12 Ways To Increase Your Potato Yield

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

How to increase your potato yield

In late August and early September, gardeners harvest potatoes. Someone will be pleased with the grown crop, someone will sadly notice that "the game is not worth the candle." Why are the results of the work on growing the "second bread" so beloved by Russians so different at times in neighboring areas?

After harvesting the tubers, gardeners begin to prepare the foundations of the future harvest. What should be done so that he will please you next year? I hope that the tips and tricks suggested below will be useful for beginner potato growers, as well as for those who have been planting tubers for several years, but are not satisfied with the results they receive.

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Many people grow potatoes, and it's no secret that the harvest depends not only on climatic conditions, the season and planting care. The first role is played by the quality of the seed used for planting. And it, according to official statistics, is now extremely low in Russia.

The fact is that in the process of the annual selection of seed tubers for the next gardening season from their own potatoes, they gradually accumulate a whole bunch of viral diseases. That is why every year the harvests are getting smaller and smaller, despite the quality of planting care. As a result, it turns out that it becomes unprofitable to grow potatoes - there is a lot of labor costs and material costs, and the harvest with a gulkin's nose.

So you have to pay a lot of money for elite planting material, or learn how to grow potatoes from seeds. In other words, planting material is the basis for obtaining large yields.

But there are other factors that can play a significant role in increasing yields, provided all the same high-quality planting material.

In general, potatoes are a very fertile and plastic culture. Its low productivity among Russian gardeners is explained by ignorance of its biological characteristics, the use of random planting material of low reproductions for planting and violation of the cultivation technology.

In many Russian vegetable gardens, potatoes are still grown according to a simplified, primitive scheme: planting - hilling - harvesting. For planting, they mainly use what they have to - degenerate seed material of long-term use, which means, unknown mass reproduction, since few do simple seed-growing work - the selection of tubers for seeds. Not yet entered into the practice of potato cultivation and the use of methods of combating late blight, including the timely spraying of plants with protective preparations, which leads to a significant shortage of crops, and much more.

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Method 1 - high-quality planting material

Without having it at hand, as practice shows, it is better not to plant potatoes - you cannot wait for the harvest. Although for some reason, many gardeners do exactly this year after year and claim that potatoes will grow anyway. And then they dig out about a bucket of an incomprehensible kind of trifle and rightfully believe that they have conscientiously fulfilled their duty in providing the family with potatoes.

To buy today elite planting material, not infected with viral and other diseases, is not a problem - in the spring many gardening shops sell them. True, this will not come cheap. But you can go another way, growing this elite planting material yourself from seeds, however, this is another story. Many experienced gardeners have learned how to grow and propagate valuable varieties through seedlings. In this case, from several valuable super-elite tubers, you can get seedlings for an entire plantation (From the editorial board: the most experienced potato grower G. D. Sherman spoke about this method more than once in our magazine).

Method 2 - crop rotation

There is nothing new in this technique for you and me - everyone knows that most crops will never give a good harvest when planted in the old place. Potatoes are no exception, although many for some reason believe that this crop can be grown for many years in the same place. In fact, all advanced Western farms return it to its original place not earlier than in 3-4 years, when the soil is cleared of pathogens of many fungal and bacterial diseases.

Method 3 - highly fertile soils

The Dutch, by the way, allocate only plots with a very high agricultural background for potatoes, knowing full well that there can be no rich harvest on poor land. In Russia, for some reason, we have a completely opposite approach - as a rule, plots are allotted for potatoes, where nothing else can be planted.

Method 4 - plant thinly

The width of the potato rows is of great importance. Dutch farmers, for example, plant potatoes with a row spacing of 75 cm. Unfortunately, due to land savings in our plantings, you can see row spacing of only 40-50 cm. This makes it difficult to huddle with loose soil, developing roots are pruned. As a result, plants lag behind in growth and development. Due to the lack of soil for hilling, the tubers become bare and turn green, which is unacceptable when growing ware potatoes. To obtain a full-fledged crop, the row spacing for early potato varieties is recommended 65-70 cm, for late ones - 75-80 cm.

Method 5 - small ones are not always remote

Large tubers, in comparison with small ones (if we are not talking about the elite), give earlier and more friendly shoots and form a powerful bush. In the experiments of the Research Institute of Potato Farming, the yield from tubers weighing 100 g was 25 percent higher than from 50 grams. But this was observed only in seasons favorable for meteorological conditions and on a high agricultural background: with fertile soil and timely care. The difference was smoothed out in dry years and on sandy, soddy-podzolic soils, on medium-cultivated loams.

