Content
Potatoes are one of the most popular garden crops that summer residents prefer to plant. But in order for the harvest to be good, the plant needs to be allocated a lot of area for planting. Fortunately, you can also achieve good results in a small area if you resort to tricks. For example, planting potatoes with eyes is one of the tricks of summer residents, which allows you to save planting material and at the same time increase productivity.
Planting potatoes with eyes is an economical method that has proven itself to be highly effective.
Features of planting potatoes with eyes
The technology of planting potatoes with eyes is considered a highly effective method, due to which not only the quantity of the crop is increased, but also its quality. The reason for this is that each shoot (eye) is a separate plant, which forms its own root system as it grows. There can be many such shoots on the mother tuber, and when they find favorable conditions, they begin to germinate and then compete with each other for living space, nutrients and moisture.
In the process of fighting, the shoots spend a lot of energy, as a result, the root system of a strong plant begins to suppress the rest.On its stolons, of course, large root crops are formed, but their number is limited, since the plant gets only half of the planting space. Other shoots located on the remaining area also form root crops, but they are much smaller in size.
If you plant the eyes of potatoes, divided into parts, then in the future the plants will not have to compete with a large number of shoots. Their energy will go directly to the formation of root crops, which means that the number of tubers will increase as well as the quality.
Pros and cons of the method
In addition to high yield, propagating potatoes with eyes has a number of other advantages:
- savings on planting material, since from one mother tuber you can get 2-3 parts with eyes (viable shoots);
- Potato germination was noted to be simultaneous and faster, since the shoots do not waste energy on competition and receive more nutrients from the soil;
- the harvest is of better quality due to the greater supply of nutrients by just one bush, which forms the tubers;
- This method can be used to propagate any variety of potato.
Among the disadvantages it is worth noting:
- for planting with eyes, it is necessary to choose high-quality large mother tubers;
- it takes more time to prepare planting material;
- After planting, plants need good care for germination.
But even despite the shortcomings of the method, the end result in the form of healthy and large tubers will be an excellent reward for the effort and labor expended.
Preparation of planting material
Like planting any plant, growing potatoes with eyes is based on proper preparation of planting material. As a mother tuber, you should choose only healthy medium or large-sized root vegetables.
There are several options for dividing into parts:
- First, the upper part of the tuber is cut off (opposite to the place where it was previously attached to the stolon), the remaining half is cut lengthwise;
- the tuber is cut crosswise into three parts;
- The root vegetables are divided into three parts across, then the middle part is cut in half lengthwise.
The main options for dividing a tuber into parts with eyes
After dividing the tubers into parts, they should be stored until planting. To do this, they are laid out in one layer on a covered floor in a room at room temperature. Leave it like this for 3-7 days until the cut areas become rough (corked). At the same time, it is important to monitor the parts; rotten and damaged parts must be removed immediately.
After the cuttings have dried, you can transfer the planting material to the basement if it is harvested in the fall, or the next step is carried out immediately - vernalization. The essence of the procedure is to allow the eyes to germinate at room temperature in diffused light. Thanks to vernalization, the germination time of potatoes is reduced.
If planting material is harvested in the fall, then within a month it is taken out of the storage area for warming into a room with a temperature of +18-+20 ºC for 4-6 days.When the first eyes appear, the seed tubers are then laid out in boxes in 1-2 layers and transferred to light, while the temperature should be up to +10 ºC. Under such conditions, the shoots continue to grow and before the time comes to plant potatoes with eyes, the sprouts will already be about 2 cm.
How to plant potatoes with eyes
The scheme for planting potatoes with eyes is slightly different from planting whole tubers. The distance in the row between the holes should be kept smaller. For small parts, planting is allowed at a distance of 10-15 cm, for larger parts - 20 cm. The row spacing is also maintained at 40-60 cm to simplify subsequent care. When planning to plant potatoes with eyes in a checkerboard pattern, the distance between rows can be 20-25 cm. Parts with eyes should be buried no more than 7 cm.
It is important to properly fertilize the soil, because parts with eyes will not have the same supply of nutrients that whole tubers have. Therefore, when digging holes, they are first filled with compost, onion peels and eggshells, as well as ash. Afterwards, parts of the tubers are placed so that the sprouts are directed upward, and they are covered with soil no more than 10 cm.
Care after landing
After planting potatoes with eyes, after 2-2.5 weeks, when the first shoots begin to “hatch”, hilling is carried out (earth ridges are formed in each row about 25 cm high). This is necessary so that future tubers have enough space and sunlight does not leak through.
5-7 days after the first hilling, shoots should appear. They, as a rule, begin to grow intensively, and so that their growth is not drowned out by weeds, it is necessary to remove them in a timely manner.
Potatoes usually do not need watering, but in very dry weather during the period of active growth, the soil can be irrigated. It is enough to use water at the rate of 15 liters per 1 sq. m.
The second time hilling is carried out when the tops reach 15 cm. It is best done after rain or after watering.
Feeding and prevention of diseases and pests are carried out identically to those with the classical planting method.
Conclusion
Planting potatoes with eyes is an excellent method for getting a good harvest. This method has many advantages, including saving seed material and improving the quality of grown tubers.
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