When to plant potatoes in the Kuban. Growing potatoes in the Krasnodar Territory

So that the time and energy spent on caring for the potatoes is not wasted, the crop must be collected on time. It is very important here to correctly calculate the timing of harvesting potatoes: tubers dug out too early, due to too thin and fragile peel, will deteriorate and will not last until spring. Potatoes that have lain in the ground longer than they need to ripen are likely to rot from the inside out. If, before the moment of digging, prolonged rains begin or frosts hit, it will be possible to say goodbye to the grown tubers.

Factors affecting the ripening of potatoes:

Variety. According to the ripening period, potato varieties are divided into:

• very early (35-50 days);
• early (50–65 days);
• medium early (65–80 days);
• mid-season (80–95 days);
• medium late (95-110 days);
• late (110–120 and more days).

When choosing a potato variety, gardeners are usually guided by the climatic conditions of their region. If persistent frosts in a given area occur earlier than the expected ripening period of potatoes, it simply does not make sense to grow such a variety.

Climatic conditions. In hot weather without watering, potatoes ripen faster. If the summer is cool and rainy, the tubers take longer to ripen, although they may start to rot.

Soil fertility. V fertile soil potatoes ripen longer, but grow larger. Therefore, in well-fertilized areas, harvesting begins later. If nitrogen fertilizers were used on the site, it is better to slow down the digging of tubers. In order to prevent rot, it is impossible to abuse such fertilizers.

How to choose the right time for harvesting potatoes

It is believed that potatoes are ripe when 60–70% of the tops are dead and dead. However, there are exceptions to this rule: the tops of some varieties turn green until late autumn, despite the fact that the tubers have long been ripe. In addition, the tops may fall prematurely due to illness.

In order to accurately determine the timing of harvesting potatoes, it is necessary to periodically dig out one bush in different parts of the site and assess the condition of the peel by eye. Young tubers cannot be stored for a long time: it is better to eat them.

The potatoes of the most widespread mid-early and mid-season varieties in Russia ripen approximately 40–45 days after flowering. V different regions potatoes are dug from mid-August to late September.

When deciding when to dig potatoes, you should be guided by the weather forecast: if prolonged rains or frosts are expected, it is better to dig up the tubers a little sooner than then collect them rotten, with adhering clods of earth.

If the tops are not dry, then about 2-3 weeks (at least a week) before harvesting the potatoes, they need to be mowed. This is necessary in order for the skin of the tubers in the ground to ripen. In addition, green tops can extract nutrients from potatoes, as a result, the pulp will become less tasty.

It is better to harvest on a dry, clear day, closer to noon, when the air warms up to at least + 10 ° C, otherwise a sharp difference between the temperature of the soil and air can adversely affect the condition of the tubers. Optimum temperature for digging potatoes - from +10 to + 17 ° C.

When to start digging potatoes in different regions of Russia

Most of the territory of Russia is located in the zone of risky farming. Therefore, you need to choose a potato variety very carefully, giving preference to zoned varieties. True, there are varieties and universal. So, according to statistics, almost 70% of owners of household plots located from the Kuban to Of the Far East, planted on their plots early potatoes of the Zhukovsky variety, which is different high yield and resistance to weather conditions... Its only drawback is that tubers begin to sprout at the slightest increase in temperature in the storage. If the autumn is warm, and the gardener hesitated with the harvest, the potatoes may still germinate in the ground.

Harvesting potatoes in central Russia

In the north of central Russia, frosts begin in the third decade of September. Accordingly, it is better to harvest potatoes before mid-September. Although growing late varieties in such conditions is very risky, skilled summer residents are not afraid of difficulties: they are very popular mid-late varieties Victory, Nakra, Altair, Fambo. Of the early varieties that can be harvested in late August - early September, the owners of personal plots prefer Bashkir, Bellarose, Nora, Rosara.

In the south of central Russia, frosts come later, in early October. The climate is milder here, so you can grow any varieties of potatoes, up to the very latest. Of the late ones, the varieties of Belarusian selection are most loved by gardeners - Belorussky 3 and Lasunak, from the middle ones - Lorkh, Mozart, Pobeda, Golubizna.

Harvesting potatoes in the Kuban

The southern regions have their own specifics. Here, more attention is paid not to frosts, but to summer heat. From about mid-July, the temperature rises so much that potatoes stop growing in the ground. Therefore, in the South of Russia it is beneficial to plant early and mid-early varieties that ripen until the end of July.

It has been experimentally established that the same Zhukovsky gives high yields only in the first year, then the variety degenerates, losing its resistance to heat. But in these climatic conditions the early varieties Cleopatra and Skoroplodny proved to be excellent, as well as the mid-early ones:
Svitanok Kievsky, Cardinal, Raj and Reserve. Arrow is recognized as the most delicious of the early varieties grown in the Kuban.

Harvesting potatoes in Crimea

Although the first frosts in Crimea begin only at the end of October, because of the hot climate here, as in the Kuban, it is more profitable to grow early varieties.
Crimean breeders have specially bred the heat-resistant variety Crimean rose, ideal for local conditions.

If watering is organized on the site, then the heat-resistant early varieties Agave, Tiras, Laura, Arosa can give two harvests per season in the conditions of the Crimea: the first is harvested in June, the second - in early October.

