How to get a harvest without much hassle. Early tomatoes: how to get a harvest in June Consider which crops are shown for early spring sowing
In the spring, each farmer counts the days and weeks until the first greenery and the first fruits appear on his plot. Each first leaf of onion or dill, the first cucumber seems insanely tasty and fragrant and cannot be compared with imported ones at all. After all, your own is always tastier, and there is no need to talk about the usefulness of the fruits you have grown.
According to the scientist agronomist D.V. Kalinin (Ulyanovsk region), early harvests of vegetables can be obtained only on soils that warm up quickly. True, purely sandy soils easily give off heat on cold nights. The same soils with a high content of humus, on the contrary, absorb solar heat well and give it away very slowly. Mush soils have similar properties, which are also very well suited for early sowing and early vegetables, if they are not overdried. Loamy soils warm up very slowly in spring; it is impossible to sow or plant plants on them early.
These recommendations relate to the condition of the soil in your area. And when determining the date of sowing of certain crops, both scientists and experienced gardeners advise focusing on the calendar of flowering trees, shrubs and other plants. Bird cherry is very useful in this regard. Its flowering is an indicator of the total amount of heat in the spring months. The sooner it blooms, the warmer the summer will be. The beginning of willow flowering is a signal for sowing onions, parsley, carrots, peas, radishes, radishes, dill. Nettle has risen, sorrel has grown, the nightingale is actively singing - plant cabbage in open ground. Bird cherry blossomed, marigold flowers blossomed - it's time to plant potatoes, corn. Lilacs began to bloom - it's time to plant seedlings of cucumbers and other heat-loving crops in the ground. Planting cucumbers is especially successful during the flowering of mountain ash, which occurs 10-12 days after bird cherry.
In order to grow early products in the beds, experienced farmers use different techniques.
“In the second half of March,” writes N.M. Nikolaeva (Samara), “I select a small bucket of healthy, even potatoes of medium size (about 50-60 pieces), rinse well with warm water, dry and lay out in clean 2-3 liter jars. I put the jars on the edge of the table, closer to the window, periodically turning them so that they are illuminated by the sun from all sides. Vernalization lasts 20-25 days, until mid-April. The tubers decrease in size but produce thick green sprouts.”
Thanks to such preparation, in the first days of July, the family of Nonna Mikhailovna regales herself with young potatoes.
Do you want to get potatoes even earlier? To do this, you need to germinate tubers in a humid environment. With this method, not only sprouts are formed on them, but also roots. Seedlings from such plantings appear earlier, and the formation of potato tubers also occurs much earlier.
Peat, humus, sawdust, etc. can be used as a substrate. A small layer of substrate is poured into boxes, baskets or other containers, the tubers are laid out, covered again with substrate - and so two or three layers. The substrate must be kept moist for 15-20 days, the temperature should not be below 15-17°C. With this method of germination, it is good to moisten the tubers and the substrate with a weak solution of copper sulfate (1-2 g per 1 liter of water) for disinfection.
Most gardeners sow dry carrot seeds on the beds, waiting for seedlings for a long time. To significantly speed up this process, L.I. Zagorodneva (Orenburg region) washes dry seeds with warm water, and then keeps them in a nutrient solution for a day. It is prepared very simply: in 1 liter of warm water, dilute 1 tbsp. a spoonful of wood ash. “I wash the swollen seeds, put them in a damp cloth and keep them in the refrigerator for 2-4 days for hardening. My seeds always sprout very amicably.”
The gardener VG Mishurov (Lipetsk) soaks tomato seeds in juice, which he receives after thawing frozen potatoes. “During freezing and thawing,” he writes, “complex biochemical processes occur in vegetable juice, biologically active substances are released that contribute to good plant growth. Tomato fruits ripen two or three weeks earlier for me.
The rapid germination of seeds is also facilitated by their processing in various growth stimulants - Epin, Zircon, Kornevin, humates, etc., which can be purchased at country stores.
