle and does not get sick.

The only surprise is the conservatism and strange passivity of our summer residents, gardeners and everyone involved in agriculture.

Why don't they plant sweet potatoes, but stubbornly plant only potatoes, while getting scanty harvests?

They may argue: where to get the sweet potato planting material?

And the technology of its cultivation, they say, is complicated.

First, there is more than enough planting material, especially in late September and early October. First of all, these are stems that do not need to be fed to livestock or simply thrown out, but cut. During the winter, you can grow seedlings for any area. This is not to mention the tubers. 2-3 tubers are enough and during the winter you will grow seedlings for your plot.

Secondly, when planting with a 70x70 scheme, 196 plants are needed per hundred square meters. It is not difficult to grow such a number of plants. In addition, the sweet potato gives a very beautiful bush and, growing it in pots in winter, we get a wonderful green corner of the house.

Thirdly, the main condition for the cultivation of sweet potatoes is the cleanliness of the plantation from weeds and frequent watering.

In the autumn, cut the sweet potato stalk into cuttings with three buds with a blade, lower the cuttings into the water so that it covers two buds. After 10 days, the cuttings take root. We transfer them to pots or simply to boxes with ordinary soil (soil depth - 10 cm). Water periodically throughout the winter. If the cuttings give long shoots, they can be cut three times during the winter.

Plant in open ground, if warm, in late April or May, in constant warm weather. Who wants to get cuttings and more detailed advice on growing sweet potatoes. You can contact the interregional experimental station at the address: 325013 Ukraine. city ​​of Kherson. Krymskaya street, 56. Kravchenko Grigory Ivanovich. Tel. 4-36-98.

How to properly plant potatoes and peas in one hole
to increase the yield

Potatoes and vegetable peas, planted in one hole, grow well and make it possible to get two crops from one area.

When potatoes and peas are grown together, a potato tuber and 2-3 peas are placed in one hole (furrow) (of course, at different depths).

The greatest yield is obtained in areas with loose fertile soil, well filled with mineral and organic fertilizers.

Even in the absence of fertilization, such a combination of crops will not cause severe depletion of the soil on the site.

Peas themselves enrich the soil with nitrogen, thanks to the nodule bacteria that settle on its roots and assimilate nitrogen from the air.

Why ugly tubers form on potatoes
and how to avoid it

This happens for the following reason.

In case of untimely watering or absence, its growth of tubers is suspended, and after watering or rains, it resumes. This uneven growth is what causes the ugliness of the tubers.

To avoid this, it is necessary to deeply cultivate the plots, apply organic fertilizers, improve the structure of the soil, and water the plants in a timely manner in order to retain moisture.

Harvest 100 kilograms of potatoes from 1 square meter

I read that one farmer has grown a potato tuber weighing over 20 kg.

It has long been known that photosynthesis and assimilation of carbon dioxide from the air occurs in the leaves of a plant at a very high pressure of the intracellular fluid (turgor up to 20 atmospheres).

Due to the lack of water in the soil, the turgor decreases, the intensity of photosynthesis decreases, and carbon dioxide no longer enters the leaves of the plant even before their wilting begins. At the same time, the cells of the whole plant age prematurely, and its growth becomes intermittent.

As a result - a large decrease in yield. Excess water displaces air from the soil, which is necessary for the respiration of plant roots and the vital activity of soil microorganisms, which increase the reserves of nutrients in it. With our method of growing potatoes, an optimal water-air regime in the soil is ensured, since moisture is continuously supplied to the root system in an amount corresponding to its evaporation by the foliage.

A metal pallet 0.8x0.8 meters and a height of 20 cm is completely buried in the ground (or the same trench is dug out and turns into a trough for water with a strong plastic wrap).

A pipe with a diameter of 30-50 mm and a length of 1.5 m is vertically installed in the center of the pallet.The entire pallet is covered with fine (5-20 mm) gravel and covered with a water-permeable non-woven material (agryl, spunbond, etc.) so that the soil does not fill with sweat emptiness in the rubble. A box frame without a bottom with collapsible walls is installed above the pallet.

The size of the box is 1x1 m, the height is 1.5 m. Having extended 50 cm of the side walls of the box, we fill it with moist fertile soil. For such a volume of soil, it is enough to add one bucket of mature compost, 1 kg of wood ash and up to 100 g of superphosphate.

In mature compost after processing organic matter, soil microorganisms, millipedes and earthworms, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements are correctly balanced among themselves by nature itself. With an excess of nitrogen nutrition, the intake of potassium, calcium, copper, zinc and other microelements into the plant is reduced.

