Do potatoes need to be watered after planting and when do they need water?

Spring is in full swing, you have planted tubers and now do not know when to water the potatoes after planting? If the ground was wet, there should be enough water for the tuber before sprouting. Then watch the weather: if the showers remind you of a global flood, you should not think about watering, but about how to drain the soil a little. Do not believe the stories that this culture grows almost without leaving and it is enough only to huddle the rows a couple of times. The potato will survive, grow like any weed, with little ugly nodules. If you want delicious crumbly potatoes on the table - take care of your plantings.

Do I need to water potatoes

Potatoes are not always grown in equipped fields or summer cottages. In some regions, city dwellers are often allocated 2-3 hectares of agricultural land, sometimes people adapt to develop a clearing in the middle of the forest and bury tubers in the ground. Do not carry water there in flasks - when it rains, then it will water the plantings. In peasant families, they used to plant 10-15 acres, but there was no water supply system or pumps then. The potatoes grew without watering and gave good yields. There was enough for both people and cattle, and there was also left for sale. Only my backs hurt a lot after processing such huge fields.

The opinion that potatoes do not need to be watered is wrong. Its root system does not penetrate into the soil deeper than 30 cm. The foliage grows lush and juicy, the tubers also contain a lot of juice. If the soil is dry and there is little rain, where does the plant get moisture from to form a good aboveground and underground part? The greens will soon wither, and with this, the development of tubers will stop. If you don't want all the work to be in vain, you need to give the plants enough water.

Why bend your back on an unequipped site, dig up hundreds of bushes in the fall and, as a result, bring home a few sacks of potatoes? It is better to allocate for this culture a small plantation in the country with a water supply that helps to water the site. Experts assure that with the right choice of planting material and good care, you can collect more than a ton of tubers from one hundred square meters. This amount should be enough for a family for a whole year.

When the roots are in dry soil, they cannot supply the planting with not only moisture, but also nutrients. The foliage turns yellow, withers, dies. The tubers begin to prepare for wintering and stop developing. If at this moment the gardener remembers watering or the rains begin, one section of the potato will wake up and continue to grow, the other fragment will remain dormant. After uneven moistening, instead of smooth oval tubers, you will dig up ugly vegetables with cones and growths, which are a real torment to peel.

Features of the development of culture

Potato roots tend to germinate in moist soil layers. If the soil is moistened to a shallow depth, the shoots will grow in breadth and after the first slight drought they will not be able to get water for plants. This often happens when the tubers are thrown into dry soil, and soon a little rain will pass or the gardener will pour insufficient water on the plantation. In order for the roots to go deeper, you need to moisten the ground well so that the moisture soaks the layer to a depth of at least 30 cm.

The correct moisture regime for early varieties is especially important. In a short time, they should form a large mass of tubers. If water does not arrive on time, development will stop, and you will find several small ugly formations in the ground, not much larger than beans.When the crop is properly cared for, there will be several dozen large potatoes on the bush, one plant will provide you with food for the whole day.

If a gardener has to plant potatoes in dry soil, he often makes a big mistake: after planting, he begins to water the plantation. The root system grows over the surface and there will be no good harvest. If there is even a little moisture in the lower layers, let the roots find it on their own at depth.

In rare cases, a situation may arise when you need to plant potatoes on completely dry soil: no matter how much you dig, there are only dry clods. If so, try the next method.

1. Dig deep holes.
2. Spill the holes well with water, at least a bucket under each bush.
3. Wait until the moisture is completely absorbed.
4. Cover the holes with earth to the desired depth.
5. Plant potatoes.

Watering time

The time when you need to water the potatoes depends on the weather and soil moisture. Often it is not necessary to pour water - it is better rarely, but abundantly. Let's say your region has comfortable, not too hot weather all summer with light rains a couple of times a week. The soil is not dry, but not swampy either. Even so, there are periods in the development of plants when they need to be watered:

1. when the seedlings rise above the ground to a height of about 7 cm;
2. when buds appear: at this time, tubers begin to set;
3. after flowering during the period of intensive tuber growth, approximately in the second decade of August.

Simple wetting of the soil will only bring negative results. At the first watering, pour at least 3 liters of water into the center of each plant. At this time, stolons are formed, on which potatoes appear. After watering in moist soil, they will grow denser and can spread apart to give the tubers more room to develop. At the next stage, more water will be required. Each adult bush needs at least 6 liters of liquid.

Better to water the plants in the evening. If you do this work in the morning before sunrise, you will have problems. The drops will fall on the tops, the lush greenery will not dry out soon. The droplets, like small lenses, will collect the rays of the rising sun into one hot point, after which the leaves will get burned. If such trauma occurs frequently, the caste will begin to hurt and will not be able to develop correctly.

In such conditions, plants need to be watered at least every 4-5 days. If there is no rain, but there is no strong heat either, moisten the planting once every one and a half weeks.

Advice

Immerse your hand in the soil to the depth of all phalanges. If the fingertips are dry when removed from the ground, the potatoes need moisture.

The amount of moisture in hot and windy weather should also be increased. Water instantly evaporates from the hot soil, but it is necessary that it penetrates to a sufficient depth. For the first watering, pour at least 5 liters of water under the bush. When the plantings become adults, the rate should be about 20 liters.

Loosening will help to increase the interval between waterings. When shoots appear, spud them. Potatoes do not like dense soil, which does not allow air and nutrients to pass through well. When processing the upper soil layer, the smallest cracks-capillaries are destroyed, along which moisture from the lower soil layers goes up and evaporates. Put a layer of mulch around the bushes, it will also help to save soil moisture, you will not be able to water as often.

The vagaries of the weather are unpredictable: either drought, or torrential rains. If the soil permeates moisture well or the area is equipped with drainage, waterlogging does not threaten the potatoes. Add hydrogel when planting, it will regulate the amount of water in the ground. After a rainstorm, the granules will suck in the liquid, and during the dry period they will gradually release it into the ground.

Output

Potatoes, like any garden crop, need care, which includes watering.Immediately after planting, moistening the topsoil is undesirable: the roots should strive deep in order to get water. If they start to grow on the surface, a slight drought will be detrimental to the bushes, you will have to constantly walk around the plantation with a hose. Only when the seedlings grow a few centimeters, it is necessary to water the area.

Watering should not be considered a tedious task, it will help save space, effort and money. With proper care, the yield will be 2-3 times higher than on an abandoned plantation. You will plant half the bushes, spend less seeds, fertilizers and other preparations. It is easier to process 1 hundred square meters than 2 or 3, and after good processing, potato tubers will turn out to be large and even, it is a pleasure to peel them. Do not be lazy, do everything right, and when delicious crumbly potatoes appear on your table, you will understand that you have not worked in vain.