“I treated the tomato seeds with Epin, and they gave 100% germination,” N.V. Tkacheva (Bashkortostan) writes to us.
"Epin" is indeed one of the best natural biostimulants that activate all life processes in plants. It guarantees rapid seed germination, stimulates fruit and root formation, increases plant resistance to various diseases. Frozen and withered plants are revived, and the old ones begin to bear fruit again due to the stimulation of lateral shoot formation. Seedlings treated with this drug do not stretch, take root well when picking and transplanting into open ground, the plants do not fall off the ovaries. The harvest, which ripens two weeks earlier, rises no less than 1.5 times and is stored longer.
In general, "Epin" is a wonderful drug, the only problem is not to "run into" a fake when buying.
The germination of seeds, and, consequently, the receipt of earlier production, is also influenced by our closest neighbor in space - the Moon. Here is the opinion of G.F. Kuzmin (Samara): “I once planted potatoes during the days when the Moon was in Aquarius. Usually sprouts appear within 15 days, but at that time they were not there for about a month, and not all of them sprouted. The bushes grew small, the tubers too. So, you can believe the characteristics of the signs of the Zodiac, check, gain personal experience.
Schoolchildren of the Syktyvkar agricultural boarding school conducted an experiment - they sowed dill seeds (Gribovsky variety) during the waning moon, the full moon and the growing one. The results of this experiment are shown below.
Dill sowing options / Date of sowing / Date of emergence of shoots / On what day shoots appeared
With the waning moon / June 20 / June 30 / 10th
On the full moon (control) / June 24 / July 7 / 13th
With the growing moon / June 26 / July 5 / 9th
The earliest vegetable production is easiest, of course, to grow in a greenhouse, especially in a heated one. But not every summer resident can afford this luxury. Many amateur vegetable growers make (each in their own way) insulated ridges, temporary film shelters in the form of caps over each plant, tunnel frames, etc. “We arrive at the dacha,” writes V.N. Ivanova (Samara) very early, as soon as the snow melts. I also plant seedlings in the ground early. Since autumn, I have been preparing a trench for her with a depth of 1.5 bayonets of a shovel, falling asleep with leaves, manure, and a layer of earth on top. I cover the planted seedlings with a film, remove it only when all the frosts have passed. Believe me, before me, no one has cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes.
“Once I thought,” we read in a letter to N. Dolganova (Pugachev, Saratov region), “what needs to be done to get an early harvest of tomatoes? And I came to the conclusion - we need healthy, powerful bushes with buds, which, when planted in the ground, would immediately form an ovary. Deciding to conduct an experiment, I planted several seeds of early tomato varieties earlier than usual - not in the middle, but in early February. Then she planted the bushes in half-liter containers, and when the buds began to appear, she planted the plants (of course, along with a clod of earth) in more spacious “apartments”, the material for which was cardboard boxes for dairy products. A little effort and, instead of three small ones, we get one large (with a capacity of about 3 liters) box. Three boxes need to cut off the bottom and cut each side to make cardboard rectangles. We sew two cardboard sheets on the sides and get a large square box, to which we sew the bottom, cut from the third box. Should be sewn with fishing line.
A large cardboard box is convenient in that when planting a bush in the ground, it can be cut, easily removing a lump with a plant. If desired, the box can serve for another year (the sides can be re-sewn).
After transplanting the bush into a new "home", the plant begins to grow violently. Stepsons appear after breaking off 1-2 flower brushes from the crown. Of course, part of the crop is lost, but we get most of it much earlier than usual.
By the second decade of April, my tomatoes have a strong root system and stepchildren with buds, which, after being transplanted under a film, form flowers, and then an ovary. The ripening of tomatoes, of course, depends on the weather, but that year my tomatoes ripened completely in June.
Best of all for the growing method I have described, early ripe tomato varieties up to 50-60 cm high are suitable.
