A good harvest can be obtained in autumn only if the correct selection of tubers is carried out and potatoes are prepared for planting in the spring. When to get seed tubers for germination from the cellar depends on the method of preparation and the planting date. Planting material must be carefully processed. These are general rules for the cultivation of any plant. Each gardener chooses time for preparatory work with tubers himself. Experts believe that sorting and processing of potatoes should be carried out in spring or autumn (at the time of harvest). Only healthy plants are suitable for use. The bush should be free of pests, and its root system should contain many tubers.
Preparing potato seeds for planting: spring tubers
First you need to select planting material. The recommended weight of potatoes acceptable for use varies from 30 to 100 grams. Experts immediately exclude tubers that look unhealthy or have an irregular shape. With independent selection, it is worth paying attention to the following characteristics of the material, which make it unsuitable for planting:
- the ground part of the plant was hit by a nematode;
- from the tuber comes an unpleasant and unnatural smell;
- the scab settled on the tubers.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that potatoes damaged by sharp objects, but not affected by diseases, are quite suitable for planting. Cuts are usually treated with a fungicide solution. As a result, quality material for planting should be at least 85%.
Tuber separation
After the initial selection of planting material is made, it is necessary to sort it into several groups. To begin with, large tubers (weighing more than 80 grams) are identified and separately folded. The second group is formed from medium-sized potatoes (weighing from 50 to 80 grams). As a result, only small planting material, consisting of small potatoes of 30-50 grams, should remain.
The need for sorting
For planting, usually the middle group of sorted tubers is used. To harvest next year, you can use a small portion of small and large potatoes. Experienced gardeners do not recommend mixing pre-sorted tubers. The reason is that the bushes will grow unevenly, and stronger and stronger plants will suppress neighboring ones.
The separation of tubers should be done in order to exclude difficulties with subsequent care of the plantings. Using this method eliminates uneven seedlings. Plants will have a similar size and will grow equally.
Gardening tubers
After the planting material is divided into three large groups, preparation of potato seeds for planting may begin. Only tubers with sprouts are suitable for planting, so you need to garden them. Potatoes are placed in a cool room with a stable heating mode. Recommended air temperature should not be lower than 10 degrees. But at the same time, you need to make sure that the thermometer does not show values above 12 degrees. The room for landscaping should be well ventilated or have ventilation.
The main condition for successful gardening is the availability of a sufficient amount of light. Only observing this rule, you can achieve the necessary color for the planting of tubers. In the light, potatoes turn green. At least 30 days must elapse to complete the process. Tubers that have changed their color are no longer suitable for eating, but are optimal for planting. Planting material requires periodic monitoring. You need to regularly turn the tubers so that the potatoes are uniform green.
Choosing a tank for landscaping
Transparent plastic containers can be used as storage containers. Many gardeners have adapted to green tubers in boxes of cakes or in ordinary bags made of polyethylene. According to experts, this significantly reduces the time for preparing planting material. It is recommended to make several small holes in plastic bags, fill the free volume with tubers by two-thirds and tie the ends of the bag. Then you need to intercept the package in the middle and hang it in a cool room. It is also important to ensure that sufficient light is accessible.
Preparing potato seeds for planting through landscaping is sometimes called vernalization in the light. But there are several other methods that are used depending on the existing conditions and personal preferences of the gardener.
Promoting germination
The method is used in cases where the gardener is very late with the processing time of planting material. In such cases, the preparation of potatoes for planting in the spring and germination may be slightly accelerated. To do this, you must first prepare a special solution consisting of a mixture of ash, trace elements and copper sulfate (or another stimulant for plant growth). The proportions must be observed when mixing the ingredients. A quarter teaspoon of copper sulphate is required per liter of water, and very few microelements are added - at the tip of the knife. Each gardener determines the amount of ash in the composition independently.
Potatoes are sprayed with the prepared solution every other day. It is allowed to reduce the number of procedures and irrigate planting material once every 3 days. Some gardeners completely immerse the tubers in the composition. This is a good prevention of diseases, in particular fungus. It is important not to overdo it, experts do not recommend keeping potatoes in solution for more than two minutes.
