How to get a good potato harvest on your plot, even in a small area

Even such an unpretentious culture as potato, requires a special approach. Experienced farmers know how to get a good harvest from a small plot and what factors influence the growth and development of tubers.

The article will tell you what potato yields depend on and how to grow a record harvest in a small area.

What determines potato yield?

A well-chosen variety and fertilized soil are not the main factors. Responsible for high results:

• quality of seed material;
• correct planting dates;
• planting methods;
• competent care of bushes;
• seed preparation And soil.

Creating a high-quality agronomic background of the land is not a matter of one yearTherefore, soil improvement is carried out regularly, every season.

What is considered a good harvest?

A value of 1:10 is considered a decent result for home growing., when 10 buckets of crop are grown per bucket of seeds. Some gardeners get much better results by digging up to 500 kg of potatoes from each acre.

On farms average yield in Russia - 100-150 kg per hundred square meters. But many have many tricks and secrets that help significantly increase this figure.

How to grow potatoes correctly

Compliance with technology from the beginning of planting to harvesting is one of the main conditions for obtaining a decent result. Main stages of cultivation that require attention: planting, care measures and prevention emergence of diseases and pests.

Landing

The area intended for potatoes is prepared in advance - plow or dig deeply. Organic fertilizers are applied: humus from straw, turf soil, peat, sawdust, compost, sand. Potatoes respond well to fertilizers made from rotted manure and wood ash. Seeds are planted when the soil warms up to +8... +10°C.

Reference. According to popular belief, the time to plant potatoes comes when the foliage on birch trees reaches the size of a ruble coin. Conditions during this period are truly suitable for sowing activities.

Planting rules recommended for obtaining large tubers:

• the distance between the holes is maintained from 25 to 30 cm;
• between the rows leave at least 60 cm for manual processing, 70 cm for mechanical processing;
• tuber embedding depth 5-8 cm;
• on level beds they use the “checkerboard” planting method - a good method for small areas;
• in the holes - in ordinary rows for sandy soil;
• to the "ridge" - Suitable for heavy soils.

You can't thicken the ranks, since the bushes are subsequently deprived of sufficient lighting and aeration of the roots.

Care

They begin to care for potatoes without waiting for shoots to emerge.. A week after planting, the first hilling. A layer of loose soil 5-6 cm thick is placed at the place where each tuber is buried or on the ridge. The procedure is done 1-2 more times until the first shoots appear, once a week. The goal of the event is to ensure that the underground part of the stem grows as long as possible - from 20 to 25 cm. It is on this part of the plant that the tubers are formed, and the more length is formed, the more potatoes there will be.

After the emergence of seedlings, hilling is carried out 1-2 more times., destroy weeds and rake a layer of soil above the roots of at least 5 cm. This helps retain moisture in the soil and prevent the appearance of a dense crust on the soil surface.

The plantation is watered at least three times per season, if the rainfall is average. Watering times:

1. At the beginning of bud formation.
2. When all the buds are formed.
3. Start flowering.

Irrigations are combined with fertilizing. To use organic fertilizers, they are prepared in advance - slurry or bird droppings are placed in a container and filled with water, and left to ferment for several days. A solution for feeding is made from the finished mixture, diluting it with water in a ratio of 1:10.

Reference. Watering is not carried out if the season is rainy. In hot summers, the area is moistened three to five times, each time after the procedure the soil is loosened.

Disease and pest control

Infections and pests most often overwhelm potatoes if it is planted in the same place for many years in a row. An effective way to get rid of them is a comprehensive one, when mechanical methods are used, manual collection of insects and treatment with drugs.

Colorado potato beetle collected by hand, and then the bushes are treated with “Fitoverm”, “Agravertin”, “Aktara”. The mole cricket is destroyed using traps: metal or plastic containers are dug into the ground, bottom down, 3-4 cm below the surface level. Pour a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil into it and cover the top with plywood. After a few days, the mole crickets that fell there are collected by hand. Often, pests are destroyed by leaving a poisoned bait near the plants: boiled grain, to which Metaphos (50 g per 1 kg of grain) and 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil have been added.

Traps are set up for wireworms in the form of “kebabs” — string pieces of root vegetables onto a wire, then bury the bait to a depth of 10 cm in several places. After 2-3 days, the device is dug up and destroyed along with the parasites collected in it. Create conditions unacceptable for wireworms: lure birds, destroy wheatgrass, deoxidize the soil.

The nematode is afraid autumn digging of soil, disinfection with potassium permanganate - the method is suitable for a small area, when the soil is spilled with a hot (at least 60°C) solution, and to enhance the effect, the surface is covered with polyethylene. To protect against nematodes, seeds are pollinated with ash before planting (100 g of wood ash per 10 kg). Apply urea to the surface of the earth - to the foci of infection at a rate of 1 kg per 1 sq. m. m.

In the fight against rodents cats will help. They will catch mice and scare away rats that love juicy tubers.

Diseases most often develop due to infected seed material. Exposure to pests also often leads to the appearance of rot. Frequent potato diseases: late blight, ring rot, black leg, common scab. To protect against infection, treat the tubers before storing them using a 3% solution of bleach or a 5% solution of copper sulfate.