I liked the experiment and for three years I have been using it, planting three or four boxes of early tomatoes (3-4 bushes), which are the first to delight us with ripe fruits.
In a word, there are many ways to get early vegetable products, and we wish you creative success in your beds.
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Anna Gordeeva 05/28/2014 | 9395
In order to enjoy juicy and healthy vegetables already in May-June, it is necessary to plant early and super-early varieties, as well as adhere to special agricultural practices.
Early radish harvest
There are many early varieties. One is even called Radishes 18 days. This is, of course, an exaggeration. To get the first harvest, you need at least 20 days, and then for beam products. That is, the radish has yet to grow and grow. In 18 days, it can be fully formed only at the optimum temperature. And this is almost impossible in the open field. Therefore, to obtain an early harvest, radishes need to be grown only in a greenhouse.
Among all sorts of new varieties and hybrids, most gardeners who grow early products prefer the Early Red variety. It is unpretentious, tastes good and gives good yields both in the open field and under the film, in 20 days. And lovers of tender root crops are advised to sow a French breakfast.
Early lettuce harvest
It can be grown in seedlings or sown as the first vegetable in a greenhouse not yet occupied by tomatoes or peppers. This is done as soon as the soil thaws, and the air temperature in the greenhouse will remain positive at night.
Already in early spring, lettuce seeds can be sown in boxes, and with the advent of the first true leaf, they can be planted in separate small cups and placed on a cool windowsill.
When planting in open ground, the seeds are sown in shallow grooves, sprinkled on top with dry soil or compost (a layer of no more than 1.5 cm) and covered with a film to speed up germination. In spring it takes 7-12 days. Then the shelter is removed, the soil is loosened, weeds are pulled out. After two weeks, the plants are thinned out, leaving 7-8 cm between them. 70-81 days pass from germination to harvest.
Early harvest of cucumbers
It takes about 40-45 days to get the first harvest. Moreover, early varieties of cucumbers have good taste and high yields. But if you want to collect greens even earlier, sow gherkin hybrids with beam fruiting: Bettina, Herman, Semcross. They are poorly resistant to diseases, but cucumbers are already tied at the first knots, which can be removed literally 20-25 days after germination.
True, such early fruiting weakens the plants. To avoid this, I advise you to remove the first flowers (for ordinary varieties and hybrids, this is an empty flower) or to make higher doses of manure.
Early potato harvest
At the end of March, the tubers are taken out for germination, laying in the light in 1-2 layers. In this case, it is necessary to treat them 2-3 times with a solution of trace elements. The optimum temperature is 18-20°C. Around mid-April (and if the soil allows, then even earlier), potato tubers can be planted in the ground. The soil temperature at a depth of 8-10 cm should be 6-8°C. To protect against recurrent frosts, seedlings are covered with soil with a layer of 3-4 cm (hill up) or covered with spunbond.
You can plant potatoes to a depth of 3-4 cm, gradually increasing the ridges. In this case, the soil warms up better, and seedlings appear earlier. There are methods for obtaining an ultra-early crop in film greenhouses, tunnels, greenhouses, under spunbond.
Planting super-early varieties will help get potatoes in 40-45 days: Spring, Timo, early Zhukovskaya. All of them have a good taste and are resistant to diseases.
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How to get an extra early potato harvest
If you want to get an extra early potato harvest, then try planting it not in May, as usual, but already in April.
Plot and varieties
But first you need prepare the area where you will plant tubers: in the second half of March, you need to clear it of snow, sprinkle it with peat and cover it with foil so that the earth warms up. It should be emphasized that fertile, well-heated and quickly drying areas in spring are chosen for this.
For planting, you should take ultra-early or early varieties of potatoes with a growing season of up to 50 days. These include, for example, Aurora, Bryansk early, Spring, Children's rural, Zhukovsky early, Isora, Lukyanovsky, Nevsky, Pushkinets, Luck, Energy.
