Growing potatoes has long turned into a kind of hobby-competition between gardeners, since buying any quantity of any variety of food potatoes, if desired, has long been no problem. And for the money spent, it is accessible to almost every person. But for any summer resident, and even more so the owner of a village farmstead, potatoes are not just a vegetable, they are a kind of symbol of gardening.
Ever since it appeared on the territory of Russia, not immediately, but gradually acquired the status of a second bread. Therefore, every gardener tries to come up with and test in practice some new techniques for increasing the yield and taste of growing potatoes. Sometimes the well-forgotten old things are remembered, and sometimes the experience of other countries is used. This is how it works with the currently quite common method of cutting potato tops. Many people have been successfully using this technique for several years and don’t even remember how they lived without it.
Others are perplexed as to why this extra effort is needed, and with an effect that is incomprehensible to many. Still others know and understand the importance of taking it, but their opinions on when to use it sometimes differ. Indeed, determining exactly when to mow potato tops is not entirely simple.Too much depends on specific climatic and weather conditions and the characteristics of the potato variety. So, it is necessary to understand why, when and how this procedure is carried out.
Reasons for trimming potato tops
From biology, everyone knows that the formation of stolons (underground shoots) and tubers in potatoes usually coincides with the budding and flowering phase of plants.
Subsequently, from the moment of flowering until the natural drying of the above-ground part of the bushes, potato tubers intensively grow and develop, accumulating starch and other nutrients. Throughout this period, the tubers themselves are covered with a thin, delicate skin, which is not at all intended for storage or protection from external influences, but is very tasty when cooked. It’s not for nothing that young potatoes are highly valued by gourmets.
It is interesting that it is after the potato tops dry out that the process of coarsening and the formation of a strong and dense protective skin begins, thanks to which the potatoes can be stored for a long time. It also, as a rule, protects the tubers from damage during harvesting and from various fungal infections during storage. Hence the conclusion - if the harvest time is approaching, frosts set in, and the potatoes continue to turn green as if nothing had happened, then they definitely need to mow the tops and leave them for a week to complete all biological processes and form a protective skin. Only then can you start digging up the tubers.
It is also important to mow the tops of potatoes for the reason that the reviving and growing potato stems at the end of summer will draw nutrients from the new tubers for their development. That is why such potatoes are poorly stored.
Another common situation when mowing potato tops is a necessary procedure is when potato bushes are affected by late blight. This disease is a frequent companion of potatoes, especially in humid and cool summer conditions. It can destroy an entire potato crop in a few weeks. Infection occurs through the above-ground parts of plants and only after some time the infection penetrates into the tubers. Therefore, if you notice that the green leaves are beginning to become stained and turn black, then you need to cut off the tops of the potatoes as soon as possible and burn them. This technique will help prevent the spread of the disease and save the crop. This procedure is often carried out for preventive purposes in those regions and under such weather conditions when the likelihood of the spread of late blight is very high.
Thus, answering the question: “Why do they mow the tops of potatoes?”, the following main reasons can be noted:
- To form a roughened protective skin on tubers;
- To accelerate the ripening of tubers and better preserve them;
- To reduce the likelihood of damage from diseases both during potato growth and during further storage of tubers;
- For ease of harvesting (so as not to get confused in tall potato tops).
True, there are other reasons for mowing potato tops, which are much less common, but still have a right to exist, since they are confirmed by practical experience.
Some gardeners, citing foreign experience, have been mowing potato tops 10-12 days after flowering for several years now. Others recall the experience of their great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, who at the beginning of the last century, a week or two after the potatoes bloomed, crushed all the potato tops with special heavy rollers. However, it is quite possible to simply trample through the bushes with your feet if the areas with potatoes are small. In both cases, the increase in yield ranged from 10 to 15%. Moreover, potato tubers became larger in size and were better preserved. Harvesting took place at the usual time, approximately one and a half to two months after flowering, depending on the potato variety.
But that's not all. Back in the middle of the last century, agronomists proved in practice that pruning potato stems is an effective way to combat potato degeneration.
If you grow potatoes for seeds, then the best time to carry out such a procedure is the time when the bushes are just beginning to bloom, that is, the budding phase.
If you delay pruning until full flowering, you may not get a similar effect. It is necessary to trim potato stems at a height of about 15-20 cm for late varieties and about 10 cm for early varieties.The increase in yield can reach 22–34%.
Mowing time
Perhaps the most controversial issue among experienced gardeners is when to trim the tops of potatoes. According to standard generally accepted theory, this should be done about a week or two before the expected harvest date in order to allow the tubers to build up a protective shell.
As you already understood, if there is a danger of late blight in your region, then it is quite acceptable to mow the tops earlier, especially when the first signs of the disease appear.
At the same time, the theory is becoming increasingly popular that if you mow potato tops 12-14 days after flowering, this will have a beneficial effect on the yield and size of the tubers, increase their preservation and even improve their taste characteristics. Gardeners who apply this theory in practice note that tubers whose tops have been mown have a less watery, more rich, starchy taste. Indeed, in this case, the formed tubers no longer receive additional moisture from the stems. On the other hand, the mown tops do not absorb nutrients from the tubers.
By the way, when growing potatoes for seeds, cutting the stems and harvesting must be done at least a month earlier than the same procedures that are carried out for food potatoes. Then they are less likely to contract fungal and viral diseases, and next year they will produce an excellent harvest.
In any case, whether it is necessary to trim the potato tops or not, everyone decides for himself. But if you have had problems growing potatoes in recent years, then perhaps it makes sense to start experimenting and try pruning potato bushes at different times in experimental plots. And when harvesting, compare the results obtained. Perhaps such experiments will be able to introduce you to many interesting facts from the life of potatoes that you have never even suspected before. And the question - do potatoes need pruning - will disappear for you by itself.
If the yields and safety of your potatoes completely satisfy you, then maybe it’s not worth wasting time on experiments.