Excess phosphorus converts the iron contained in the soil into an insoluble state, depleting the soil solution. If necessary, the soil is limed and sand is added. To saturate the soil with air, the walls of the box are assembled with slots, and the pipe in the center of the box has small holes along its entire length.

In hot weather, through this pipe, the sump is filled with water by 95 percent, in cool weather - by 70 percent, and when 3-5 percent of water remains in the sump, it must be topped up (about 1 time per week). Before filling the crushed stone, water is poured into the pallet, and a light wire (of equal length with the pipe) with a fixed float at the bottom is inserted into the specified pipe.

On the part of the wire protruding above the pipe (by lifting it with a float), marks of the above water levels in the pan are made. In total, eight pieces (the best varieties for the area) of well-sprouted potato tubers, 200 g each, are planted at an equidistant distance from the walls of the box and the pipe in its center to a depth of no more than 10 cm in the soil warmed up to 7 degrees. When the tops of all tubers grow by 15 cm, we partially sprinkle it with moist fertile soil, leaving sprouts about 7 cm.

So each time, gradually increasing the side walls of the box, we continue to partially dust the potato tops until the end of July. In strong sunshine, the potatoes are shaded; in case of significant cold snaps, they hide for the night and continue to water them from below.

The miracle potato blooms for a very long time. At the end of September, we disassemble the side walls of the box and harvest delicious potatoes.

With the correct implementation of all the above works, already in the first year, the potato yield can well exceed 100 kg per 1 square meter occupied by the specified box. It is possible to significantly improve the water-air regime in the soil in the following simple and cheap way.

Under a bush of currants or gooseberries, a hole is made obliquely a little deeper than the root system (with a hose with a pressure of water, a small-diameter drill or a crowbar), a piece of pipe (or an irrigation hose) is inserted into it. A container with water is fixed above the hose, which should continuously drip into it 1-2 liters per day, depending on the weather. In this case, the yield can increase several times. So, the weight of a pumpkin grown by me in this way in 1999 exceeded 40 kg.

One and a half tons of potatoes per hundred square meters

You need to take care of the harvest in the fall - select full-fledged 100-150-gram tubers and plant greenery (hold in the light) for 2 weeks.

Varieties "Early Rose" and "Gatchinsky".

When landscaping, the tubers are occasionally turned over. The soil must also be prepared in the fall, at first it must be deeply loosened with an iron rake, while removing all plant debris and weeds. Then add organic and mineral fertilizers: for 1 square meter of humus - 0.5 kg, potassium chloride - 30 g, double superphosphate - 50 g and dig up. In March, you need to prepare the tubers for planting.

Before germination, while the buds have not started to grow, it is necessary to make a transverse annular cut on each tuber with a thin knife to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. The bushes grow more powerful, the yield increases by 10-15%.

It is necessary to germinate tubers from March 10 in flat, shallow boxes, with sawdust poured onto the bottom, at a temperature of 10-20 degrees. The tubers are laid out with their tops up and are sheltered from light before germination.

After shading, they are removed and illuminated for 10-12 hours a day. From 10 to 25 April, continue germination in a humid environment. A mixture of humus and sawdust in a 2: 1 ratio is poured onto the bottom of the boxes. The thickness of the layer is 3 cm. The mixture and tubers are periodically sprayed with water, and on the 5th and 10th days with a fertilizer solution: 60 g of superphosphate 50 g of ammonium nitrate, 0.5 liters of ash water extract per 10 liters of water.

A water extract of ash is prepared as follows: a liter can of ash is poured with 2 liters of warm water per day. During wet germination, thick, strong sprouts sprout, the tubers give roots, which must be sprinkled with a mixture of humus and sawdust. It is useful to harden tubers with ajar windows.

At the same time, you need to take care of the site: in the second half of April, on sunny days, cover it with a dark film so that the soil warms up as soon as possible. Before planting, add 50 g of double superphosphate, half a glass of nitroammophoska, half a glass of potassium magnesium per 1 sq. M. The mixture must be thoroughly mixed.

A half-liter jar of the mixture is poured into each hole and mixed with the soil. Sprouted tubers are planted to a depth of 6-8 cm. If after planting a sudden cold snap sets in, cover the area with a dark and then transparent film. If shoots have appeared, but frosts are expected, it is better to sprinkle them with soil. When the seedlings reach a height of 7-10 cm at night, spray with a 0.02% solution of potassium permanganate (2 g per 10 l of water).

It is useful to make two foliar feeding during the growth period. The first one at the beginning of budding - with a 3% solution of ammonium nitrate and the addition of trace elements. The second is done to accelerate the ripening of tubers - 5% extract of superphosphate and potassium magnesium (phosphate - 3, potassium and magnesium - 2). It is good to combine foliar feeding with the prevention of late blight - add a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid to the nutrient solution.