Vernalization
Planting material of these varieties during March, but not less than a month, undergoes vernalization in natural sunlight. Moreover, the tubers must be systematically turned over until strong green sprouts appear. This usually takes a week. Then the potatoes are placed in a box with earth for rooting.
Scientists recommend one simple technique when germinating tubers. The first 10-15 days the tubers should be warm, and in the second half of the month it is necessary to reduce the temperature to 8-15 degrees. After that, you need to take a box, on the bottom of which sawdust, humus, straw are poured with a layer of 10 cm, and germinated tubers are laid out in one layer. From above they should be covered with a layer of wet peat with humus (3-4 cm). The temperature is maintained within 18-20 degrees. In this substrate, before planting in the soil, the tubers “lie down” for 7-10 days.
Of course, burying potatoes in damp cold earth (in April its temperature does not exceed plus 2 degrees) is scary, because almost no one does this. But if vernalization was carried out correctly, such a cold is not terrible for tubers.
Landing
Very early potatoes are planted around April 10-12. To do this, it is enough to make a furrow with a depth of 5-7 cm with a hoe and put the tubers in it with the sprouts up. Then they must be covered with compost or humus, and on top with earth, so that ridges 25 cm high are formed. Before hilling, feed ash 2-3 times. Harvest can be harvested in early June.
top dressing
early maturing varieties of potatoes, especially if planted very early, they are characterized by more intensive development. And this requires the application of fertilizers, and in a quickly digestible form. In particular, from organic it is best to use humus and compost, which are applied at 6-8 kg per 1 sq. m. It is also desirable to fertilize the soil (per 1 sq. m) with 20-30 g of ammonium nitrate, 50-60 g of granular superphosphate and 25 g of potassium chloride. The best effect is obtained by applying fertilizer directly to the ridges. In dry weather, early potatoes must be watered, which will increase the yield by 30-80%.
Frost protection
As soon as the extra-early potatoes rise - and this happens in early May - return frosts pose a danger to it. To save the plants, you need to spud them, as they say, "with your head." In addition to protection from the cold, this technique causes the plants to lay a second layer of stolons, on which additional tubers will develop.
To get a good harvest of early potatoes, you need to grow early-ripening varieties, planting them with germinated tubers as early as possible. Potato germination and rapid germination occur when the soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm reaches 8°C. In the Leningrad region, such conditions usually develop only by May 20. The optimal planting time for us can be recognized as the period of May 20-25. If you plant 10 days earlier, this does not mean at all that shoots will appear 10 days earlier. In potatoes planted in early May, sprouts develop slowly and are severely affected, which often causes attacks and sparse shoots; They appear only a little earlier. In addition, due to the defeat of rhizoctonia, they grow slowly, sometimes they have a chlorotic color.
It is possible to achieve early germination and ensure the rapid development of plants by planting tubers subjected to light germination even before planting. Strong green sprouts are formed on them, which immediately after planting in the ground quickly start to grow, also showing resistance to infection by soil pathogens.
Tubers that have germinated in the light for 25-40 days can be planted earlier, for example, on May 15, and shoots will appear at the end of the month. Light germination accelerates germination by 8-12 days in both early-ripening and medium-late varieties. But you can get young potatoes in early July by planting early-ripening varieties with germinated tubers that have a genetically determined ability to form tubers of a new crop early.
Planting material subjected to light germination gives plants that grow intensively, capable of providing a good harvest 12-15 days earlier than plants of the same potato variety, but obtained from non-germinated tubers. The largest increase in yield from preplant germination is observed at early digging dates, in the first half of July, sometimes reaching 60-100 kg per hundred square meters. This technique helps to increase the yield even at later harvesting dates, in August and September, although not so noticeably.
