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Early young potatoes. Already in June, you can enjoy its refined taste. During this period, last year’s potatoes lose their taste and appearance. The period when you can dig up young tubers depends on the region, variety and planting technique of potatoes.
Tubers are formed during the budding period of potatoes. However, the harvesting of young potatoes does not begin immediately after the green mass begins to bloom, because the tubers must grow and increase in size to at least 5 cm in diameter. The first root crops can be dug up at the beginning of shedding flowers. Thin skin is preserved in potatoes for about a month from the beginning of flowering. The taste of young tubers depends on the intensity of irrigation and soil temperature. If the potato has practically no taste and contains a lot of water, then it is too early to dig it up even for cooking.
How to determine the readiness of tubers
Potatoes have a certain ripening period. The main indicator of full maturity is the wilting and yellowness of the green mass, as well as the subsequent dryness of the tops. Hilling contributes to the ripening of root crops, so if you want to eat new potatoes, it is important to hill the potato beds in time.
You can get out of this situation by calculating 60-70 days from the day of landing. After this time, the top of the green mass must be cut off, leaving 10–15 cm of tops from the ground. So, the peel will form faster.
Now you need to determine when to dig young potatoes, because we have already figured out the digging of mature root crops. Most often, the period of tuber growth coincides with the flowering of tops. However, since these two processes are not linked, tubers may begin to form before color appears.
In the central zone of the Federation, early potatoes begin to be harvested at the end of summer. That is, the period for collecting young potatoes for food depends on the region in which you live. In the cold part of the country, potatoes ripen later, in the warm part – earlier.
If, after digging up a young potato, you find that it is large, then the harvest will be excellent. This is due to the fact that it takes 30–40 days for the tubers to grow to full maturity, respectively, their size will increase further.
Determination of tuber maturity by date
External signs can be deceiving. Weather conditions can be confusing. For example, in the Moscow region it often rains, and in the Krasnodar Territory it is constantly hot. When, then, can one start digging potatoes for food? It is necessary to carry out calendar calculations, and for this it is necessary to remember the date of planting potatoes.
Potato beds are filled with germinated tubers immediately after the subsidence of frost – in April – May. Seedlings appear 2-3 weeks after planting, and after another 2-3 weeks the green mass begins to bloom. As a rule, 30-35 days pass from the day of planting to the receipt of young potatoes. A mature crop can be harvested after 60-75 days from the date of planting. The latest potato crop is harvested 75–80 days after planting.
Harvesting methods
How to collect young potatoes after flowering, so as not to damage the tubers? There are several basic ways to harvest from the beds.
Shovels and forks are used as a tool for digging up young potatoes. However, this technique requires strength and health. If you have already reached an advanced age, then this method of digging tubers will most likely not be up to you. Digging by hand will immediately hit the lower back, as it bears the greatest load. If you are in poor health, save your musculoskeletal system and choose a different harvesting method.
If you are growing young tubers for sale in large farms, then manually digging up potatoes is out of the question. To do this, specialists have developed machines to facilitate harvesting. Among them are a walk-behind tractor and a potato digger. Before starting work, it is necessary to mow the tops and remove them from the garden. Harvesting can be started only a few days after harvesting the green mass. Since we are talking about young potatoes, you can only dig them out in bulk if you grow potatoes for sale.
Harvesting work
First you need to prepare a place where the young potatoes will be dried. So that your young and tender crop does not suffer from mechanical damage, drop potatoes less, and if possible, try not to drop tubers at all, since young potatoes have a very thin skin. When damaged, potatoes become more vulnerable to disease and spoil faster.
The harvested crop should be stored in a dark, dry place. But remember, young potatoes do not keep for a long time and if they are not used, they will quickly begin to deteriorate. So dig it out as needed. For cooking, you can dig up as many tubers as you need for 1 time. The same rule can be applied to digging up potatoes for sale. Harvest as much harvest as you can sell in one day at the market.
Already in the garden, you need to distribute the crop by variety. Otherwise, this work will have to be done at home. And this, as you know, takes more time. There is no need to dig up the ground after picking potatoes; this can be done in the fall, after the final cleaning of the garden. Young as well as mature potatoes should be stored in the dark. Sunlight will cause the tubers to turn green, making them unsuitable for cooking.
So, if you see that the tops of potatoes are in bloom, then soon you will be able to enjoy dishes made from young potatoes. If you follow the tips outlined in the article, then you will harvest the young crop and not earlier and not later than the appointed time.
To expand your knowledge on this topic, we suggest you watch the video:
