How and what is the best way to process potatoes before planting?

The eternal obsessive headache of summer residents is pests, to avoid the invasion of which is much easier than to correct the consequences of a violent feast of insects in the garden. This is the goal of processing potatoes before planting. It will relieve constant concern for the health of plants and the safety of the future harvest, as well as increase its size.

Seed selection

Preparation of potato tubers for planting consists of several sequential procedures. It starts with a careful selection of the seed. The main requirement here is health, although the shape and size of the potatoes also matter. Sorting tubers is convenient on the table. Potatoes rotten and affected by diseases of a fungal or bacterial nature are immediately discarded. They should not come into contact with healthy tubers. The infection can be latent. To identify it, the selected seed is heated (at 14-18 ° C). If the potatoes have been infested, they will show signs of disease by the time they are planted and can be easily sorted out.

Externally healthy tubers are tested for yield. They are dipped in a urea solution. Prepare it by stirring 1.5 kg of the substance in 10 liters of water. The tubers suitable for planting are dense and heavy and will sink to the bottom. Unripe - will float to the surface. The same fate will befall sick potatoes.

When selecting tubers, pay attention to their size. A good result is obtained by planting medium potatoes (weighing 50-80 g). But there are no strict restrictions here. A high yield can be obtained by using smaller, weighing from 30 g, or larger tubers, the mass of which exceeds 100 g. If the potatoes differ greatly in size, they are laid out in 3 piles. Tubers sorted by size are planted in different beds. This way you can achieve a uniform emergence of seedlings: the germination period of potatoes is largely determined by their size. In the future, bushes of the same height will be easier to care for.

Landscaping or Germination?

Preparing potatoes for planting is usually done in one of the following ways:

• through his landscaping;
• by germination method.

Each of the methods has its own merits. It's better to hurry up with landscaping. They spend it in the fall, after digging up the harvest. The potatoes selected for planting are laid out in 2-3 layers in a bright, well-ventilated place. Direct rays of the sun should not fall on them. After 10 days, the tubers are harvested in containers in which they will be stored until spring.

In the light, solanine is actively formed in potatoes - a poisonous substance that acts as a natural fungicide and insecticide. In addition to protecting against diseases and pests, it participates in the processes of wound healing, accelerating them. Greening the seed tubers helps to retain the moisture needed by the potato sprouts at the beginning of their development. They cannot get it from the soil due to the insufficiently developed root system. If the tubers did not turn green in the fall, this can be done in the spring by combining the procedure with germination.

Most summer residents prefer to plant potatoes with real sprouts. It sprouts faster, develops better and ultimately brings a rich harvest. It will not work to avoid such preparation if the soil on the site is heavy, containing a lot of clay or peat.

Germination rules

Germination of potatoes before planting is carried out in a warm room with high humidity. Under such conditions, seed tubers spread out in a thin layer in boxes usually last 3-4 weeks.Periodically (every 7-10 days) they are turned over. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the sprouts. While stirring up the tubers, they are examined again, rejecting the weak and infected with diseases.

Temperature is important for the awakening of the kidneys. Potatoes should be warm during the daytime (12-18 ° C). At night, it is advisable to lower the temperature to 6 ° C. Long shoots break easily when planted. To avoid pulling them out, the seed in the first week is kept in a room where the air is warmed up to 20-22 ° C. Further germination of tubers is carried out in a cool place - at a temperature of about 7-8 ° C.

Indoor humidity should be 85-95%. To successfully germinate seed potatoes, they are periodically sprayed with clean water. The tubers will be ready for planting in 20-25 days. Potatoes are placed on the beds with powerful shoots reaching a length of 1 cm and having root rudiments in their lower part.

Before planting, the tubers are sorted again. Unsuitable for her are those that:

• have only 1 sprout;
• did not sprout;
• formed weak filamentous shoots.

Advice

Experienced summer residents practice sprouting potatoes before planting in a greenhouse. It is easiest to provide tubers with the optimum temperature and humidity in it.

If it is not possible to germinate the planting material in the light, it is warmed up. It requires a dark room and a constant temperature between 18-20 ° C. This technique reduces the preparation time for potatoes to 8-10 days. Since the result is quickly warmed up, it is advisable to start it shortly before the planned landing. If the tubers are kept warm and dark for longer than the recommended period, the sprouts will be long and brittle. In most potato varieties, breaking them off causes a significant decrease in the yield of the bush. Certain varieties of culture may not emerge after it at all.

It is better to plant tubers with dormant buds than to germinate and then damage them. If it was not possible to avoid stretching the sprouts, they are not cut off. After carefully removing the potatoes from the box, they are placed in a hole or furrow and carefully sprinkled with soil. The first shoots have increased vitality.

Disinfection

Pathogens of dangerous diseases can be found on the surface of tubers. To prevent plant infestation, potatoes intended for planting are treated with biological fungicides.

The timing of the procedure depends on the drug:

• "Planriz" is used 7 days before placing the tubers in the ground;
• Albit - 24 hours before boarding;
• Fitosporin, Baxis, Arilin - right in front of her;
• "Binoram" and "Agat-25K" are used twice: before planting and 5 days before it.

