In potatoes, the formation of tubers occurs simultaneously with flowering. Because of this feature, the flowering bush spends a lot of effort on the formation of buds, so tubers may lack the nutrients necessary for their growth and development. Among gardeners, there is an opinion that picking flowers from potatoes is useful for increasing the yield of future edible root crops. Some have been practicing this method for years. But this issue is still controversial. To understand it completely, you need to understand the principle of maturation of this culture.
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Phases and time of development of the potato bush
Potatoes go through several stages of development during the season. The life cycle of this plant consists of several main phases and takes about 3 months:
- the first shoots appear 3 weeks after planting under favorable conditions;
- about the same time after this, the buds become noticeable;
- a month after planting, flowering of potatoes begins;
- for the growth of tubers, a period of 1.5-2.5 months is required;
- The cycle ends with the death of the aerial part of the bush.
What happens when removing inflorescences
To find out how the removal of flowers from potatoes affects the formation of tubers, numerous experiments have been conducted. Inflorescences were frustrated at the time when the formation of buds. Nutrients during plant growth go to its leaves, flowers and tubers. If flowers are cut off, their proportion is redirected to potatoes, which reach a larger size. But it is bad that the plant loses one of the most important cycles - the formation of fruits. As a result, this leads to such unpleasant consequences as degeneration of the variety.
Every year, the deterioration in the quality of the resulting crop is becoming more noticeable due to the accumulation of genetic problems. In addition, in the course of the studies it was proved: if picking flowers from potatoes you can injure the plant, making it more susceptible to various diseases of a bacterial nature.
Whether to pick flowers from potatoes, everyone must decide for himself. Some gardeners are confident in the correctness of such a decision, while others think that removing flowers from potatoes to increase the yield is simply stupid, and they do not believe that the method can have a positive effect. The main disadvantages of this technique are:
- danger of plant damage;
- the possibility of infection of the entire field with fungi or bacteria;
- excessive trampling of the soil between the rows, due to which less moisture and air enter.
Advantages include increased yield on infertile soil.
How to pick potato flowers
If it was decided to pick flowers from potatoes during flowering, then you need to do this correctly. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow a few simple recommendations. The best time is the moment before the buds begin to open. If a little late, then the lower leaves will dry.It is necessary to observe quarantine so as not to infect the diseased bush with healthy ones. Therefore, instruments must be sanitized.
A distinctive feature of this culture is the double breeding mechanism. Therefore, if instead of flowers berries have already appeared, pick them off, they are no longer needed.
What needs to be done before flowering
It is during this period that the bushes need special care. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to proper care. The main procedure at this time will be hilling. This simple agricultural technique consists in loosening and raking the soil to each bush. It helps the root system increase immunity, saturates it well with oxygen and makes it stronger and more branched. It is better if the soil is slightly moist.
A sprinkling of earth also protects the potatoes themselves from appearing on the surface. Otherwise, they turn green and become unfit for human consumption. But the hilling should be carried out carefully, the manifest negligence can cause damage to the root processes and adversely affect the plant. When the bush blooms spud its very harmful.
Of great importance are also regular watering and top dressing with a potassium-phosphorus mixture, without which potatoes will cease to develop normally.
Most summer residents cultivate this culture for food and therefore try to acquire high-quality breeding varieties in stores and markets. They are not cheap today.
Cut fruits can be used to remove seedlings. The bushes grown from it will be distinguished by a more abundant harvest for several more years after that. Their other positive properties will be resistance to diseases and sharp fluctuations in temperature.
You may be interested in:Reviews
Nina
I accidentally heard about this method a couple of years ago and decided to try it on our site. And we have 10 hectares of potatoes growing. The husband was at first opposed, but then agreed to such an experiment. When the bushes bloomed, we walked along the rows to carefully cut off all the flowers and buds together. The result had to wait until the fall. During the digging, they later noticed that in each hole the tubers were larger than usual, but they were all small in size.
Nikolay
This summer I wanted to try out a new technique for growing potatoes - picking flowers. From myself, I can say that I did not notice any particular difference. Maybe something did the wrong thing or the method just doesn't work. I will not repeat anymore.
Helena
Subtracted on the Internet - if you cut the color of potatoes, it helps to increase its yield. It was hard to believe that such a simple procedure could somehow affect, so I doubted for a long time. But still, it was decided to process some rows and leave the rest in their normal state. I could not wait to quickly compare the results. As a result, where the inflorescences were harvested, there were more root crops, but large ones were absent. It turns out that the method did not live up to my expectations.
Each gardener tries to achieve maximum effectiveness of their activities. This can help knowledge of the basics of agricultural technology and understanding of the simplest biological processes. It is useful to listen to the opinions of others, but you should not blindly trust any advice.The existence of a relationship between potato flowering and tuber formation has been proven in the course of research. But it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve a steady increase in yield by picking flowers. In addition, the danger of degeneration of the variety cannot be ruled out if they are removed every year. Therefore, we can conclude that such measures are inappropriate.
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