How to feed potatoes so that there is a lot of them

Potatoes respond well to the use of organic fertilizers, but if the land is infected with diseases and pests, choose chemicals - granulated potassium fertilizers with the addition of zinc, copper, boron, “Kemira potato”, universal organomineral complexes marked “For potatoes”. When preparing the soil, add 5-6 kg of compost and 250-200 g of wood ash per 1 square meter. m.

An alternative to compost - green manure: mustard, oats, phacelia, lupine. They are sown either in the fall (after harvest) and leave the grown greenery to decompose on the site during the winter or early spring. Spring green manure is mowed two weeks before planting potatoes, then used as mulch and fertilizer.

Feeding rules:

• during planting, add nitrophoska - 1 tsp. per hole;
• before flowering - solution at the root (300 g of urea per 10 liters of water);
• during the formation of buds - water with a solution (1 tbsp. potassium sulfate, 3 tbsp. ash per 10 l of water);
• to form tubers - water with a solution (2 tbsp superphosphate, 1 cup mullein infusion, 10 liters of water).

Water the bushes carefullyso that fertilizers do not fall on the leaves.

Reference. Feeding is carried out in the evening, when the sun has dropped to the horizon. If this is done after rain, the plants will receive maximum benefits.

To make her big

When choosing a fertilizer, take into account the ratio of microelements that are in the composition. To form large tubers, complexes containing increased amounts of nitrogen and potassium are used. Such drugs affect the size of potatoes, but do not increase their number. Boron and magnesium in the fertilizer accelerate the formation time of tubers, helping them reach large sizes even in an unfavorable season.

Secrets of farmers that increase yields

Every farmer has his own ways get a better harvest than your neighbors. Such techniques are the result of many years of observation and careful attention to garden experiments.

Disinfection of seed potatoes

After sorting, heating and germination, seed potatoes are treated with special substances. How to disinfect:

1. 2 g of copper sulfate and 10 g of potassium permanganate are dissolved in 10 liters of water.
2. The tubers are immersed in the solution for two minutes.
3. Spread the wet potatoes in a thin layer on a dry surface.
4. Allow to dry completely.

In addition to chemicals, there are folk recipes for preventing diseases. Wood ash (1 kg) is dissolved in a bucket of water and the potatoes are placed there directly in the net. After 1-2 minutes, take out the tubers, scatter them and dry them.

Application of nutrient solution before planting

Before germination, potato seeds are soaked in a nutrient solution. To do this, mix:

• 60 g superphosphate;
• 40 g urea;
• 10 g boric acid.

The dry mixture is dissolved in 10 liters of hot (at least +70°C) water. When the composition has cooled, place the tubers in the warm liquid and leave them for 30 minutes. To stimulate growth, tubers are sprayed with preparations 1-2 days before planting. The complexes “Poteitin”, “Mikon”, “Epin” are used.

Compliance with crop rotation

Proper rotation of crops grown on the same piece of land, will ensure the accumulation of useful organic substances in the soil. Since nightshades occupy a considerable area in vegetable gardens (in addition to potatoes, they also include tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers), experienced gardeners use a two-field or three-field system. The field is divided and planted as follows:

1. Potatoes in the first part of the garden. After harvesting, this place is sown with green manure.
2. In the second part, cucumbers, cabbage, zucchini, and pumpkin are grown.
3. In the third part legumes are grown.

Next season they change the location in a circle - from the first part to the second, from the second to the third, from the third to the first. In a two-field system, potatoes and other vegetables are swapped annually.

Stimulating incisions

Before germination of the eyes, the seed material is stimulated using incisions - this increases productivity by 12-13%.

Two methods are used:

1. Transverse cut. Suitable for large tubers, which are cut perpendicular to the axis, leaving a small jumper of 1-2 cm intact.
2. Ring cut. It is done on small tubers - in the form of a shallow (1 cm) cut line encircling the entire circumference of the potato.

Breaking the nutritional bonds in the tuber allows Both lateral and apical eyes develop equally well, so after planting the plant forms many stems.

Reference. To prevent seed material from becoming infected, a careful selection of potatoes is carried out. During the process, the knife is periodically disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate.

Broken stems

2-3 weeks after flowering, the stems are broken - this allows nutrients not to be lost in large quantities to the development of leaves and tops. The stems are broken at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground so that they do not lose their integrity, but cannot rise. The root system only benefits from this, directing nutrients to the development of young tubers.

Tips and tricks

Experienced gardeners It is recommended to use elite seed material for planting at least once every few years, since domestic varieties grown for many years are gradually degenerating. Wide row spacing is left to provide more space for light and ventilation. Using cut flower stalks, mowed grass and picked weeds as mulch reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil and attracts earthworms, which loosen the soil.

Conclusion

To improve potato yields, it is not enough to fertilize the soil and hill up the bushes.They also monitor the quality of the seed fund, plant it correctly, water it, observe crop rotation, and apply fertilizing. Experienced gardeners use small tricks that we discussed in the article.