To obtain a harvest in early to mid-July, the following early ripening varieties can be successfully used: Latona, Fresco, Svitanok Kyiv, Sineglazka, Isora, Detskoselsky, Rock. Since they are highly susceptible to late blight, early planting with germinated tubers will give an important advantage in that it allows you to form a full-fledged crop before the mass defeat of this disease.
You can get early production from varieties such as Elizabeth, Bullfinch. Their valuable property is resistance to late blight. Therefore, part of the plantings can be dug up at a later date without fear of the tops dying and getting high yields of tubers, while all plantings of varieties susceptible to late blight still have to be harvested in late July - early August, because. they stop accumulating crops due to severe damage by this disease.
For varieties such as Charodey, Petersburg, Lugovskoy early planting with germinated tubers is effective not only for obtaining early production, but for obtaining a rich harvest before the onset of frost. In the conditions of our region, early planting, around May 20, gives a win for most varieties of potatoes. The exception is the variety Christmas, which, when planted on May 15-18, even with germinated tubers, may not sprout at all. Does not germinate well when planted in cold soil and variety Nevsky. It is better not to use them for early harvest.
Along with the use of early maturing varieties, a reliable guarantee of obtaining an early potato harvest is provided by preplant germination of tubers. It is necessary to lay on light germination tubers that have not yet had time to form sprouts, with barely pricked eyes.
To get short and strong sprouts in varieties such as Isora and the Wizard that begin to germinate early during storage, it is necessary to lay the tubers for light germination as early as mid-March, i.e. 60-70 days before planting. It is noted that such long-term light germination is not only not harmful, but even more accelerates germination and harvesting. Germination in the light at a temperature of 8-12°C does not allow the sprouts to stretch.
They are strong, thick, no more than 1-3 cm long. Numerous root tubercles are formed at the base of the sprouts, from which, immediately after planting in the ground, already on the third day, powerful, well-developed roots are formed. Tubers subjected to light germination are convenient for transportation and planting. It is best to lay them out in furrows cut in advance. The soil in the ridges will have time to warm up better in 3 days, which is especially important for the early dates (May 15-20) of planting. In addition, compost can be poured into the bottom of the furrow from a heap prepared from last year. Tubers laid out on a layer and sprinkled with earth from the ridges will be able to warm up better, sprout faster, seedlings will grow more intensively. With early planting, there is enough moisture in the soil, but not enough heat. Therefore, the embedding of tubers should be shallow - a layer of earth of 5 cm. With shallow embedding, the soil around the planted tubers will warm up faster. To speed up seedlings, they can be planted in ridges, to a depth of 6-8 cm. Such planting is preferable on loamy, highly moist soils. Planting intended for early digging is best done thickly, planting medium-sized tubers weighing 30-50 g, at a distance of 20-25 cm. Thick planting accelerates growth and tuberization, gives more yield from the same area. With a thickened planting of medium and small tubers per one hundred square meters, 25 kg of potatoes will be required, and when planting large ones, weighing 100-150 g, at a distance of 40 cm, about 50 kg of planting material will be spent per hundred square meters. Large tubers give stronger shoots. They grow multi-stemmed, well leafy bushes. The yield from one bush is more. The nose of an area planted thickly with tubers of medium and small sizes yields more than from an area planted with large ones.
Sometimes, due to the lack of planting material, they resort to cutting large tubers. But this measure is far from the best. If we cut the tubers, then so that each cut has 2-3 eyes and weighs at least 40 g. For cutting, it is better to use tubers germinated in the light. It is better to cut the potatoes into pieces the day before or on the day of planting, wetting the knife in a solution of potassium permanganate so as not to spread the infection of black leg or ring rot. But even under these conditions, the planted pieces of large tubers sprout more slowly, the plants grown from them accumulate the crop worse than when planting whole tubers weighing 30-50 g.
In order to save planting material, you can plant pieces of tubers with one powerful sprout. At the same time, little potatoes are formed under the bush, 2-3 pieces, but they will all be large. This technique is popular in Canada and the USA. Fast and friendly seedlings are facilitated by stimulating annular cutting of tubers across to a depth of 1 cm. Thus, not only the top of the tuber, but also the lower, umbilical part, awakens and starts to grow.
