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Processing potatoes before planting is not strictly necessary, but certain manipulations help to increase the yield, accelerate growth and protect the plant from diseases and pests. Below we will consider the most popular and effective methods of pre-sowing soil and seed preparation.
Landscaping
Preplant planting of tubers reduces the loss of moisture in the mother potato. Especially this procedure helps with insufficient soil moisture in the spring. If at night this culture can absorb water through the surface of the leaves, then in the daytime hours of sunshine without landscaping, it will be quite difficult for a young root system to provide itself with moisture. Also, during landscaping, sprouts grow stronger, which appeared during storage in the cellar.
It is recommended to plant tubers 2-2,5 weeks before the planned planting. The whole process is extremely simple and provided by nature itself. It is enough to take the seed boxes outside and cover them with a thick transparent film, creating the effect of a greenhouse. During exposure to sunlight, chlorophyll begins to be produced in the root crop, a substance that turns the tubers green. If potatoes are processed in this way, then you can count on early shoots. Productivity increases by 14-15%.
Germination
Germination is the most important procedure that increases the chances of obtaining a high-quality and plentiful harvest. If you plant potato seeds without sprouts, it will be quite difficult for them to cut through the soil to the surface. This noticeably slows down growth and lengthens the growing season.
In order for the kidneys to wake up on time and give high-quality sprouts, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for them. Prepared tubers should be laid out in an even thin layer in boxes of 10-12 kilograms. Boxes are installed in a warm room with an air temperature of up to 20 ° C for 5-7 days. After the buds have hatched, the boxes must be moved to a cooler and brighter place with a temperature of about 10-12 ° C.
If you leave the tubers warm for a long time, you can get poor-quality seed material with thin and brittle sprouts. Every 7-10 days, the potatoes are turned over so that the light penetrates evenly on all sides. While shifting the tubers, you can sort them to remove diseased, spoiled and rotten potatoes.
Video “Preparing potatoes before planting”
Disinfection
Once in the ground, the seeds are attacked not only by parasites and pests, but also by fungi and bacteria. Preplant disinfection helps to protect the material from premature spoilage and prevent infection of young tubers. Most often, the processing of potatoes before planting is carried out with potassium permanganate. For 10 liters of water, you need to take 1 gram of the product. The tubers are dipped in the solution for 30-40 minutes.
Some gardeners also recommend disinfecting the soil with the same solution of potassium permanganate. A solution of copper sulphate and zinc sulfate gives good results. Each product is taken 10 grams per bucket of water. You can make a solution in wooden, glass or enameled containers, but not in metal ones. If you decide to use boric acid, then it is taken 50 grams per 10 liters of water.
All these methods help protect the plant from the common phytophthora disease. If it was not possible to save the site from this fungus, you can use Fitosporin. Its solution is sprayed with tops and watered the soil.
After soaking in antiseptic solutions, potatoes are dipped in wood ash. Also, this folk remedy is added to the soil immediately before planting. Ash has a triple effect – it disinfects, promotes growth and repels pests.
Some gardeners recommend protecting the tubers by adding a bed of rotten grass to the soil. Everyone knows well that the most terrible enemy of potatoes is the Colorado potato beetle. But in fact, it is not only him who should be afraid. The wireworm, the larva of the click beetle, loves to spoil root crops and settle in them. The wireworm gnaws back passages in the tubers, reaching the very core. Because of this, the potatoes begin to rot. Most of all, wireworms are afraid of a limestone environment. Therefore, first of all, chalk, lime and ash are added to the soil before planting.
A good folk remedy for wireworm is crushed eggshells. A small amount of homemade powder is poured directly into the soil under the seeds. You can also fight the wireworm with ammonium sulfate. Make sure that ammonia water does not get into the growth zone of the root system. You can scare away wireworms with potassium permanganate. You just need to prepare a stronger solution. For 10 liters of water, take 5 grams of the drug. 500-1000 milliliters of the product is poured into each well.
Cardinal measures to combat wireworms involve the use of professional chemicals, such as Provotox, Kapkan or Zemlin. Sometimes prevention from wireworm is carried out with infusion of celandine. Large farm enterprises prefer to process potatoes before sowing with Aktara and Baikal-EM. These complex preparations protect tubers and stimulate growth.
Video “Potatoes before planting”
What operations should be carried out with potatoes before planting to get the best yield? Do not know? Then the video below is for you.
