What to do if potatoes don’t bloom and why this happens

Potatoes are grown everywhere: they are an unpretentious and productive crop, often resistant to adverse weather conditions. Some vegetable growers are faced with the fact that inflorescences do not form on the bushes. This happens not only due to plant damage by diseases, pests or improper care, but also due to the characteristics of a particular variety. We'll talk about this and other things in more detail later.

When and how long do potatoes bloom?

The crop begins to bloom approximately 25–30 days after germination. The size of the tubers and their number depend on this important stage of the growing season. In the absence of flowering, the crop degenerates every year.

On average, the cycle lasts two weeks, but in some varieties it goes faster. During budding and the beginning of flowering, plants form 20–30 small tubers, of which only 5–10 fully ripen. At the peak of flowering, vegetables accumulate nutrients and water.

Why don't potatoes bloom?

There are several reasons why potatoes do not bloom: from varietal characteristics to non-compliance with agricultural cultivation techniques.

Features of the variety

Can potatoes not bloom? Some early varieties (Mariella, Rocco) form tubers even before the start of this growing season, while others produce small flowers and quickly fall off. Timo and Empress are not genetically predisposed to flowering.

Important! The absence of this phase allows you to direct all the plant’s forces to the formation of tubers and protects against insect attacks.

Varieties Stolovy 19, Early Rose, Vyatka form buds depending on weather conditions and care.

Pests

Affects flowering insectswhich often carry various infections. The potato ladybug eats the buds and foliage so that only veins remain, and the bush dies.

The ground beetle quickly destroys leaves and flowers. Golden potato nematode does not allow shoots to develop normally, as a result the plants wither, flowering is absent or delayed.

Diseases

Wrinkled mosaic slows down the development of the crop, which leads to a lack of flowering, deformation of the leaves and completion of the growth of the green part of the bushes earlier than expected.

Because of the stolbur, the buds form incorrectly, the leaves turn yellow, and the plants wither and die.

Violation of planting and growing conditions

When planted in a shaded area, inflorescences do not form due to lack of sunlight.

Sowing diseased or weakened tubers will lead to the fact that the potatoes not only will not bloom, but will also not produce a harvest. Therefore, it is important to choose healthy planting material.

Important! Excess nitrogen in the area negatively affects flowering and tuber formation.

Insufficient care

During the period of budding and flowering, it is important to moisten the crop: water conducts the necessary nutrients. Water the plants 2 times a week, spending at least 3-4 liters of water per bush. At the same time, the tubers suffocate in waterlogged soil.

In some cases, long absence fertilizing leads to the fact that the bushes slow down in development and do not form buds or tubers.

What to do if potatoes don't bloom

Having found out the cause of the problem, they begin to eliminate it. If a potato variety was planted that does not bloom or ripens quickly, do nothing. If plants are genetically predisposed to budding, pay attention to their appearance and growing conditions:

1. Damaged leaves and buds, yellowed and withered tops are signs of the presence of diseases and pests. Special preparations are used against them: for stolbur - “Fitoplasmin” and “Extrasol”, for fungal diseases - “Metaxil”, “Ordan”, “Raek”, “Talent”, for insect pests - “Borey”, “Sirocco”, "Tanrek", "Shar Pei". The products are used according to the instructions.
2. In hot and dry weather, the bushes drop their buds, preventing them from blooming. In this case, the plantings are additionally moistened.

During the budding period, plants especially need feeding, since tubers are formed at this time, their taste and size depend on the incoming nutrients.

Fertilizer options (per 10 liters of water):

• 3 tbsp. l. ash, 1 tsp. potassium sulfate;
• 50 g potassium sulfate;
• 30–40 g urea;
• 10–20 g ammonium nitrate;
• 2 g of copper sulfate, 10 g of potassium salt, 40 g of ammonium nitrate, 200 g of superphosphate.

This volume is spent per 1 hundred square meters of plantings. Such fertilizing is useful even with normal development of potato bushes.

Prevention measures

Healthy tubers without damage, rot or other defects are selected for planting. For prevention, they are soaked for 2-3 hours in a disinfectant-nutrient solution (5 g of copper sulfate, 15 g of boric acid, 0.5 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water) or sprayed.

To do this, mix 30 g of potassium sulfate, 40 g of urea, 15 g of boric acid, 1 g of copper sulfate, 0.5 g of potassium permanganate and 10 liters of water. The resulting solution is sprayed onto the planting material from a spray bottle. 1 liter is enough for 100 kg.

Important! Spray treatment is carried out until there are no sprouts on the tubers.If available, vegetables are first greened and then sprayed.

After the sprouts appear, pests and diseases are prevented:

1. Weed thoroughly weeds on and around the site.
2. Mint is planted next to potatoes, since many insect pests cannot stand its smell.
3. The bushes are sprayed with infusions and decoctions against pests. To prepare garlic infusion, 200-300 g of chopped garlic arrows or heads are soaked in 10 liters of water and left for 2-3 days. To make a decoction of wormwood, boil 1 kg of herbs in 2-3 liters of water for 15 minutes, filter and dilute with 10 liters of clean water.
4. The bushes are powdered with wood ash (3–5 kg per hundred square meters).

Plants are fed with organic matter, since potatoes absorb nutrients quite quickly. Mix 0.5 liters of mullein, 1 tbsp. l. bird droppings, 1 tbsp. l. urea and 10 liters of water. Apply 500 ml of product per bush.

To bring flowering closer, add a mixture of 1 tbsp to the soil. wood ash, 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate and a bucket of water.

Conclusion

The absence of flowers on potatoes does not always mean that there is something wrong with them. First of all, they look to see whether the variety is predisposed to flowering and whether the buds have fallen off quickly. With the prevention of diseases and pests, compliance with the watering regime, optimal moisture of the plantings and timely application of nutrients, the potatoes will bloom and delight you with a rich harvest.