Popular methods of disinfecting planting material - ash, copper sulfate, potassium permanganate - are also widely practiced. They are simple, gentle and effective. To process seed potatoes, copper sulfate (1 tsp) is dissolved in water (3 l). You can spray the tubers with the resulting mixture, but the result will be better if you immerse them in it for a short time (maximum 2 minutes). The potatoes extracted from the solution are dried and left for 2-3 days. Then they can be further treated with a growth stimulant. Such preparation will protect the future crop from the wireworm. Clicker beetle larvae do not like copper sulfate. If there are a lot of wireworms in the place of the proposed planting of potatoes, you can water the area with a solution in the fall or scatter the substance over the soil surface.

Advice

Do not prepare a solution of copper sulfate in metal containers. It is recommended to use glass, wood or enamel dishes. You can do without it by digging a hole on the site and covering it with a strong film.

A disinfecting solution of potassium permanganate is made at the rate of 1 g of substance per 1 liter of water. The tubers are placed in it for 30 minutes. You can add copper sulfate (10 g) and boric acid (20 g) to this amount of potassium permanganate. They are thoroughly mixed in 10 liters of water.After holding the seed tubers in the resulting composition for half an hour, they are dried and planted in the ground. Potassium permanganate is also effective for soil cultivation. To destroy the wireworm, before planting the hole under the potatoes, pour it with a solution (3-4 g per 10 l of water). But this method is only suitable for neutral and alkaline soils. If the soil in the area is acidic, the excess of manganese, together with getting rid of the wireworm, can lead to plant burns.

In this case, it is better to treat the tubers and soil with ash. It will also serve as a fertilizer for potatoes. Having prepared a nutrient solution from it (1 kg of substance per 1 bucket of water), the seed tubers are immersed in it. You can do this without removing them from the mesh. There is another way - by slightly wetting the potatoes, roll them in fertilizer. They plant them immediately. Ash scares away the wireworm. It is introduced into the soil in the fall, before the autumn digging. You can do this during planting by adding fertilizer to each well. Some summer residents protect the plants from the wireworm all summer long, periodically scattering ash next to the plantings and loosening the soil.

Pest prevention

To avoid the invasion of voracious insects and minimize damage to the crop, treating potatoes before planting from the Colorado potato beetle will help. It is carried out with special fungicide preparations. The following remedies are popular with summer residents.

• "Matador Grand". It protects potatoes from wireworms, beetles, whiteflies, aphids, fleas, moths, cicadas, late blight, peronosporosis, rhizoctonia and a number of other diseases. Tubers are processed "on tables". Having decomposed them into 1 layer, they are sprayed with a solution of the drug. After drying, the potatoes are turned over and the other side is processed. The solution is prepared at the rate of 30 ml of the drug per 200 ml of water. When the potatoes are completely dry, they can be planted;
• "Prestige" (100 ml) in combination with "Maxim" (70 ml). This dosage is used to treat 100 potatoes.

Both methods are not suitable for protecting early crop varieties. They have a long-term effect, staying in tubers for up to 60-70 days and making them undesirable for food. Early ripe varieties of potatoes are best treated with preparations from the Colorado potato beetle "Taboo" (it will also help to get rid of wireworms and aphids), "Cruiser" or the like. They are limited to 45 days.

There are several ways to protect crops from wireworms with Tabu:

• sprinkle them on the tubers "on the tables";
• process the soil - the bottom of the planting hole or furrow. 1-2 liters of fungicide solution are spent per one hundred square meters.

There are a lot of chemical compositions, the use of which on seed tubers will allow not to be afraid of the wireworm: "Prestige", "Commander", "Nuprid 600", "Pikus", "Imidor". They have a complex protective effect, increasing the immunity of plants and protecting the future harvest from fungal diseases and a whole range of pests: false wireworms, bears, aphids, beetles, scoops.

Growth promotion and nutrition

Seedlings will appear faster, and potato bushes will be more powerful and lush, if the tubers are treated with a growth stimulant. This is done 1-2 days before they are placed in the ground. Most often, to activate the germination of eyes on tubers, summer residents use the drug "Poteytin". Dissolving it in 1 liter of water, spray potatoes with it. The product is used sparingly: 1 ampoule is enough to process 60 kg of planting material. The drug strengthens the immunity of plants, makes them more resistant to changes in weather conditions, increases productivity.

Other means are also popular:

• "Mikon", which contains many important microelements for culture;
• "Epin", which doubles the yield of potatoes, improves its keeping quality and accelerates its ripening by 2 weeks;
• "Bioglobin", which causes active cell division and an increase in the root system of the bush.

You can treat seed tubers with a nutrient composition. For its preparation use "Nitrofoska" or "Solution". 1 hourl of the drug is stirred in 3 l of water. By the time of placement in the ground, the tubers are treated 3 times, repeating spraying every 10 days.

The question of how to prepare potatoes for planting is one of the most important in crop farming. The correct treatment of seed tubers will save energy in the struggle for the safety of the crop and increase its size. It can be done in different ways, based on personal preferences and capabilities, the conditions for growing the crop, the amount of time left before planting, the availability of certain drugs on the farm. You can use all known agricultural techniques or be limited to a few of them.