Potato Planting Technique With Tuber Shares

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

Read the previous part. ← How does the number of sprouts affect the yield of potatoes

The harvest of potato bushes varieties Zhukovsky early

One of the letters from potato growers contained the text: “Don't say that I have a different climate, conditions, soil. I am not chasing records, I am trying to draw up a clear plan for the spring, specific activities that will be followed without hesitation."

A clear plan without hesitation, it's simple: do everything as you have always done. In this case, you definitely can't go wrong. Nothing. What is your climate, soil conditions, you already know. What is the harvest - too. Do everything as always - get the usual result.

My thoughts lead me to experiments. Ninety percent of my experiments end in failure - crop decline or loss. Some methods that significantly increase my potato yield do not work for other gardeners. Do you need such problems? You need to answer this question to yourself.

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If the facts described are not scary, there is another clear plan. It can also be used without hesitation. I read about some technique that increases yields - I checked, analyzed, repeated, taking into account the analysis, and made conclusions. As a result, you will get the technology for growing a high yield in your own conditions.

I'll tell you about how I plant potatoes, and then decide for yourself. For example, after his experiments, he decided to abandon the use of the annular cut of tubers. I talked about this in the previous part of the article.

How and when to cut potato tubers?

Pictures 1, 2, 3

The top (apical part) is that part of the tuber on which most of the sprouts are concentrated. The stolon part (umbilical cord) is the part of the tuber with which the tuber is attached to the stolon.

I have seen recommendations to cut across and along. There were some advice not to attach importance to the direction of cutting. My observations show: when cutting along the tuber - from the apical (apical) part to the stolonal part - apical dominance appears on both halves - the shoots on the umbilical cord do not develop, and 1-2 shoots are actively developing at the apex (see Fig. 1 and 3). When cutting across, several shoots sprout on the bottom. It is preferable to cut the tubers across. In this case, more sprouts have a chance to become stems (see Figures 1 and 2).

It should be borne in mind that there are potato varieties in which the tubers are not elongated from the stolon part to the apical part, but are round or even flattened. Such tubers cannot be cut across - there are practically no eyes on the stolon part. They should be cut lengthwise (see Fig. 4).

The principle of deciding how to cut is not difficult. First, cut off the top. Then we examine the tuber - how the eyes are arranged and how many there are. If there are 4-5 eyes on the remaining half, cut it in half (see Fig. 5). So that you get 2-3 eyes. It also happens that the tuber is large enough, and there are few eyes on the stolon part. Then we cut into pieces with one eye.

How many parts to cut - it depends on the size of the tuber. I usually cut so that the pieces of tuber for planting are at least 30 grams. That is, a tuber the size of a chicken egg is cut in two. The ones that are the largest - the larger number of pieces. Section options are shown in Figures 5,6,7,8.

Do not strictly adhere to the cutting directions shown. You can cut it in another way. The location of the eyes on each tuber is individual (see Fig. 9.10).

Figure 4

If you decide to cut the sprouted tubers, then it is worth considering how many developed sprouts remain on the piece. For example, two developed and two sprouted sprouts remained on the stolonic part (see Fig. 11). You can cut it so that on each part there will be one developed and one sprouting sprout. In this case, you will get one stem from each piece (see fig. 12). You can cut it so that both developed shoots remain on one piece. On the second piece there will be two sprouts that have sprouted. In this case, we can get not 2, but 3-4 sprouts (see fig. 13).

There is an important point to pay attention to. After each tuber, the knife must be dipped in a cherry solution of potassium permanganate. This will help you avoid contamination of healthy tubers from diseased tubers.

Cut off a piece - process the sections with cement. This is done simply: pour dry cement into a bowl and dip the cut of the tuber. In the literature, it is more often recommended to dust the sections with ash. But, in my opinion, cement is more effective. When cutting, even with thorough disinfection of the knife, the possibility of infection of tuber pieces through fresh sections remains.

And a thin layer of cement draws on itself a small amount of cell sap along with possible infection. This can be compared to how a person bitten by a snake sucks some blood at the site of the bite. In addition, the cement clogs the cut well. After drying, the cement crust may fall off - it's not scary. The slice is already well closed. You should also not be afraid that the cement will fall into the soil - it will not bring harm.

Pictures 5, 6, 7

Immediately after the question "How to cut?" begs the question: "When to cut?" …

You can cut from autumn to planting day. I did it differently. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

Cutting in the fall is more convenient - there is no spring emergency. In addition, scientists argue that lesions occur only during the "healing" period (freshly harvested tubers). With the transition of the tuber to a dormant state, the ability to form "wound" tissues is lost. Wound peridermis also does not form on green tubers irradiated by the sun (wound peridermis is a protective layer, which has a structure and composition similar to the peel of a potato; in fact, it is a new peel, although it is different in appearance).

