Preparing seeds for planting early potatoes
To get early young potatoes, seeds for heating and germination are brought in at the end of January at the beginning of February in the bright and warm room (temperature 12-15°C) for the period of 30-35 days.
Before germination, seed potatoes are sorted to obtain good and healthy seed material. Potato seeds are usually germinated in plastic boxes of 6-10 kg.
For uniform and friendly germination, boxes with potatoes are rearranged every 5 days. Be sure to moisten early potatoes to reduce weight loss and for faster germination.
The presence of the large amount of light is the key to obtaining uniform seedlings. It is very important to maintain the even temperature in the room. But it must be remembered that exposure to direct sunlight reduces germination, therefore, it is possible to warm up in greenhouses only under agrofiber.
When should seeds be planted to grow early potatoes?
Planting early potatoes is possible already when the soil has warmed up to 6 ° C.
To get the even earlier harvest, potatoes need to be planted under the film or agrofibre. At the same time, in the south of Ukraine, early potatoes are harvested in early May.
Planting of germinated seeds, for future early potatoes, is carried out in prepared furrows or by planters with manual seed supply.
As a rule, the row spacing is 50 cm, and the distance between potatoes is 20-22 cm. Planting density 80-85 thousand pieces per 1 ha. In weight, this is 40-45 kg per 1 acre. Potato planting depth is 6-8 cm.
When planting, complex fertilizer N7:P20:K30 fertilizer mixture is applied at the rate of 7 kg per 1 acre.
Seed treatment before planting early potatoes
It is very important to treat potato seeds with pest control preparations (wireworm, mole crickets, Colorado potato beetle) and fungicide preparations against diseases before planting.
- Celeste Top - 20 ml/acre
- Prestige - 30 ml/acre
- Maxim - 25 ml/acre
In recent years, our farm has been using "Celest Top" at a rate of 20 ml per acre (the best action against the Colorado potato beetle, it lasts about 40 days).
For very early landings, we recommend adding "Quadris" at a rate of 6 ml per acre - it protects from Rhizoctonia blight, controls scab well.
Herbicidal treatments for early potatoes
After planting potatoes, herbicide tillage is carried out with special herbicide preparations , for example, "Zenkor" at the rate of 0.5 kg per 1 ha or "Zenkor Liquid" (the norm is 20 ml per 4 acres).
Processing is carried out before germination and on moist soil. We recommend in case of germination of cereal weeds during the growing season to carry out the treatment with the herbicide "Fyuzilad Forte" (norm 15 ml/acre).
Activities after the emergence of seedlings of early potatoes
After the emergence of shoots, inter-row cultivation and ridges are carried out. At present, almost everywhere these operations are mechanized. Additional nitrogen fertilizers are applied under the swelling of the ridges at the rate of 60-70 kg of active ingredient per 1 ha. That is, 2 kg of saltpeter per 1 acre, we recommend lime-ammonium nitrate , which contains calcium.
With the insufficient amount of calcium, the development of the root system is sharply weakened and, as a result, the development of the plant. Calcium is the main element for plant nutrition. It is responsible for the quality of the crop, strengthens cell membranes, and plays an important role in metabolic processes. Calcium increases the keeping quality of fruits and vegetables.
The use of calcium nitrate leads to the improvement in soil structure. Calcium nitrate has a unique combination of nitrate nitrogen and completely water-soluble calcium. Nitrogen in the nitrate form enhances calcium entry into plant tissues. Moreover, calcium, as a building material, is necessary for plants in the initial phases of growth. Thus, the greatest positive effect can be achieved using calcium nitrate.
Methods for watering early potatoes
As the growing season of potatoes, watering is carried out:
- drip irrigation
- surface watering (sprinkling)
Each owner, based on his capabilities, prefers one or another method of watering. Today it is difficult to answer which method is better, both have advantages and disadvantages.
In the south, at our high temperatures, the irrigation rate for potatoes is from 2700 to 3000 m3 of water per 1 ha.
But water, especially when it rains for 2-3 days, leads to the development of very harmful diseases. Fungicidal treatment of potatoes is the key to obtaining a high yield.
Fungicide treatments for growing early potatoes
You should build the line of fungicidal treatments for yourself and adhere to all planned operations. Diseases such as Late blight and Alternaria blight can nullify all efforts in obtaining a high yield.
As a rule, 3-4 fungicidal treatments are sufficient to obtain the early potato harvest. You need to start when the potatoes reach the height of 20 cm.
For example: the first treatment " Quadris " (6 ml per 1 acre), the second treatment " Antrakol " (100g per 5-6 acres), the third treatment "Infinito" (20 million 1.5 acre), the fourth treatment " Revus Top " ( 6 ml per 1 acre). Treatment is carried out after 10-12 days, or after intense rains.
It is very important that the period between treatments of early potatoes should not be more than 14 days.
When re-colonizing with the Colorado potato beetle, we use Biscay. This is the innovative systemic insecticide of the German company Bayer. The preparation is completely safe for bees, provides rapid penetration of the active substance into the leaves, compared to traditional formulations. Thanks to the systemic action, it protects the plant from pests for a longer time. The rate of use is 0.2 l / ha (2 ml / acre) sprayed when pests appear. The maximum number of treatments is two. The latter is carried out at least 20 days before harvest.
Foliar feeding and harvesting of early potatoes
Together with fungicidal treatments, foliar feeding of plants is carried out.
Potatoes need a very large spectrum of trace elements . This will be the subject of the separate article.
The collection of potatoes is carried out manually with simultaneous sorting. Firstly, potatoes are dug up using the walk-behind tractor or mini tractor, and then they are collected by hand. Mowing the tops of potatoes allows to improve the quality of harvesting, reduce crop losses. The harvested potato crop must be prepared for sale. This is washing, drying and packing potatoes in containers for sale.
It should be remembered that early young potatoes have a very short shelf life.
Grow high yields. To obtain a harvest, use the seed material of "Adelaide" FE.
