Methods for growing potatoes from seeds
Many summer residents are accustomed to the fact that the reproduction of potato crops occurs mainly by root crops or their tuberous parts, as well as cuttings or layering. Recently, growing potatoes from seeds has been in demand as one of the breeding methods.
Methods for growing potatoes from seeds
Features of the method
The technology of how to grow potatoes from seeds is one of the ways to preserve the qualitative and quantitative indicators of yield and better preserve potato varieties that are valuable for industrial and private farming.
The biological seed material in a potato crop is formed in the form of a loose apical brush consisting of flowers, the color of which can vary from white to pink. Seed-bearing potato fruits initially have a light green hue, and in the process of full ripening, they change to a dark brown. The seeds themselves are small in size and brown.
pros
Growing a potato crop through seed reproduction has a number of advantages over planting potatoes with tubers or parts thereof:
- biological seed material purchased in specialized stores does not carry pathogenic viral pathogens and bacteria; it undergoes preliminary processing in compliance with the rules of collection and sorting;
- the seed is characterized by a stable resistance against diseases characteristic of vegetable crops, as well as resistant to changes in the surrounding climatic conditions,
- seed planting adapts better and faster and produces high yields with healthy tubers for five to seven years,
- the ability of seed material to germinate is maintained at the proper level for at least 5 years.
Minuses
With seed growing, a number of disadvantages have been noted that many gardeners neglect, given the results obtained:
- seed growing of seedlings involves paying close attention and careful care when planting seed in soil in greenhouse conditions or under cover,
- the period of obtaining a potato crop with seed cultivation increases to two years, because in the initial season, the result of planting seed material is a potato planting of 20-40g in size, and a full-fledged potato crop is obtained by replanting the resulting planting for the second gardening season.
Seedless seed growing
A seedless way to grow potatoes from seeds is suitable for southern regions with warm climates. Seed material is planted in open soil.
Soil preparation
It involves the implementation of measures for the preparation of soil for planting seed and includes:
- the correct choice of a land plot located in a sunlit place where legumes, beets or non-cultivated vegetables grew before the potatoes were planted,
- freeing the allotted area from weeds in the fall after the harvested crop and digging it,
- bringing the level of soil acidity to the required level by adding limestone, dolomite flour or wood ash,
- planting green manures, crushing them after 5-8 weeks and digging them together with the soil; mustard, rapeseed, peas or barley are suitable as green manures.
When preparing the soil without planting green manures, before planting a potato crop, fertilize the soil by adding half a bucket or one whole bucket of humus or compost. In the absence of humus, in the spring, before planting, mineral compositions are introduced, for example, nitrophosphate.
Seed preparation
Ready seeds
In order to reduce the germination time of the seed, before planting, it is subjected to heat treatment at a temperature of 40 'to 42' for no more than 20 minutes. Additionally, to increase the efficiency of germination, the planting material can be treated with mineral solutions.
Dried after processing, they are put on germination, for which they are placed on a wet napkin, evenly spreading over its surface. From above, the laid out seed material is covered with another damp cloth and placed in a warm place.
The most suitable place for germination of seed is a heating battery or a warm window sill.
As the seed germinates, the napkins are constantly moistened, but excess water is not allowed. The average germination period is 3-5 days, after which potato seeds for cultivation can be planted in the ground.
Planting and leaving
Seedless growing of potatoes from seeds has its own rules for planting a vegetable crop in soil.
Sprouted potato material is planted in the ground towards the end of May, when the ground warms up to 14-16 'to a depth of about 10 cm. The bed intended and prepared for growing a vegetable crop is loosened again before planting the seed.
Landing in the holes
When describing planting in holes, agricultural technology assumes that the grooves are correctly made at a distance of approximately 0.3-0.4 m (preferably about 3-4 cm in depth). 2-3 potato seeds are placed in them. The bed is mulched with soil or fine mulch to a height of up to half a centimeter.
Landing in furrows
Instead of holes in the ground, you can make beards, which are cut to a depth of 5 cm and filled with water. After the soil has completely absorbed the liquid, potato seeds are planted in the furrows and mulched to a height of 1 cm.