Drying of tubers by express method
Preparation of potatoes for planting in the spring in this way is carried out in cases where there are no necessary conditions for the germination of planting material, and the time is also limited. To dry tubers is recommended at an air temperature of 14 to 16 degrees. Potatoes are laid in a thin layer on a flat horizontal surface and left for 10 days. The room should be dry.
It is convenient that when such preparation of potato tubers for planting is used, it is not necessary to provide access of light to the room. The method is very simple to use, and the resulting effect is quite high. It can be used at an abnormally early start of spring, as planting material will be ready by mid-April.
Wet method
When preparing potato tubers for planting using the wet method, the potatoes are germinated not in the light, but in a moist filler. As a basis for the substrate, they usually use sawdust moistened with water or sand (gardeners in the northern latitudes take ordinary peat for this). Germination rate increases significantly: 15 days are enough to prepare planting material. Tubers can be laid no earlier than April.
According to some gardeners, when using this method of germination, tubers retain more nutrients and are able to produce healthier seedlings. The disadvantages include the low resistance of such potatoes to diseases and pests.
Warming of planting material
Preparing potato seeds before planting by heating tubers is the fastest way to get sprouts. It is used in cases where potatoes have not sprouted due to unknown reasons, and there is no longer time to use other methods. Planting material is maintained in a room with high air temperature. Values can reach 35-40 degrees heat. With this method, seedlings appear and the kidneys are intensively awakened. The tubers become ready for planting after 4 days.
Use of solutions
Tuber germination can be accelerated by spraying planting material with compounds that stimulate their growth. Procedures are recommended to be carried out no more than once every 5-6 days. You need to use different solutions, some of them are presented in the following list:
1) Nitrophoska . Recommended concentration: one teaspoon per three liters of liquid.
2) Fertilizer "Effekton". One spoon of the composition is diluted in three liters of water.
3) Urea . For a three-liter jar of water, one small spoon is enough.
When using solutions, it is important not to exceed the concentration of the substance in water and to observe the schedule for processing seed material.
Division of tubers into shares
To save planting material, as well as when introducing a new variety, experts recommend cutting tubers into fractions. Such preparation of potato seeds for planting (cutting) requires compliance with several general rules:
- Cut only sprouted tubers. Material for planting can withstand about three days (before the formation of a protective crust).
- The weight of each slice should be at least 25 grams.
- There should be more than two shoots on the surface of the skin of the lobe.
- Store cut tubers in a heated room at an air temperature of 18 to 25 degrees and humidity from 94% to 96%.
- A sufficient amount of light should fall on the potatoes.
- Cutting is carried out with stainless steel knives. After each cut, the blade is disinfected in a 0.1% manganese solution or a 0.5% salicylic acid solution.
Disease prevention
When preparing potatoes for planting under the film and without it, different solutions are used to protect the planting material during germination. The most popular among gardeners was the processing of potatoes diluted with potassium permanganate or vitriol. This method prevents tuber infection with late blight. For copper sulfate, the permissible concentration is not more than one teaspoon per three liters of liquid. Manganese is diluted in water until it reaches a saturated purple color of the solution. Potatoes are lowered for a couple of minutes in the composition, and then laid out and allowed to dry.
Divorced copper sulfate or manganese is also recommended for spraying tubers and young bushes. This significantly increases the plant's resistance to causative agents of major diseases and effectively repels pests.
Preparing potatoes for planting in the spring: when to get for germination
To warm and germinate, the tubers are removed from the basement approximately 30-35 days before planting.
Gardeners have seen in practice that preparing potato seeds for planting and inexpensive measures for germinating tubers can have a significant impact on crop yields. These methods do not require large expenditures of labor and time, but they are of the same importance as fertilizing, choosing a variety or using protective agents against pests and plant diseases.
Soil preparation
Preparing the land for planting potatoes is very important. To prepare a place is better in the fall. Preparing the soil for planting potatoes is as follows: the land is cleared of weeds, applied per 1 sq. Km. m bucket of compost or rotted manure, 15 g of potassium salt, 30 g of superphosphate. After that, digs up on a bayonet, and the lumps do not break. This will reduce the number of successfully wintered pests in the land.