Tubers with an annular incision grow into plants that have more stems that form more stolons. The increase in yield reaches 10-20%.
Preplant germination of tubers in the light can be recognized as the most practical and effective method for obtaining an early potato harvest.
For the same purpose, tubers can be laid out in 1-2 layers on window sills, in a glazed loggia, on a country veranda. From mid-April, you can germinate in the open air, on a flat area, or better - in a groove 20 cm deep and 1.5-2 m wide. Laying tubers in grooves - 20 days before planting - better protects them from spring frosts. They can be covered at night with an awning, straw mats. The greatest acceleration in the timing of obtaining a crop of young potatoes can be achieved by combining light germination with subsequent growing of tubers in a humid environment and, moreover, planting potatoes with seedlings. With combined germination, the tubers are first kept in the light for 20-30 days at a temperature of 8-12°C. A week before planting, they are placed in boxes and layered with wet peat, sawdust or humus. The tubers laid in boxes are kept at a temperature of 12-15°C, but not higher than 20°C. During 7 days of heat and wet germination, the sprouts do not have time to stretch out, but roots grow at the base of the sprouts. Such tubers with a root lobe, planted in moist soil, are able to absorb water and mineral nutrients from the first day. Thanks to this, seedlings appear earlier and quickly grow. Under the conditions of our region, the increase in yield from combined germination, in comparison with light germination, is 15-20 c/ha, when digging at the end of July. The effectiveness of short-term wet germination can be increased by watering tubers interbedded with peat with a solution of copper sulphate (1-2 g per liter of water), as well as solutions of ammophos, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Solutions of each of these fertilizers are obtained at the rate of 50 g per 10 liters of water.
Good results are obtained by dusting the tubers germinated in the light with ash on the day of planting. For 100 kg of planting material, only 0.5 kg of ash is enough. And this is equivalent in its effect to the introduction of ash into the soil at the rate of 2 kg/hundredth. Ash, in addition to potassium and phosphorus, also contains a number of trace elements, such as magnesium and boron, which accelerate the emergence of seedlings and contribute to a more powerful and rapid development of plants.
If you want to get an ultra-early potato harvest in late June - early July, you will have to grow it with seedlings. To obtain seedlings, tubers that have already sprouted in the light, with strong sprouts, are used. They are planted in a greenhouse, under the frame, and sprinkled with peat or humus, a layer of 2-3 cm. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained at about 12-20 ° C. After 2-3 weeks, when the seedlings reach a height of 6-8 cm, they are selected along with the tubers and planted on the site. For better survival, it can be grown in peat pots, laying tubers in pots 3-4 weeks before planting in a permanent place. Growing seedlings allows you to get a crop in the earliest possible time. But this method is more troublesome and, in addition, increases the risk of damage to potatoes by frost. Seedlings planted in the 20th of May will have to be covered at night.
In conclusion, it remains to be said that success in obtaining early young potatoes ensures the application of fertilizers that promote good root development, intensive growth in the early stages of plant development and favors rapid tuberization. To do this, when planting - it is better to add superphosphate to the bottom of the cut furrows, 1.5 kg per hundred square meters. And after planting the tubers, on top, scatter ammophos at the rate of 1 kg per hundred square meters.
V. Kolobaev, Doctor of Biological Sciences
Newspaper "GARDENER" 2001
In this article, we will look at ways to get an early potato harvest. We will tell you how to choose and process seed material correctly, describe planting methods, watering features and other secrets of growing early potatoes.
Having at your disposal a small plot of land, you can place and grow all the vegetables and fruits you need in winter. There are many ways to economically plant vegetables so that they not only do not interfere with each other, but even help. For example, heat-loving crops such as beans and cucumbers can be planted along with corn. But only when the earth is sufficiently warmed by the sun.