This is explained by the fact that powerful plants from large tubers, capable of synthesizing more organic substances for filling tubers, need an increased level of nutrition and water supply. With a lack of moisture, such plants, due to intense evaporation, suffer more than less developed ones. And the middle peasants develop more rhythmically in conditions of any deficit.

The mass of the planting tuber also affects the timing of the harvest. For example, harvesting potatoes planted with large tubers is possible 20-40 days earlier. More weighty tubers are harvested from large seeds.

In case of frost damage, large tubers regrow sprouts faster due to the large number of spare buds.

Method 6 - down with flowers

The blooming potato plot looks, no doubt, quite beautiful, but this beauty deprives us of 20-25% of the crop of tubers. The organic substances formed in the potato plant are actively distributed throughout all organs. They also flow into flowers, the formation of which coincides with tuberization. Studies have shown that during this period 40-45% of organic matter flows into the tubers, 23-25% remains in the stems and leaves, and over 25% in flowers.

This is how the flowers "rob" the tubers. The latter become depleted in starch, and smaller in size. As a result, such tubers will yield lower yields next year than those from which peduncles have been removed. This is due to the fact that the growth and development of potato seedlings in the first period is carried out at the expense of the organic matter of the mother tubers. Therefore, potato growers should not wait for the appearance of flowers, but destroy the flower stalks already at the beginning of budding.

Method 7 - you can't do without modern and highly active fertilizers

This implies the introduction of these same fertilizers when planting potatoes in the holes. This is much more convenient than later finding out that the potatoes are missing something and carrying out numerous top dressing.

As for fertilizers, today many of them can significantly affect the potato crop.

Urgas

Let's start with the biological fertilizer of the XXI century (that's what it is called), the effect of which is very high, and you can prepare Urgas on your own during the winter on the basis of the purchased concentrate of bacteria Baikal-EM1. You can read how to cook Urgasa in the instructions, and there were plenty of publications on this topic. And in a nutshell - this is all the food waste that has accumulated in your apartment over the winter (believe me, there will be a lot of them), processed with special bacteria.

Do not be afraid, with a competent approach to business, there will be no smells in the apartment, and not a single guest will guess that you are actively producing fertilizers at home. The only thing is that all the fertilizer received must be folded into thick plastic bags (the same as used by fishermen for fish), sprinkling with stale sawdust to reduce the moisture content of the fertilizer (and so that, God forbid, nothing leaks anywhere), tie it up very carefully and send into the garden. It is possible in the winter in a backpack, if you make regular flights to your site, it is also possible in the spring by car.

When planting, I add one handful of Urgasa to the hole and mix it thoroughly with the rest of the soil components. This point is extremely important because the fertilizer is very concentrated and tubers may burn. I have no official data on increasing potato yield when using Urgasa, but from personal experience I can say that bushes are developing much more actively.

Peaksa Super Compost

It is also a very active fertilizer with a lot of beneficial microorganisms that help plants to absorb nutrients. It is also introduced not randomly, but strictly into the holes during landing. It can increase the yield of potatoes by at least 1.5-2 times. I have data on the use of Piksa when growing potatoes in one of the state farms near Moscow. They indicate that the most effective option should be considered the local introduction of Piksa into planting rows. They also say that Piksa fertilizers are required to obtain an equivalent yield at least 10 times less than half-rotted manure.

Finnish complex fertilizers Kemira Finnish complex fertilizers without

chlorine, saturated with microelements, Kemira universal and Kemira potato also significantly increase the yield of potatoes. In the Moscow region, on experimental fields, it was proved that the use of Kemir universal and Kemir potato in comparison with our domestic fertilizers can increase the yield by 1.6-2.1 times. At the same time, tubers with a higher starch content grow - 0.5-1.3% higher than in the version with domestic fertilizers. For my part, I can confirm that Kemir's fertilization turns out to be really very effective when growing potatoes.

Method 8 - stimulants are not a luxury

Biostimulants are natural or synthetic compounds that, in very small doses, can cause significant changes in the growth and development of plants. Once in a plant, they are directly involved in the metabolism and have a certain effect on it, which consists, first of all, in increasing the level of vital activity of the plant organism.

Gibbersib

Gibbersib is one of the most widely used plant growth stimulants in the world today. Gibbersib increases the productivity and quality of vegetables (including potatoes), fruit and berry crops by:

- stimulating the growth and development of plants;

- increasing the number of fruit setting;

- accelerated ripening of the crop;

- increasing resistance to diseases.

Potatoes are among the plants that are extremely sensitive to Gibbersib and respond positively to highly diluted solutions of this drug (0.005%). According to official data, pre-sowing treatment of potato tubers with Gibbersib increases the yield by 20-30%.