What should be done so that the potatoes do not turn black

There may be several reasons for this.

First, a violation of the storage regime for tubers: high or low temperature, lack of oxygen or excess carbon dioxide.

Secondly, injury to tubers during harvesting and transportation. When the tuber tissue is damaged, oxidative processes are intensified, in particular, an irreversible transformation of phenolic compounds occurs.

Thirdly, there is a lack of potassium tubers. Potatoes are known to consume more potassium as they grow than nitrogen or phosphorus.

Few soils contain less than the plant needs. With potassium starvation, the leaves are dark green with a bronze tint, then their yellowing and browning with the death of tissues along the edges.

The signs of a lack of potassium in the plant can be shortened internodes, closer arrangement of leaf lobes, uneven growth of the leaf blade, leading to wrinkling of the leaves. These signs clearly appear on the old lower leaves of the bush, then on the middle and upper ones.

The situation can be corrected by the introduction of mineral fertilizers, but only with the correct ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in them. In addition, there are varieties, for example Sineglazka, in which tubers deliberately darken during cooking. The introduction of concentrated chlorine-free fertilizers into the soil at the rate of 30 g per 1 square meter of active ingredient will contribute to the formation of tubers that do not darken during cooking.

By the way, getting rid of blackness is very simple. Place 1-2 bay leaves in a pot of potatoes. Bay leaf prevents the tubers from darkening during cooking and also improves their taste.

Method of growing potatoes in pits and ridges,
providing a high yield in any weather

They say and write a lot about potatoes, but this topic is always relevant.

Now it's even hard to imagine the times when people did without this product. And now that prices have reached astronomical levels, potatoes are becoming a staple food. There is nothing to say about its healing and nutritional properties. First of all, this is the second bread.

In addition, 100 g of raw tubers contains 25-40 mg of vitamin C. This is certainly less than rose hips, black currants, but we eat potatoes every day.

And in order for it to give high yields, be starchy and tasty, it must be properly taken care of. When the ground warms up in the spring, dig a hole 70 by 70 cm in size and 50 cm deep. Put two buckets of last year's humus at the bottom, you can add a glass of superphosphate.

Put in a triangle three mid-season potatoes (in no case early or late varieties), sprinkle 10 cm with humus. When the tops grow by 14-15 cm, sprinkle with humus by 10 cm again, and so on right up to September. During this time, it is necessary to water it 1-2 times with a nutrient solution so that the soil is moistened and warms up better.

Well, okay, the reader will think, this is a really good method, but what if you use it in an area where the weather is constantly damp, or is it just a rainy summer? What will happen to potatoes planted in half-meter holes? In this case, folk wisdom has in store another version of the described method.

Some summer residents dubbed it "landing in a hole the other way around." Well, to be more precise, we are talking about growing potatoes in the ridges. They do it as follows. In order to grow a high yield, preparation must begin in the fall. In autumn, during digging, select potatoes weighing 70-80 g from the most productive bushes. It is unacceptable to leave very small tubers for planting, they can be affected or unripe.

But it is best to create a seed plot. Before you put the seed material for storage, it must be kept for 15-20 days in a closed, dark room, sprinkled with a thin layer. During this time, wounds will heal on the tubers damaged during digging. After that, the potatoes are sorted out (it is advisable to keep them in the light for greening) and lowered into the storage (in the basement). You need to store at a temperature of 2-4 degrees Celsius.

In the spring, about a month before planting, the planting material must be brought into a room whose temperature does not exceed 8-12 degrees. To disinfect the tubers, I put them in a solution for 30 minutes, which I prepare as follows: for 10 liters of water, 60 g of superphosphate, 40 - urea, 5 - copper sulfate, 10 - boric acid and 1 g of manganese. I dissolve all components in warm water, with the exception of manganese. Spread it on the floor in a thin layer and germinate. When the sprouts hatch, to prevent late blight, I spray it again with a solution of copper sulfate (2 g per 10 l of water), or boric acid. This will make it possible to receive young tubers 15-20 days earlier than usual.

How do I plant my planting material? First of all, I outline where the row should be, and along this line I apply mineral fertilizers. I have been bringing in organics since autumn. If there is no complex mineral fertilizer, I prepare the nutrient mixture myself. I take one part of nitrogen and two parts of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, mix and add at the rate of 20-30 g per 1 sq. M. Then I dig this strip.

