How to Plant Potatoes
Today, we are going to introduce some small green plant maintenance experiences on how to plant potatoes and understand the planting methods of potatoes. Let's find out the details.
Potatoes, also known as potatoes, yams, Dutch potatoes, earth eggs, potato children, and sweet potato, are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and are annual herbaceous plants of the Solanaceae family. The tubers of potatoes are edible and rich in nutritional value, containing vitamin C, protein, and carbohydrates. At the same time, potatoes have a high yield, similar to wheat, rice, and corn, and are important food crops. With the right planting techniques for potatoes, it is not difficult to grow them. Let's learn about how to plant potatoes.
1. Soil Preparation and Fertilization
It is suitable to choose a sandy loam plot that is loose, well-ventilated, easy to drain and irrigate, rich in organic matter, flat terrain, thick and fertile tillage layer for planting. After harvesting the previous crop, prepare the land and carry out tillage with fertilization before planting. Fertilization can adopt a balanced fertilization method, applying 200 kg of wood ash, 60 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, and 1500 to 2500 kg of farm manure per 667 square meters.
2. Seed Selection and Treatment
Choose high-yield virus-free potato tubers that are intact, free from frost damage, diseases, and pests, with shallow eyes and smooth skin, such as Kexin No.1, Feiurai, Dongnong 303, Zaodabai, Youjin, and Kexin No.6. Prepare two knives for cutting the potatoes and switch between them. The unused knife should be placed in a potassium permanganate solution for disinfection. Cut the seed potatoes 3 to 5 days before planting, ensuring each piece weighs between 35 to 50 grams and has 1 to 2 healthy buds. After cutting, mix the potato pieces, talcum powder, and thiophanate-methyl in a ratio of 100:1:0.1, and place them in a well-ventilated area to wait for the cuts to heal.
3. Sprout Induction
After the seed potatoes are spread and cooled for 1 to 2 days, soak them in 1 to 2 units of hydrocortisone for 10 minutes, then bury them in a moist sandbed and cover with a film to induce sprouting. This process can effectively break the dormancy state of the seed potatoes, speed up and even the germination, and reduce the rotting of seed potatoes in the soil.
4. Planting
Planting can be done when the average daily temperature is between 15 to 25°C or when the temperature in the soil layer 10 cm high is above 10°C for more than 3 days. Arrange the planting density based on the fertility and potato variety. Under general cultivation conditions, plant about 6,000 plants per mu or use 120 to 150 kg of seeds per mu.
5. Water Management
Water promptly during dry weather after planting to keep the soil moist and ensure germination. The seedling stage, budding stage, and flowering stage are critical periods, requiring increased watering to ensure adequate soil water supply. The demand for water will increase when the stems and leaves stop growing, so attention should be paid to supplementing water to avoid late maturity or reduced yield of potatoes.
6. Disease Control
Diseases during potato cultivation can lead to reduced yield and affect potato quality. Above-ground pests include aphids and caterpillars, which can be controlled with efficient pymetrozine solution. Below-ground pests such as cutworms and wireworms can be controlled by spraying diazinon powder during the potato growing period.
7. Harvesting
When the potato stems and leaves turn yellow and gradually wither, the potatoes are fully mature and can be harvested on a sunny day when the soil is relatively dry.
Does this detailed introduction to how to plant potatoes and understand the planting methods of potatoes help you?