Contents
Potatoes in our country are rightfully considered the second bread. Each summer resident devotes most of the garden to planting crops. The subsequent harvest directly depends on the variety of potatoes. Therefore, there is a difficulty in acquiring a sufficient amount of planting material. There is a method that can significantly reduce seed consumption – planting potatoes with eyes. Using this method, you will need 2-3 times less material for planting, and with proper soil preparation and seedling care, a rich harvest will be provided. Among the main advantages of the method, a decrease in the incidence of potatoes is noted, since only part of the tuber is used. You will not need to drag several bags of planting material to the garden. It will be possible to effectively change varieties in the future.
Preparation of planting material
First of all, it is necessary to carry out the correct preparation of the seed material. Not all eyes on tubers are suitable for planting. Before preparation, it is necessary to discard sick, frozen potatoes. Usually, tubers with a size of 50-70 g are selected, since the eyes from small potatoes are not so productive.
It is important to create optimal microclimatic conditions in the place where the seed is stored. It is impossible to pour them in a thick layer into the basement immediately after cutting. This can lead to rotting of the tubers. If you store the seeds in a dry room, they will simply dry out. It is best to keep the cut potato pieces at room temperature. The layer should be only one, maximum two rows. When stored in the basement, you can pour parts in a layer of 5-7 cm for a period of 8-10 days. During this time, the sections should be tested, that is, coarsened.
From time to time it is necessary to review the planting material and select rotten parts. It is also worth throwing out suspicious specimens. With high dryness of the air in the room, you can sometimes spray the tubers, preventing them from wilting.
To increase yields and accelerate the emergence of seedlings, experienced gardeners advise vernalizing potatoes. For this purpose, parts of the tubers that should go for planting are laid out in diffused light at a temperature of 15-20 degrees (room temperature). This will allow the eyes to grow faster. The sprouts obtained in this way are called light sprouts. They should be short, coarse, green in color, with leaf rudiments. Sometimes even roots appear. Carrying out such manipulations with seed material will reduce the period between planting and germination by almost half.
35-40 days before planting, planting material must be taken out of storage and warmed up. The optimum heating temperature is 18-2o degrees. Under such conditions, the potato should stay at least 4 days. When the first eyes appear, the seeds should be laid out in boxes in 2-3 layers and exposed to light at a temperature of 8 degrees.
Usually for this, the boxes are taken out into the street. The temperature can be controlled with a plastic film. Under such conditions, the tubers continue to germinate. Sprouts in 28-35 days grow by 2-3 cm and acquire a greenish-purple color. A day or two before planting, potatoes should be divided into pieces. The number of parts is equal to the number of eyes.
Questions often arise about how to properly divide a seed tuber, at the top of which several eyes have formed. In this case, the top is divided vertically into 2-3 slices. At the same time, it is advised not to plant such slices nearby.
Specialized literature advises making parts weighing at least 5-10 grams, but summer residents know from their own experience that even parts of 2-3 g are productive and give an excellent harvest.
Landing technique
Seed potatoes are planted in insulated ridges. It is best to land in a sunlit place, protected from the winds. When landing under a shovel, the field is first marked at a distance of 50-60 cm. The furrow should be made about 6 cm deep. The bottom of the grooves should be well loosened. Landing is carried out after 10-15 cm in a row. In this way, the roots grow in different directions, they have enough space, and therefore competition does not occur and optimal nutrition is ensured. The pieces are laid out cut down, and sprouts up, slightly pressing into the soil. Small slices should be placed more often, and large ones less often. Next, the seeds are sprinkled with earth, which forms a roller 8-10 cm high and with a base width of 35 cm. Usually, after 2,5-3 weeks, potato shoots will appear, then you need to make the roller higher – up to 25-27 cm, with a width of 65-70 cm.
Some gardeners use a planting pattern of 15 by 30 cm. In this case, hilling is not provided, so parts of the seed tubers are planted to a depth of more than 12 cm to prevent their landscaping. In this case, potatoes need to be mulched when the temperature rises to 20 degrees Celsius.
Soil type should be considered when choosing planting conditions. On heavy clay soils, seeds are planted to a depth of 4-5 cm and it is best to form ridges, thus raising the plantings above ground level. And on sandy and sandy loamy soils, it is recommended to land under a shovel in holes or furrows to a depth of 10-12 cm.
Growing tips
When you saw that the weeds began to grow massively, you need to fight them. To clear the field and simultaneously loosen the earth, harrowing is carried out. This method is optimal at a planting depth of 7-10 cm. If you have done a shallower planting, it is worth using manual weeding tools so as not to damage the plants. This treatment must be carried out 2-3 times.
Also one of the methods of care is watering the plants. Usually 2 waterings are carried out: pre-sowing and at the beginning of flowering. If the year is dry, then you can re-irrigate with mass flowering of potatoes.
It is advised to sow legumes next to potatoes: peas, beans, beans. Provide such a neighborhood with nitrogen, the plants will shade the soil, and also repel pests. If you leave wide aisles (up to 90 cm), then it is recommended to plant on them, the so-called compactors: cabbage, beets, onions, radishes and flowers: cosmea, calendula, yarrow, etc.
To increase the yield, it is recommended to feed the plants. If necessary, mineral fertilizers are applied, although organic fertilizers are usually recommended in the form of bird droppings. But remember that top dressing should not be abused either. It is necessary to take into account the quality of the soil, the amount of fertilizer applied before planting.
Also, the main problem in growing potatoes is pests: the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm. There are many chemicals that are used for pre-sowing treatment of seeds from parasites, or treatment can be carried out during the growing season when larvae appear. There are many different folk ways of fighting. To destroy the Colorado potato beetle, plantings are sprinkled with onion peel or ash, and calendula is sown over the entire area. Mustard is sown from the wireworm as a green manure crop.
Growing potatoes with eyes has a large number of advantages, among which are: savings in seed, reduced plant disease, reduced competition between stems and adequate nutrition. Thus, using this planting method, you will get an excellent harvest and save money on the purchase of seed material.
The video shows how to plant potatoes with eyes, gives tips on planting and caring for the plant.