I put the sprouted potatoes with their eyes up, slightly press them into the ground. Then I add it on both sides, pouring in a comb. The distance between the rows is 80-90 cm, in a row from each other 20-25 cm. When shoots appear, I gradually increase the ridge, and at the same time destroy the weeds.

I don’t huddle potatoes. The comb method also has the advantage that the potato bushes do not become waterlogged in a rainy summer. Having planted potatoes in the usual way, I collect 3 buckets of tubers from 6 rows, and 18 buckets from 6 rows planted with a comb method.

How to cook potatoes

Usually potatoes are peeled, placed in cold water, brought to a boil and boiled for 20-30 minutes.

It is bad that the tubers heat up gradually, because until their temperature reaches 60-70 degrees Celsius, the enzymes contained there continue to work: ascorbate oxidase oxidizes vitamin C, amylases convert starch into sugar, which turns into a decoction.

Neither one nor the other is absolutely unnecessary for us, eaters. If the potatoes are immersed directly in boiling water, the activity of these enzymes on the surface of the tuber immediately drops and the loss of nutrients is almost halved. At the same time, minerals are better preserved, to which enzymes are not related.

There are two reasons: the first is that the dissolved substances in the tubers move from hot to cold zones, that is, from outside to inside, because when heated, the Brownian movement of molecules increases.

Another reason: potatoes (like many other foods) have a capillary-porous structure. The moisture in the capillaries is under the influence of surface tension forces. (Remember the thermometer!)

If one end of the capillary is heated, then the surface tension on this side will decrease, and moisture will begin to move with the substances dissolved in it to the cold end, in our case - into the tuber, where they will be whole. Put potatoes in boiling water!

Can peel potatoes be boiled? If cooked in a peel, then the loss of nutrients is only 0.1-0.2%, and if peeled - 14-15%. However, potatoes contain a poisonous glucoside - solanine. It is especially abundant in green and sprouted tubers.

Therefore, such tubers should be cooked only peeled so that more solanine and nitrates with pesticides pass into the broth. So think carefully before boiling potatoes in their skins.

Back in early August, they tried to dig young potatoes, but they are already in the ground with sprouts and even with small green leaves on them. Why did this happen? And will such potatoes be stored?
Nadezhda Leonidovna.
Hobby gardeners who are constantly growing potatoes know that there are several mandatory rules for getting a decent harvest.
The first is hilling potatoes. The fact is that it has a superficial root system (it goes more in breadth than in depth). In loose soil, the roots capture the maximum space around them, tubers form under their fringes, also lovers of such land. Therefore, the latter are always more in the hilling mound, and they grow rounded and even.
In heavy soil, the plant is forced to develop roots down, where it is softer. Therefore, in dense soil and without hilling, tubers are formed clumsy with different growths and dents, and there are few large ones, and many small peas.
Hilling primarily improves air exchange in the mound. The higher it is, the more lateral underground shoots it contains, the number of stolons increases on them, which ensure the growth of tubers. After hilling, the earth becomes loose, therefore it is advisable to loosen it after each rain and watering.
Hilling should be started during the budding period, when general tuberization begins. It is necessary not only to rake the earth to the stems, but also to spread them to the sides. Indeed, for the formation of a good harvest, the plant needs more sun and space for the formation of foliage. Indeed, in the leaves, carbon dioxide and other nutrients in the sun are converted into carbohydrates, including starch of tubers.
It was noticed that good tubers develop at a depth of no more than 15 cm, below - only “pea under-catch”. Therefore, the hilling mound should be voluminous. It is useful to add liquid fertilizing to it, and sprinkle the aisles with mulch, which will become an obstacle for weeds and “turn on” the mechanism of air irrigation (dew loss). If the soil is loose, then the air gives up its moisture, forming condensation due to the temperature difference. The higher it is in the air, the more water it contains, which means that more daytime dew will settle in the ground. In addition, fog and dew are abundant sources of atmospheric ammonia and nitric acid, elements always necessary for a plant.
The second rule is that potatoes need watering, rare but abundant. It is necessary to water the aisles.
Third, ten days before the start of harvesting, the potatoes are cut and the tops are removed. The tubers lie in the soil for 10-14 days, accumulating starch and strengthening the skin.
The potato yield depends on the variety. In heat and drought, red-tuber varieties work better: Romano, Bullfinch, Red Scarlett.
And what should our reader do? Most likely, the culture lacked hilling and watering. Indeed, in such an unbearably hot summer, plants cannot survive without the help of people. And if sprouts have appeared, it means that the potatoes, due to the abnormal heat, went, as it were, for the formation of a second harvest. You can, of course, if the number of bushes is small, remove the sprouts, and it is best to mow the tops and harvest. Rinse, dry and determine by its appearance: put it off for storage, put it up for consumption, for livestock feed or for seeds. Just keep in mind that the pathology that has occurred may affect the next year's harvest. The final decision is yours.

