Prepare potatoes for spring planting

Preparing potatoes for planting in the spring is a rather difficult and long task. But, she needs to start practicing on time to plant potatoes before the heat. This is also one of the components of a good harvest.

The seed material must be of high quality and for every gardener this is not a secret. Tubers weighing somewhere up to 60 to 100 grams are best suited for planting. They are not very small and not very large, they sprout perfectly and quickly adapt to new conditions.

Seed selection

No need to even climb into a special forum for preparing potatoes to plant in the spring to understand what the seed looks like. These are ordinary tubers that we, for most of the year, simply eat. If your tubers are small enough and it is not possible to select a sufficient amount weighing 60 grams or more, then several small potatoes will need to be planted in one hole.

Further tuber preparation

So, you have selected the material, how to prepare it further? First you need to warm the seeds, this is done at a temperature of at least 25 degrees Celsius for three days. Then lay out in a row on a flat surface so that each tuber has its own place. Put so that there is enough light for each potato. Ensure uniform lighting.

If you are preparing potatoes for planting in the spring, when you get it for germination, it is already late and very close to summer, then you will have to conduct a vernalization. This procedure helps to accelerate the appearance of sunrises, may be dry or wet.

Dry vernalization

Can spread potatoes the room is not too warm, enough temperature of 14 degrees. But, the presence of daylight should be constant for a month. Light acts on the tubers in such a way that dark green shoots appear, they can also have a purple hue. It must be ensured that the shoots do not grow more than two centimeters.

When there is little light, your tubers will be long, and the processes themselves will be white. This is bad material, because the plant will grow weak, devoid of vitality. In order for potato seeds to please with beauty and strength, you need to shift them every five days so that the light is distributed evenly throughout the tuber.

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Preventative treatment

When preparing potatoes for planting in the spring, they are treated with manganese or other solutions. For what purpose? This is necessary for the prevention of diseases so common in our latitudes as late blight, nematode and others. Than to treat the plant later (it will be extremely difficult to cure), it is better to take care of proper prevention in advance.

You can dilute a teaspoon of copper sulfate into three liters of water. Sprinkle the tubers with a solution. For deeper processing, lower the tubers into the solution completely and hold for a minute, lay out again in daylight.

How to speed up germination

A week after prevention, you can prepare the tubers for faster germination. Spraying will also help here, but the solutions will be different. Between the procedures should be at least five and no more than six days. In turn, use the following types of solutions:

• A spoon of nitrophoska is diluted in three liters of water;
• A spoonful of Effekton fertilizer is bred in three liters of water;
• A small spoon of urea is also bred in three liters of water;

Important! Every day after treatment and at intervals, tubers should be sprayed with clean water.

Tubers that were prepared according to the scheme described above will be ready for planting in a month. If the potatoes are large, then it may take 35 days. The main thing is that the sprouts should be green or purple and not more than two centimeters in length.

Wet vernalization option

You can replace the dry vernalization option described above with the wet option. We will use baskets or boxes in which you can put potatoes in two rows, but do it at a distance of three centimeters. The eyes should look up. Sprinkle with sawdust, monitor their moisture throughout the germination period.

This is a profitable option for processing tubers before planting, because, they practically do not lose water and nutrients. Moreover, not only sprouts, but the root system are formed on the tubers. With this method, germination will take only two weeks, which speeds up the process almost twice.

This is how the preparation of potatoes for planting in the spring is carried out for a long time and purposefully. No matter how much work is to be done, preparation should be mandatory. This significantly reduces the risks of poor germination, attacks of pests and diseases, increasing overall productivity. With this treatment, your potato will be tasty and have enough for the whole winter.