Pictures 8, 9, 10

At later cutting times, a protective layer is also formed, but it is much less effective in resisting infection of cut tubers than the wound peridermis. It is worth considering that the autumn cutting of infected, diseased potatoes can lead to a complete loss of seed. If you do not have a good storage for potatoes, then cutting in the fall is also not worth it - cut tubers lose moisture faster - they wither.

In spring, it is preferable to cut before the tubers have sprouted. This cutting gives an even starting condition for the sprouts in both halves. On seedlings, bushes growing from the apical and stolonal parts of the tuber are indistinguishable. If you cut tubers with large sprouts, then the stolon part develops with a delay, and the sprouts on it are somewhat weaker.

There are recommendations that, when cutting a tuber, it is necessary to leave jumpers so that the parts do not separate, and when planting the parts, separate and plant separate parts into the soil. Such a technique with prolonged germination increases the lag in the development of the umbilical cord. About this - in the previous part of the article.

Pictures 11, 12, 13

Cutting sprouted tubers is also okay. Only you need to plant separately stolonic parts and tops. Otherwise, the faster developing plants from the tops will oppress the plants from the stolon parts.

You can cut the tubers a couple of days before planting - the main thing is that the slices dry out.

There are a few things to keep in mind when deciding when to cut. Tubers cut in spring long before planting can lose a lot of moisture - shrink. On the tubers cut before planting, the shoots will not have time to appear, which subsequently form the trunks. In this case, we have little chance of getting bushes with the optimal number of trunks. We'll talk about this below.

More questions: “What to do next? The sections are treated with cement, the halves are mixed in a common heap, how are we going to plant them? In one hole (furrow), in one place - two halves at once? Or do we plant as usual, counting each rug as one seed? If so, is it necessary to reduce the distance between tubers?

The first thing that shouldn't be done after cutting is: don't put the pieces in a common pile - for two reasons. First: if the halves are not dried, they will become moldy. Second: it is worth planting the tops and umbilical cords separately. The harvest is different from them.

The tops will give bushes as from whole tubers with an appropriate yield. Each piece of stolon pieces will give bushes with few trunks. The number of tubers will be slightly lower, but they (tubers) will be the largest. Accordingly, when cutting, I put the vertices separately, everything else - also in a different container.

How to plant different parts of a cut tuber

Pictures 14, 15, 16

Option 1. We plant the tops as whole tubers - 20-25 cm along the bed with a slight offset (see Fig. 14).

I always have some time between cutting tubers (if I cut in spring) and planting - from two weeks. During this time, the sprouts capable of forming trunks start growing. It is already noticeable which of them will develop further and which will not. But it is not worth keeping the pieces for a very long time before planting - they lose moisture.

We plant the pieces from the stolon parts in different ways. The basic scheme is the same as for the vertices. We put several stolon parts in each "nest". It is not the number of pieces that is important here, but the number of active sprouts - 5-7 pieces (see examples in Fig. 17). This selection allows you to form approximately the same number of stems in each bush. And it will give a more even distribution of the stems over the surface of the ridge.

Option 2. Planting potatoes for early consumption is carried out according to the same scheme, but after 15 cm (see Fig. 15).

We put so many pieces in one nest so that there are 3-4 developed sprouts in the nest.

Option 3. On the seed plot, for the reproduction of new (for me) and valuable varieties I use a different scheme (see Fig. 16). In each nest I put pieces with 2-3 developed sprouts.

Pictures 17, 18

Different schemes give different results. The greatest yield is obtained with the third option. The second option is more productive than the first option. But in the same way, labor costs are distributed: the third option requires a lot of effort when planting and mulching. When growing potatoes on an area of more than one hundred square meters, one has to give preference to the least labor-intensive methods.

So, it's time to board. We loosen the top layer of the ridge by 5-7 cm. Previously, I used a Fokin flat cutter for this. Now I use the Tornado Krivulin cultivator with great pleasure. Working as a cultivator on loam is four times easier and faster.

Pictures 20, 21

I make a hole with my hand until solid soil. On its bottom I lay the pieces of tubers down by sprouts. I put the pieces so that the sprouts are located radially along the edge of the hole (see Fig. 18). Then I measure the distance from the center of the previous hole with a conductor (stick of the required length) and make the next hole. At the same time, I cover the first with the earth removed from the second hole. I do not transfer the earth from hole to hole, but I move it directly along the bed. In this case, a small hill forms at the place of the hole (see Fig. 20).

After the garden is planted, I cover it with a small layer of mulch - no more than 5 cm (see Fig. 21). After mass shoots, I add mulch (I have straw) up to a layer of 30 cm. This almost ends the care of potatoes. Almost - because here and there a sow thistle and a birch tree will break through. They will have to be broken manually. Further - only cleaning.

Read the next part. Influence of planting density on potato yield →