But potatoes can be planted as early as March-April, when the thermometer starts to exceed 1 ° C. There are many ways to grow a potato crop before the onset of heat, but their effectiveness depends on the varieties and the correct processing of the seed material.
| Potato variety | Region of Russia | yield | Vegetation period | Peculiarities |
| Red Scarlet | Central and southern | 400–600 q/ha | 50–65 days | The peel is red, the flesh is yellow, it tolerates heat well, resistant to viral diseases |
| Impala | Central and southern | 500–600 q/ha | 50–65 days | The peel is yellow, the flesh is creamy, resistant to potato nematode |
| Timo | In any region | 400–600 q/ha | 50–65 days | Brown skin, white flesh, resistant to potato cancer |
| burly | Central | 250–280 q/ha | 50–70 days | Tubers oval, yellow skin, creamy flesh |
| Antonina | West Siberian | 200–300 q/ha | 55–75 days | Dark oval tubers, pale yellow flesh |
| Kholmogorsky | Northern | 350–400 q/ha | 55–70 days | Tubers are oval, red skin, light yellow flesh |
How to prepare, select and process planting material
It is necessary to select planting material at the time of harvesting potatoes. At the same time, it is worth considering that we collect an early harvest in late May - early June. Consequently, our seed potatoes will have to be stored for a longer period of time than tubers selected in the fall. In order to prevent the potatoes from germinating, they should be sorted out periodically, while rejecting spoiled ones and with thin thread-like sprouts.
Usually potatoes begin to germinate in the spring, shortly before planting, while still in the basement. The development of sprouts in a cold room is slow, so such potatoes should be laid out in boxes so that the main sprouts "look" up. When transferring them to a warm room for germination, the sprouts will not break off when shifting and processing.
Seed potatoes should be 40–80 grams in weight. All tubers selected in the fall are not immediately placed in storage. They are left in the sun for a while until the potatoes take on a yellowish-greenish color. This means that the tubers were filled with solanine, a poisonous substance unsuitable for human consumption.
In addition, its bitter taste is not liked by insects wintering in the soil, including the Colorado potato beetle, which often begins to spoil the planting material while still in the ground. Such a kind of hardening eliminates the rotting of potatoes during winter storage and ensures a quality crop.
Important: Before planting, the tubers must be treated with a mixture of mineral fertilizers. Add a teaspoon of copper sulfate, boric acid and potassium permanganate to a bucket of water, soak the planting material in it, then sprinkle liberally with wood ash. This will strengthen the defense mechanisms and speed up the germination of potatoes.
When to plant potatoes
Early varieties can be planted in open ground at a temperature of +8 degrees. But no one can foresee the vagaries of nature. Sudden night frosts, despite the daytime temperature of +18, can destroy early shoots. The basic rule is that the ground should warm up to 15-18 degrees before planting.
But by this time, weeds are already breaking through and insect pests are waking up, which begin to spoil the tubers in the ground.
Popular sign - you should start planting potatoes after the buds come to life and turn green on birch trees
Early landing methods
There are several ways to grow early potatoes:
- landing with the onset of heat;
- landing under covering materials;
- under pre-prepared ridge embankments.
Landing in open ground
This most common method of planting in the ground, warmed up to 10–15 degrees Celsius, is convenient for the southern regions of Russia. To avoid the damage that night frosts can cause, the sprouts on the tubers should be strong, but not too long. This will allow the plant to adapt to the cool soil and start growing when the tubers have warmed up to a sufficient temperature. The name of the early potato variety Sorokadnevka does not always mean that it can be dug up after 40 days. If the tubers are planted in insufficiently warmed soil, they will expect heat, which will increase the time before harvest. The countdown of days to harvest should begin from the moment the first sprouts appear.
