Tips for farmers: How to increase the yield of potatoes on garden plots
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan informs that specialists of the branch of the Russian Agricultural Center for the Republic of Tatarstan have prepared recommendations on what to do to get a good potato crop.
According to the maturation period, the varieties are divided into early, mid-early, mid-ripe, mid-late and late.
The phases of plant development are divided into:
- planting-seedlings (21-28 days),
- shoots-budding (24-29 days),
- budding-flowering (7-10 days),
- flowering (30-35 days),
- shoots-harvesting (85-110 days).
In the budding phase, stolons are formed, at the ends of which thickenings appear, from which young tubers are later formed. In the flowering phase, there is an intensive growth of tubers and 75% of the crop is accumulated.
Its good predecessors are all pumpkin crops - zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage, beans, peas and corn.
Neutral soils are best suited for growing potatoes. Since autumn, provocative watering is carried out to obtain seedlings of autumn weeds. After the destruction of weeds, 10 kg of humus or compost per 1 m2 and phosphorous 30 g/m2 + potash fertilizers 15 g/m2 are applied.
After harvesting the crop, the site is sown with siderate. From sideral crops, white mustard, sweet clover, oats and rye are better suited. With early sowing, the siderate is embedded in the soil in the fall, with a later one, it is left until spring and sealed with deep loosening in the upper layer (10-15 cm) before planting the tubers.
For disinfection of tubers, use:
- disinfectant and nutrient solution: 5 g of copper sulfate + 15 g of boric acid + 0.5 g of potassium permanganate/10 liters of water,
- disinfectant and nutrient solution: 60 g of superphosphate + 40 g of urea + 5 g of copper sulfate + 1 g of potassium permanganate + 10 g of boric acid/10 liters of water,
- for aerosol treatment: potassium sulfate + 40 g of urea + 15 g of boric acid + 1 g of copper sulfate + 0.5 g of potassium permanganate/10 liters of water (1 liter of ready-made solution per 100 kg of tubers),
- nutrient solution of 40 g of superphosphate + 40 g of nitrogen fertilizers + 40 g of potassium salt/10 liters of water (10 liters per 50 kg of tubers).
When planting medium and later varieties with a prolonged growing season, potatoes are fed in the following phases of development: mass shoots with pale green foliage, budding and mass flowering. Top Dressing is carried out in the form of solutions or dry forms of fertilizers for irrigation. During the period of mass germination, it is better to fertilize with nitrofoam or nitroammofoam per 30-40 g/1 m2, in the phase of mass budding-with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers and wood ash.
For foliar top dressing, use the following solution: 25 g of potassium sulfate + 25 g of superphosphate + 0.5 cups of wood ash/10 l. Under the bush, it is necessary to make 0.5 liters of solution, then pour and mulch. Instead of the solution, you can add a glass of wood ash for watering. In the mass flowering phase: 30 g of superphosphate/1m2.
For top dressing of potatoes, it is necessary to use the microbial fertilizer Azotovit, Phosphatovit, Azolene, Humate "Healthy Harvest" and others. They are applied for loosening or hoeing, in dry weather - for watering, followed by mulching. All types of top dressing are finished a month before digging potatoes.
Deputy head of the Russian Agricultural Center for the Republic of Tatarstan Lyubov Zanina notes that in arid areas, potatoes are watered 3-4 times a month. In areas with sufficient precipitation, depending on the variety, 1-3 watering is carried out during the entire growing season. It is easy to determine the watering period: if the lower leaves on the bush begin to wither – it needs water.
The beginning of harvesting is determined by several factors: yellowing and dying of the tops of medium and late potato varieties. For early varieties, the calendar terms of harvesting specified in the recommendations for a variety. Harvesting of early varieties is sometimes started with green tops.
6-10 days before harvesting, the potato tops are mowed, which contributes to the formation of a coarser peel on the tubers, as well as their maturation. It should be carried out in dry weather, dug out during prolonged rains and scattered to dry.
With the harvesting of late varieties intended for long-term storage, it is also impossible to delay. Reducing the soil temperature to +3 ° C with untimely harvesting, causes death of up to 80% of tubers.