As a rule, gardeners who are just beginning to comprehend the basics of this art are asking a reasonable question: "How to prepare potatoes for planting, so that in the end there is an excellent harvest?"
To start, let's talk about the crop
It is necessary to choose tubers for planting, the mass of which ranges from fifty to one hundred grams. If you have tubers of smaller size and weight, you need to throw three or four pieces in one hole. Naturally, you definitely need to look at the tubers for stains, rot and so on.
Answering further the question of how to prepare potatoes for planting, it is worth mentioning that for two or three days it is necessary to warm the tubers at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. After that, they need to be laid out in one layer so that they are all "caressed" by daylight. For this purpose, a window sill, a floor, and a low drawer are suitable.
How to prepare potatoes for planting, what other rules must be observed? About a month or a little more may be needed to sprout seed potato tubers, as this approach will provide an excellent harvest. Naturally, light is needed, otherwise the root system will be too weak, and this is unlikely to allow you to get an excellent harvest.
It is also worth noting that, in addition to preparing potatoes for planting, with the above method of germinating tubers, several rules must be observed:
- every five days the tubers are turned over;
- as often as possible, tubers need to be treated with a special mineral solution to accelerate the high-quality germination process;
- after the time for warming up is over, the potatoes must be sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate, for which one teaspoon of the substance is diluted in three liters of water and sprayed or dipped in tubers for one minute;
- every three days it is worth spraying potatoes with nutritious solutions, not forgetting about clean water, which is used in the middle of the day and in the morning.
Potato planting technology has its own rules. The third decade of April is an excellent time for planting seedlings or already sprouted potatoes. If the temperature at this time does not please with its warmth, the planting site with the vegetable is covered with a film, spud with moist soil, or covered with paper. And early in the morning you need to spray with clean water.
But this applies exclusively to the early ripening variety. If your variety is mid-season, then it is worth planning to plant potatoes in early or mid-May.
If your site is very close to groundwater, you are very lucky: the soil in this place very quickly warms up and ventilates. Therefore, you need to plant potatoes in the ridges, the height of which should not exceed 15 centimeters, the depth of planting - six centimeters, and the distance between them - sixty centimeters.
If the soil is far from ideal, after planting it must be leveled with a rake, thereby slowing down the process of evaporation of moisture a little.
If you list all the methods of growing potatoes, then you will need to write more than one article. It is worth remembering the two most important methods: seedlings and tubers germinated in advance.