It's no secret that potatoes planted and grown with their own hands are always much healthier and tastier than purchased ones. That's just to really grow a quality home crop, you need to know when and how to plant potatoes in open ground. Next, consider the nuances of planting for a rich harvest.
What you need for a good harvest
The main factors that affect the quality of future potatoes are the growing conditions and the planting material itself.
Learn about the intricacies of growing different varieties of potatoes: "Adretta", "Blue", "Queen Anna", "Good Luck", "Gala", "Kiwi", "Irbitsky", "Rosara".
Growing conditions
Plays an important role in obtaining a good harvest choosing the place where they plan to plant potatoes. Potatoes prepared in advance should be planted in a light area from north to south.
The optimum hydrogen content in the soil is 5-5.5 units, although the growth of the root crop is possible in acidic soil. The soil should be breathable and loose. Potatoes are best suited medium and light soils - sandy, loamy, sandy and black soil.
Important! High density and lack of air in heavy clay soils can cause poor plant development. With excessive soil moisture, tubers are affected by rot.Before planting the ground should be treated twice:
1. In the autumn period to dig up the garden, having brought rotten manure to the soil. 2. In the spring, put a mixture of peat and sand into the ground in a proportion of 10 kg per 1 square meter. m
Selection of planting material
It is very important to correctly determine which potato is best suited for planting in a particular area. If last year during winter storage potatoes spoiled, then you need to change the variety to a more resistant to late blight. It is recommended to plant three different varieties at once., since it is impossible to predict which variety will produce the best yield.
It is necessary to choose the tubers for planting very carefully, since they may be infected with blight or scab.
Potatoes for planting should Prepare from the previous seasonstarting from the moment of the last harvest. Select for storage better even and beautiful medium-sized tubers to plant next year.
To avoid infection with fungus from selected tubers, they should be stored separately from the main potato. The best place for keeping planting material will be ventilated container or dry cellar. A couple of weeks before planting potatoes, they take it out of a cold room and transfer it to a warmer place for germination.
Did you know? Germination of tubers is not mandatory, but sprouted potatoes yield the desired yield much faster.
Landing dates
To determine the day when it is necessary to plant potatoes in the ground, in two ways: depending on the type of planting material or using the lunar calendar.
Depending on the variety
Experts identify 5 groups of potato varieties by maturity:
- early varieties;
- medium early;
- mid-season;
- middle late;
- late
At the beginning of this month, the tubers begin to germinate. By the second decade of April, the land is already warming up, and landing can begin. Among the early varieties ripening in 50-65 days, The most popular are: Impala, Red Scarlett, Dnipryanka and Rosalind.
Middle-early potato varieties, such as "Sineglazka", "Zabava", "Mriya", "Nevsky", ripen in 65-80 days. Their landing is best to start in early May. However, it is necessary to take into account that the early and mid-early potato varieties have lower longevity, starchiness and worse taste.
Did you know? Very common variety "Blue-eyed" It has the original name "Hannibal", which was given to him in honor of the great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin Abram Hannibal. He was the first in Russia who began conducting experiments on the selection and storage of potatoes.Mid-season varieties are best planted in late May, as they ripen within 80-85 days. It is these varieties are the most fruitful and prolific, besides, they do not require frequent watering.
"Desiree", "Kuroda" and "Zdybak" refer to medium-late varieties of potatoes, which ripen from 95 to 110 days. Their landing is best planned for the end of May.
The latest date for planting this plant is mid-June., if you want it to be fit for human consumption. Such varieties as "Orbit", "Zarnitsa" and "Cardinal", which are the latest ones, need 110 and more days for maturation. They are most resistant to various parasites and diseases. Basically, these varieties of potatoes are grown for the winter or as feed for livestock.
Using the lunar calendar
There is such a thing as favorable days for planting various crops in the garden, summer cottage, etc. The moon has a direct impact on the development of potatoes.
Depending on its location, planting, processing, watering and weeding the soil are carried out at certain intervals. In order to achieve a good harvest, you must adhere to the recommendations of the lunar calendar, by which you can determine whether to plant potatoes on a particular day.
The treatment of potato tubers before planting with Prestige will protect the plants from the Colorado potato beetle.
For 2018, experts have identified clear dates that are most suitable for planting potatoes:
- May: 4-6; 14; 30-31;
- June: 1-2; 10-12; 29.
- May: 15; 20-23; 27-29;
- June: 13, 16-20; 23-24; 28
The correct calculation - the key to a rich harvest.
The choice of which days it is worth or not worth planting potatoes directly affects its quality and environmental friendliness, as well as the yield as a whole. Although it is a simple process, it requires sufficient attention and compliance with the rules.
Did you know? Potatoes are the most important nongrain crop in the world. It is in 4th place in importance among all agricultural crops after wheat, rice and corn.First of all, it is necessary to determine the goals of planting potatoes. If you need new potatoes in early May, then choose early varieties that ripen quickly. But at the same time, remember that early does not mean quality. Mid-season and mid-late varieties in this case are the most optimal for obtaining a rich harvest of tasty and healthy potatoes.
Often people grow potatoes to feed livestock. In these cases, select late varieties. They are stored for a long time and ripen well, resistant to pests and diseases.
Since the choice of the date of planting potatoes affects its yield, do not delay the planting of potatoes. In the early stages, before the appearance of aphid vectors, the plant matures to a state of resistance and suffers less from diseases and pests. In determining the timing of planting potatoes should also not forget about the weather conditions, the state of the soil and tubers.
Planting dates also affect the processing of plants in the summer. It is necessary to plant each plant variety in the shortest period, otherwise further treatments with pesticides will lose their effectiveness, as they are carried out in certain phases of the development of potatoes. Consider the fact that with very early planting there is a great threat of spring frosts, which will negatively affect the yield.
Important! In order to reduce the risk of death of potato sprouts from unpredictable spring frosts, sprinkle previously planted roots with a small amount of soil.Many people follow the national signs and begin planting potatoes during the budding period at the birch and the end of the flowering of the bird cherry tree.
The process of planting potatoes in open ground seems quite simple, but at the same time a large number of young plants can suffer from non-observance of the elementary rules. In this case factors for obtaining a good harvest are:
- observance of optimum temperature condition;
- maintaining the necessary soil moisture and fertilizer;
- selection of the right potato varieties depending on the soil composition and ripening time.
A key factor in a rich harvest is the correct timing of planting tubers. Both nature itself and lunar calendars, which are compiled specifically for the selection of the most favorable days for farming, can help in this.