Why do potatoes grow poorly? You can blame the weather conditions, insufficient fertilization, poor variety, or else there are reasons. It is necessary to ask about this agronomists - potato growers, whose work is connected with the cultivation of a good harvest of potatoes every year, regardless of the climate.

Experts identify several main reasons for poor potato growth.

Breeding developments have resulted in potato varieties designed for various weather conditions. One variety is not afraid of drought, the other - stagnant water. There are early, cold-resistant varieties, there are those that get sick in cold soil, but they are stored for a long time. Long-term forecasts of meteorologists are so imperfect, the weather is so unpredictable, that it is impossible to guess what conditions will be during the entire period of potato growth. As a way out of this situation, experts advise planting several varieties with different planting and ripening dates in equal proportions in separate beds.

Poor quality planting material

How are potatoes selected for planting next year?

Method one: the whole crop is dug up, taken to a heap for drying, then selected by size, small, large and medium - for seeds. This option is incorrect. With this selection, there is a risk of collecting tubers from poorly developed bushes, which turned out to be the best of the worst, into seed material.

The second method is the selection of material immediately during the digging process, from the best bushes. It doesn't matter if large roots get into the seeds, they can be cut into several by the buds, but they will have a strong heredity and prerequisites for a good harvest.

But that is not all. Even the correct selection of seeds does not prevent rebirth. Each subsequent planting of the same material reduces the yield by a tenth. The renewal of the seed fund should be carried out at least every five years, purchasing new seeds from trusted sellers.

Buying planting potatoes at the bazaar has its own risks; it is impossible to determine by eye the age and the method of seed selection. You can update your material using tuber tops, sprouts, cuttings or seeds.

Lack of crop rotation

A potato field usually occupies the largest plot of land in a peasant or dacha farm. The largest and therefore most often constant from year to year. Even if the field for potatoes is fertilized well, this does not save it from reducing the yield. In the soil, pathogens accumulate, which cause diseases of crops of the same kind, causing diseases, crushing and degeneration of plantings. Why are the bushes of unripe potatoes falling apart? Early wilting causes the main disease of potatoes - late blight.

Phytophthora spores tolerate cold well and live in the ground for several years. By changing the place of planting potatoes to a site where crops not susceptible to phytophthora grew, gardeners protect their crops from disease.

Good precursors for potatoes are cabbage, pumpkin, cucumbers, and beets. By replacing each other, these plants become soil healers for the next crop. Tomatoes and sunflowers are not suitable as precursors for potatoes. The proximity of the plantation also matters.

Potatoes have good "relationships" with neighbors such as onions, garlic, corn, lettuce, radishes, and sorrel.

Depletion of the soil

Why doesn't potatoes grow in a vegetable garden that is carefully harvested, combed and cleaned? A beautiful country garden, which is completely removed from weeds, dry tops and leaves, is the standard of a well-groomed area of ​​many gardeners. The flip side of the medal of such beauty is the fact that the soil, completely open and devoid of all roots, very quickly depletes and dries up.

To obtain a good harvest in such a clean area, it is necessary to apply a large amount of fertilizer and frequent watering. Of course, it is necessary to free the plants from weeds, but it should be remembered that the potato field needs the same mulching as the beds with tomatoes or cucumbers. You can use the same plucked weeds for this, leaving them between the rows to rot.

Deep landing

Why does potato grow poorly when the seed is deepened during planting more than is required? The optimal depth for a potato hole is 7-8 cm. Air does not penetrate deeper than the indicated one and the sprout in this case is doomed to oxygen starvation, and this does not contribute to a bountiful harvest.

Simultaneous planting of all varieties

We prepared thoroughly for the planting season, collected a collection of varieties that are diverse in terms of timing and climatic resistance, and the potatoes do not grow. The reason may be hidden in the fact that all of these varieties were planted on the same day. Early or mid-early potatoes calmly tolerate the low temperature of unheated soil, but reacts sensitively to overheating and dryness if planted much later. With late thermophilic varieties, everything is exactly the opposite.

Inappropriate landing method

It would seem that it is difficult to plant potatoes: dig a hole, put the seeds and bury them. Everything is so, but why, then, does not potatoes grow in the garden, although it is well fertilized. It's all about the type of soil. Sandy arid soils as well as clay and waterlogged soils require a special approach to planting methods.

For sandy soils in arid areas, planting in pre-created organic trenches is recommended. Swampy places, the soil of which retains moisture, is overly suitable for ridge planting.