Care
The first shoots of potatoes appear after 5-10 days. With sparse germination, the sowing can be thickened. Thinning of rows is carried out at the second stage of the appearance of leaves, when the seedlings begin to close with each other. Before thinning, the soil must be moistened. Potato seedlings torn out of the ground are planted in separate holes at a distance of 0.2-0.25 m from each other.
Constant loosening of the soil and weeding with regular watering will provide intensive development of slowly growing potato seedlings.
A month later, bushes begin to form in the garden bed, the care of which in the future is little more than how they care for potatoes grown from root crops. Potatoes grown from seed are harvested in autumn, in September-October. We lay the potato seedlings for storage until spring and plant the next season.
Seedling seed growing
Good harvest
Those gardeners who live in regions with more severe climatic conditions grow potatoes from seed seedlings.This method of growing potato seedlings from seed by sowing followed by planting potato seedlings in the ground allows you to get a potato harvest on time.
Preparation of soil mixtures
For sowing potatoes with seeds for the purpose of germinating potato seedlings at home, a fertile and loose soil is made, which is water and air tight. The soil mixture for growing seedlings of potatoes from seeds should contain:
- garden land (2 shares),
- turf (6 shares) or peat instead (4 shares),
- sand (1 share).
The components of the soil mixture are thoroughly mixed and disinfected by means of nitrophoska (10 g per 10 kg of soil) or phytosporin (10 g per 10-liter volume of water). The dried cultivated potting mix is placed in containers where the potato seeds will be planted.
Seed preparation
In contrast to the seedless method of growing potatoes from seeds for seedlings, when cultivating a vegetable crop with seedlings, the seed material does not warm up, but is hardened in cold conditions. For this, potato seeds for seedlings are placed in the refrigerator for one night, and then left in a warm room. Before planting the seed, it is advisable to treat it with stimulants for the intensity of root formation. This is done with epin or root. Similarly as in the non-seedling method, in order to grow potato seedlings from seeds, the seed is germinated for 3-5 days, and then planted in containers with the prepared soil mixture.
Planting and leaving
Small boxes of 10 cm high are suitable for planting potatoes for seedlings. Some summer residents use plastic cups at home. For these purposes, you can also choose small flower pots.
Landing
In the soil mixture for planting germinated seeds, potatoes make grooves to a depth of no more than 1.5 cm, into which seed material is sown at a distance of 5 cm from each other. The sown seeds are mulched with soil mixture, instead of which sand can also be used. The surface is moistened with a spray.
Care
Until the first shoots of seedlings from seeds appear, the soil mixture is moistened as necessary by means of a sprayer, so that a strong jet of water does not wash the seeds to the surface.
The first shoots can be seen on the 8-10th day. At the stage of appearance of the second row of leaves, a pick is made, if there is a need for a pick. The seedlings that are grown in separate containers are not subject to picking.
For good and uniform illumination of seedlings, containers with it are regularly turned to the sun in different directions or additionally illuminated.
A week after the appearance of the first shoots, potato seedlings require feeding. It is made with ammonium nitrate or urea at the rate of 1 g per liter of water. Subsequent fertilizing of potato seedlings is carried out until the moment of transplantation into the soil with an interval of 25-30 days.
Transfer
10-12 days before the expected date of transplanting the grown seedlings into the ground, they are hardened, taking out the containers in one day, initially for 2-6 hours in a cool room, and for 7 days - for a round-the-clock stay.
You can plant home seedlings in open ground in the last weeks of May, for which they make holes in the ground to a depth of 12 cm. For seed planting in the first year, the distance should be up to 0.3m, in the second year of planting, it can be increased to 0.6m.
Sometimes gardeners plant not one, but two seedlings in one hole.
When planting seedlings, fertilizers are applied to the soil - half a glass of humus, a few tablespoons of wood ash. The planted seedling is filled in so that up to 3 upper leaves remain on the surface. To avoid freezing of seedlings, the seedlings are covered with decking.
The subsequent care of the planted seedlings does not differ from that used in the seedless method of growing potatoes from seeds.