Epin and Silk

These phytohormones stimulate the formation of stress proteins that protect the plant from a whole range of harmful effects. As a result, plants begin to develop more efficiently. For example, employees of Oryol State University studied in detail the effect of phytohormones on potato plants. They found that it was phytohormones that regulate the intake of assimilated substances into tubers in the second half of the growing season. The researchers also managed to prove that the external introduction of one of the phytohormones, indoleacetic acid, leads to an acceleration of the growth of tubers, an increase in the amount of starch and fiber in them. And it turns out that only due to the fact that the plants were sprayed several times in the second half of the growing season, a significant increase in productivity is achieved.

Method 9 - humates for the benefit of the potato crop

Humates are a powerful activator of plant growth and development processes, and also have an anti-stress effect against unfavorable environmental factors, including diseases. Humates contribute to the production of special enzymes by the plant that help it survive in adverse conditions.

The average statistical data on long-term observations when testing humates on large potato fields indicate an increase in potato yield by 25-30%. However, experience shows that with the correct use of humates, much higher results can be achieved.

In theory, there are two ways to use humic preparations on potatoes: pre-planting and spraying during the growing season. To be honest, the first option requires less time and effort, and now I mainly use only it in combination with a couple of sprays of vegetative plants. Pre-planting processing. Possible in two versions:

1. Soaking the planting material in a humate solution. This can be done both before germination of tubers, and immediately before planting. Prepared potatoes are simply poured with a humate solution (the solution is prepared according to the instructions) and left for 8-12 hours. After that, the potatoes are planted in the usual way, and the remaining solution is poured into the holes. When the first shoots appear, it is advisable to carry out hilling so as to cover the appeared shoots with loose earth. This is done in order to direct the maximum action of humates to the development of the root system, and not to the surface part of the plant.

2. Using a special preparation for potatoes Bulba, which is the finest powder that must be processed before planting potatoes. The powder adheres well to the surface of the tubers, does not crumble and provides not only nutrition for the tuber at the beginning of plant development, but also protects against fungal diseases: late blight, scab, gray and black rot. By the way, the protective-stimulating treatment of seed potatoes with this preparation is also performed before laying it for storage to protect everything from the same diseases, which is especially important for tubers with mechanical damage.

According to experimental data, the best results are obtained by combining tubers soaking in a humate solution before germination with pre-planting treatment with Bulba.

Spraying during the growing season. To a large extent, they contribute to the better development of plants in unfavorable climatic conditions, which in turn leads to an increase in yield. Especially high is the efficiency of potato planting with 0.05% solution of GUMI during the budding period.

It must be remembered that humates do not replace fertilizers, but only enhance their effect. Therefore, if you are planting potatoes on poor soils, then use additional mineral and organic fertilizers at the usual rate.

Method 10 - biofungicides to help plants

Scientists have invented another interesting drug - the biofungicide Fitosporin-M, which is a culture of bacteria that is safe for humans with fungicidal and immunostimulating effects. Tubers treated before planting or twice sprayed on seedlings are less responsive to negative climatic conditions, develop better and are less affected by late blight. By the way, Fitosporin also contributes to better preservation of potato tubers in winter, if, before laying the tubers for storage, they are treated with a 10-15 times diluted solution of liquid Fitosporin (100-300 ml / 100 kg) and then dried in the shade.

Method 11 - "no" - to diseases

An obligatory agricultural practice, for example, on Dutch potato plantings, is spraying plants with drugs against late blight, a harmful disease that can destroy all plants in 3-4 days. Thus, potato fields are cultivated 5-6 times per season. Alas, this event, in principle, is not included in the list of works of our Russian gardeners. That is why the imported varieties of Dutch selection did not justify the hope of Russian potato growers for resistance to late blight, because it is achieved not on the basis of immunity, but as a result of repeated chemical treatments of plants. Of the drugs available in Russia to mere mortals for preventing late blight, Oxyhom is the most effective.

Method 12 - "yes" - to organics in potato fringes

Each of us, probably, paid attention to the fact that any plants planted next to the compost heap are unusually powerful, including potato bushes. Practical conclusion: put organic matter in all potato borders. And potatoes are better - after all, nutrients are never superfluous, and the soil is additionally enriched with humus. For example, in this way, I put cut flower stalks, mown grass, weed out weeds in the boundaries - however, not all of them, and under a layer of non-sprouting other organic matter, I sprinkle everything with stale sawdust, etc. As a result, both potatoes and earthworms are good. Moreover, all these weeds are stacked during the summer, as they appear.