How to prepare potatoes for planting in the spring

Planting potatoes is not an easy process. To get a high yield of potatoes you need to follow certain instructions for care and preparation.

Features of preparation of potatoes for planting in open ground

Before spring planting in open ground, it is necessary to select the tubers correctly and carry out a number of mandatory procedures.

Planting material is recommended to be well processed.Sprouting should begin only after the exact date of the landing. Processing and sorting of planting material either in spring or in autumn.

It should select healthy roots. On the bush should not be pests, and the roots should contain a lot of tubers. Do not leave spoiled seeds for reproduction.

Another rule when packing seeds - the larger the size of the planted tuber, the faster the plant develops. Due to this, the harvest can be obtained earlier and in larger quantities.

Tubers for planting is better to choose weighing from 50 to 100 grams
Tubers for planting is better to choose weighing from 50 to 100 grams

It is better to choose tubers by weight 100 grams or more. Well planted potatoes weighing from 50 grams and more. Fruits weighing lower is better not to use.

Next, you need to prepare the tubers for germination. If there is no certainty that the planting material has no diseases and is not infected, then a pickling procedure can be carried out. Is carried out dressing only with seeds that did not take root.

Preparation of planting material in Siberia

In Siberia, the best time to land: the end of spring - the beginning of summer. The soil should already be warm. Harvest should be at the very beginning of autumn.Before planting the soil must be mulched.

Tubers should be prepared in autumn. To do this, the tubers must be selected, washed in a solution of potassium permanganate, dried and put into storage. It is recommended to get planting material for 30 days, and germinate in any way in a cool room before the appearance of green shoots.

For 30 days planting in Siberia, the tubers must be germinated to green shoots
For 30 days planting in Siberia, the tubers must be germinated to green shoots

Seed Potatoes

To prepare seed potatoes you need to go through the following steps:

  • warming up;
  • germination in the light;
  • packaging of substandard seeds.
For the normal growth of potatoes need to warm up the seeds well.

Otherwise, they will slowly grow in the ground and produce a weak crop. If maternal seeds are stored for a long time in the soil, they are infected with diseases and attacked by pests.

Before planting the seeds need to warm up well.
Before planting the seeds need to warm up well.

Unsprouted tubers

Potato should be stored in the basement in plastic containers. Before planting a couple of days should get and sort out the fruit. Choose medium sized sprouted potatoes, then it will be easier for it to germinate in the soil.

Unsprouted potatoes will grow, but slower and produce a weaker crop.To help the potato when planting, you need to cook and plant it in warm soil.

Selection

It doesn't matter where the seeds were purchased, before planting you need check their quality. There should be no rotten or cracked tubers. The surface of the fetus should be clean, without infection of diseases, without dents, growths, cracks.

Any flaw on the potato can talk about infecting it with a pest. For example, the presence of cracks in the tubers can speak about the disease - dry rot.

Why do I need a procedure

Harvest depends on the quality of tubers and storage conditions in the winter. If there is a breakage of tubers, it will lead to lower yields. by 20%.

Weakened tubers also significantly reduce yields. Unselected planting material can lead to infection of the entire crop.

How to start preparing

Very important observe storage conditions planting material. Store tubers should be in the basement at a temperature of 2 degrees Celsius.

Begin preparing the tubers for planting need to bulkhead, packing into: small, medium and large. Small up to 50 grams, medium to 70 grams, large to 90 grams.

For planting early potatoes is better to use large tubers.If the potato has an uneven shape - this is the first sign of the degeneration of the vegetable. It is better not to use such copies. The best material for planting - selection, purchased in specialized stores.

Before you start planting you need disinfect tubers within half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate and vitriol in the proportion of 5 liters of water, 5 grams of potassium permanganate and 1 gram of copper kuparosa.

Tuber disinfection is performed using potassium permanganate solution
Tuber disinfection is performed using potassium permanganate solution

Ways

There are many ways to prepare potatoes for planting. These methods include.

Germination

Sprouting can be done in several ways:

  1. In the light. It is carried out in a bright room at t 5-10 degrees. It is necessary to select medium-sized tubers up to 90 grams, spread out in one layer next to each other and leave for a month until the sprout is 1 cm long. Every seven days, the potatoes need to be gently turned.
  2. In polyethylene. You need to put the tubers in packages of 10 pieces and make a lot of small holes for the passage of oxygen. Packages are recommended to be hung out in the lit room, but not under direct sunshine. Hold until the first shoots.
  3. In pots. You can take ceramic dishes or plastic bottles of large sizes, after cutting off the top of the container. In pots germinated potatoes of early ripe varieties. Sprouting begins a month before planting. Pre-potatoes should be kept in wet sawdust or humus for about a week. Then put it in the pots, laying out the humus mixed with the soil in advance.
  4. In the feed boxes. Heat the seeds in the oven or oven to neutralize them from pests. Fertilize minerals and organic matter, laying it on the bottom of the boxes. Tubers lay out several layers and slightly moisten with water. Leave until sprouting in the room at a temperature of +15 degrees.

Wilting

Potatoes are recommended to dry out. Need to spread it out on a dry floor in a suitable room (in one layer). The procedure lasts ten days. With the help of wilting, you can ventilate the roots and calculate poor quality.

Warming up

Four weeks before planting need to transfer seeds in a warm room with temperature up to 20 degrees and leave them there for about a week. Then follow them again. in a lit roomwhere the temperature is no more than 10 degrees.

Seeds should always be hydrated. To do this, it is recommended to sprinkle the tubers gently with a spray with water. In this state, the seeds are before the planting period.

Pickling

To avoid infection with tuber disease, it is necessary to pickle it. To do this, you can use the solutions that are sold in specialized stores.

It is also possible at home to carry out the procedure using potassium permanganate. To do this, dilute the solution of potassium permanganate with water, add the copper sulfate and dip the potatoes in the solution for 1 minute. After the procedure, you need to give the seeds aired.

Treatment of tubers with Prestige
Treatment of tubers with Prestige

Seedling

Before you plant potatoes, you need to carry out a number of procedures:

  • in advance dig the soil to a depth of 15-20 cmto destroy pests;
  • process the soil with special solutions for prophylaxis from late blight;
  • enrich the soil with minerals and organic matter;
  • a year before the planned planting of potatoes to land on the site siderats.

Preparation of tubers for planting should be carried out strictly according to the instructions.Planting potatoes is not easy and painstaking, but the main thing is to get an award in the form of a rich and healthy harvest. I wish you success!