Cooked potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, pies with potatoes … How far far from all this! To get a crop of crumbly delicious potatoes, you need to make a lot of effort.
But for gardeners-storytellers who do not spare forces and time, nothing is impossible.
Any crop begins with the seed fund. There are farms that grow adapted varieties to this type of area. Some homegrown breeders try to withdraw the desired variety at home. We will talk about how to grow ready -made seeds.
Seed potatoes are taken 2-3 weeks before planting to germinate tubers. So that the process of decay does not begin, the seed fund is sprinkled with wood ash. We wait for the set time and observe how short thick sprouts appear. Thin and pale sprouts are easily broken down, which reduces germination. To prevent this, the night temperature should be lower than daytime.
Small potatoes are planted as a whole, large cut, so that there are several eyes on each slice. Sections are sprinkled with ash so that they dry out. There are many opinions about which seed material is better to plant. The second bread during the war was planted with cleaning and still received a crop. But we want to get a return by creating comfortable conditions for potatoes.
The incidence of a vegetable is reduced by processing tubers before planting with a weak solution of manganese. It is noticed that such a potato is more starchy, vitamin C is better preserved in it.
The ideal time for landing is the first week of May. True adherents of naturalism argue that with a regular shovel in their hands you can reduce damage to tubers. Mechanical landing increases the percentage of rotting seeds.
Do not try to “bury” potatoes, just lower it into a recess of 6-8 cm. When landing, they observe either the “square-nesting method”, or the distance between the holes of 20 cm. According to observations: the greater the distance, the easier it is to blame and hill. Small trick. Some gardeners lower a handful of onion husk into each hole. It is believed that the soil disinfection from harmful microorganisms occurs this.
Now you can relax a bit and wait for seedlings. Friendly sprouts can be rinsed. Small weeds are much easier to destroy while they only gain strength. Usually, for the flowering period, there is a portion of frosts. Flowers fall and gardeners come into despondency. In vain. Recent studies show that to increase the crop flowers and buds you need to break off.
Potato tubers develop perfectly in loose, moisturized soil. Therefore, weeding and loosening around the bushes is a matter of honor of any summer resident. It is better to engage in excavation after rain.
As soon as the bushes reach a height of 15 cm, it is necessary to spill potatoes so that in the future young tubers do not get to the surface and do not green. The second hilling is carried out before the bushes are closed. The land for sprinkling cannot be taken near the bushes so as not to damage the stems.
A special item – pests. The most common – Colorado beetle. Safe way: to collect beetles manually and destroy larvae. The easiest but most dangerous is processing with special poisons. Sometimes several processing is required over the summer. Pests underground are lured in early spring with the help of a bait laid out in the garden, and are destroyed.
Vegetables need to be fed fertilizers. The most common fertilizer is rotten manure. The sooner it is introduced under the bush, the better. Fertilizer in the late stages will only extend the ripening period.
In the arid summer, when any rain is joy, potatoes need watering. Slight, superficial watering will not save the situation. Only by moisturizing the soil to a depth of 30 cm you can count on a good harvest.
With the onset of September, it’s time to harvest. Potatoes are dug as soon as the tops begin to turn yellow. The tubers have already formed, they are easily separated, and will be well stored. The tops are mowed before cleaning and removed from the garden. Harvesting is carried out in dry, but not sunny weather, so that the tubers are clean and do not receive burns.
Before laying in the cellar, potatoes should lie down for a couple of weeks on the surface, covered from the light to “breathe” and heal damage.