Landing under ridge embankments prepared since autumn
This method justifies itself by the fact that at a temperature of 8-10 degrees, you can start landing. If you cut the ridges in the spring, you will have to wait until they warm up with the sun. The surface of the autumn hills warms up quickly after the snow melts.
Landing is as follows. A layer of rotted manure, compost or other organic material is applied to the depressions at the bottom of the embankment. Potatoes are placed on it with sprouts up, pressing a little. A 2 cm layer of compost is once again applied on top of the potatoes. It is not worth sprinkling tubers using the entire hill, 5–8 cm of the heated surface of the ridge is enough.
The remaining embankment is used gradually, after the earth in the ridge warms up and the first shoots appear. She will go for 3-4 hilling seedlings. Thus, before harvesting, the hill completely moves to the potatoes. When using this planting method, the weather conditions of the region should be taken into account. During cold snaps, the tops should be “put down” and sprinkled with soil from the ridge. As soon as the sun appears, it will again stretch upwards.
Landing under covering materials
This method has been giving the most positive results for a long time. Spunbond is a dense, but light enough fiber that can withstand frosts up to 5 degrees. Almost until flowering, potatoes are under white agrofibre. Watering can be both drip and sprinkler. Air and moisture freely enter through it, but heat does not escape. After the weather stabilizes and the agrofibre is removed from the site, it is easily washed, dried and stored for 5–8 years.
Growing potatoes under black agrofibre is somewhat different. Planting material is planted under a special marker that allows you to measure the exact distance between the laid tubers. After planting, the entire area is covered with a black spunbond and sprinkled with earth so that it is not torn off by the wind.
When the first shoots appear, the film in these places must be cut. In order not to repeat the procedure several times, using the same marker, you should cut it in those places where there are no seedlings yet.
Note to the gardener: Black agrofibre is more used as mulch when growing strawberries and wild strawberries. It can not be removed from the site for 3-5 years. This allows you to protect the site from weeds. The main thing is to choose the right fiber.
Planting and growing potatoes under straw
This method of cultivation does not require deep cultivation of the garden. It is enough to make small furrows or simply loosen the soil with a garden rake and spread out the planting potatoes. Sprinkle it with earth or compost and cover with last year's straw. The layer thickness is preferably 20–30 cm.
This method has its pros and cons. The advantages are:
- sprouts do not “break through” with difficulty through the ground, but are freely pulled through soft straw;
- young tubers are not compressed by the ground, therefore they grow faster;
- thanks to the sawdust mulch laid between the rows, there are no weeds;
- natural moisture is kept under the straw flooring, so there is no need for watering;
- It is difficult for the Colorado potato beetle to break out of the ground in these areas, since the soil is not loosened. It is inconvenient for him to make his way through the straws to the green tops;
- the crop is easily harvested by turning the flooring over with a pitchfork. After that, the potato lies on the surface of the inverted straw as a whole bush.
The only inconvenience, perhaps, is that such a site looks cluttered and sloppy due to heaps of straw. With strong gusts of wind, it has to be pressed with branches or other material so that it does not scatter.
When to Water Potatoes
There are two ways of watering - sprinkling and drip. Both methods are quite effective, but drip irrigation has some advantages over sprinkler irrigation.
Drip pipes are installed in the spring. The owner does not need to rearrange, drag and adjust the system. Since watering is carried out directly on the roots of plantings, cold snap and heat are not terrible for crops. You can moisten the soil at any time of the day as needed.
The sprinkler method is not advisable to use in hot weather, with the exception of the option when water is sprayed all day. Otherwise, if the tops are watered in the morning, hot weather during the day contributes to drying and wilting, which inhibits the growth of tubers. Night watering is the best option for sprinkler irrigation.
What else can be grown on the site after the potatoes are harvested
After harvesting potatoes, more heat-loving crops can be grown in the vacated area. For example, corn along with beans or seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, and early cucumbers. This will allow you to grow several types of necessary vegetables in a small area at once.
Olga Pushkareva, rmnt.ru