Harvesting potatoes in the Urals and Siberia

In the Urals and Siberia, frosts begin in the second decade of September. The peculiarity of the climate is late spring frosts, possible July drought and heavy rains in August. Therefore, it is the least risky to grow early and mid-early varieties that can be harvested in the second - third decade of August. The most common varieties here are Lugovskoy, Udacha (both frost and drought resistant), Redstar.

Timely planting of potatoes has a very great importance in obtaining a high yield. You can have good vernalized planting material, fertilized and cultivated area, but be late with the planting date and this will drastically reduce the yield.

Planting too early in cold soil usually slows germination, causing seedling disease and thinning. With a belated planting, young plants, developing rapidly, do not have time to form a powerful root system, do not productively use the reserves of winter moisture and, falling into dry and hot weather, are subject to massive wilting.

The optimal planting time is usually considered when the temperature of the soil at a depth of 10 - 12 cm reaches 7 - 8 ° C. In conditions Krasnodar Territory where the soil warms up very quickly, the best results are obtained early dates landing. As a rule, it is necessary to start planting potatoes simultaneously with the mass sowing of ear crops (second, third decade of March).

Experiments carried out at the Krasnodar Vegetable and Potato Breeding Station showed that the best terms landings in the Kuban area are March 15 - 25.

Planting potatoes should be carried out as soon as possible (5 - 6 days).

In experiments with the variety Lorkh at the Krasnodar Vegetable and Potato Breeding Station in 1948, a crop was obtained from the planting date on March 20, 141.3 centners per hectare, and from the planting on April 6 - 121 centners per hectare. Similar data were obtained with other varieties.

It is necessary to plant potatoes in loose soil, that is, so that there is a loose layer of earth above and below the tubers. This condition must be remembered and observed.

Potatoes are planted under a hiller, with a KP-2 potato planting machine or under a shovel (on small areas). It is not recommended to plant under a plow in the conditions of the steppe and central zones of the Krasnodar Territory, as this forms blocks and dries up the soil.

When planting under a hiller, the field is marked for the required row spacing. In the footsteps of the marker, furrows are cut with a hiller and planting is carried out on the same day, with immediate filling of the furrows. The row spacing is usually taken as 70 cm. This row spacing provides mechanization when caring for potatoes and harvesting them. It can be planted 60 cm between rows, but such a row spacing excludes machine maintenance and cleaning. The distance between tubers (in a row) is given: for medium and late varieties 30 - 35 cm, for early ones 25 - 30 cm.

The planting depth of potatoes depends on the properties of the soil. On light soils (chernozems and sandy loams), the tubers must be sealed by 12 - 14 cm, and on heavy and clay soils by 10 - 12 cm.

The planting rate per hectare is determined by the value planting material and planting density. When planting tubers weighing 60 - 80 g, with a feeding area of ​​70 cm × 30 cm; The planting rate of 70 cm × 35 cm ranges from 24 centners per hectare to 35.6 centners per hectare.

Well, everything is assembled, - Ivan Alekseevich poured vodka into the glasses. - Let's drink to the new car VAZ 2107 I bought, - Lada of white light was in the garage. Everyone wished Ivan Alekseevich clean asphalt so that the traffic police would not slow down, and there was always a green light.

One of the women asked: - Listen, Vanya, how did you make money for the car? You recently retired, the state does not favor a rich pension for the military. - Of course minuscule. Here is a garden, a vegetable garden, but two dozen chickens are helping out. - And for what, then, did you buy a new car?

Ah, Zinochka, for your hard-earned money. My wife and I earned 200 thousand rubles from the garden. - Wan, I know that you like to joke. But, but seriously? - It takes a long time to tell, although there is a lot of time until the morning.

Agree to listen? - all agreed unanimously. - We planted potatoes and got a high yield, from one bucket, seventeen buckets. - How can you get such a high yield in the Krasnodar Territory.

For three years I have been developing my own technology for growing potatoes. Collected a lot of different literature and now my work was not in vain. - Wan, tell me so interestingly, I will write it down, - said Zinaida.

Okay, let's have a drink, have a smoke, and I'll give you a lecture. Size with egg, 40 -50 gr. Variety Dutch.

Tubers are light yellow, elongated, slightly tapering. Taste qualities very high. I put the seed stock tubers in wooden boxes(at the rate of 10 kg is placed in one box).

I put the boxes with the seed fund in the shade (under a walnut tree or in a gazebo with green grape leaves) so that they do not fall straight Sun rays for 5-7 days. I put the boxes in the cellar and process them with wood ash (I put ash into the nylon stocking and dust the tubers, each box).

Growing potatoes

The cellar should contain good hood... During the entire storage of the seed fund, I burn two sulfur tablets every month. This procedure is for fungal diseases. On March 25, I take out boxes of seed potatoes from the cellar.

Tubers that have sprouted strongly, I break off the sprouts. The fewer times during storage the sprouts break off, the higher the yield (this must be remembered). I remove the rotten, shriveled tubers with long thin shoots.

I put the boxes with the seed fund in the greenhouse. The temperature in the greenhouse is + 12-14 degrees. After 15 days, the shoots sprouted (they are called multi-colored hedgehogs, 5-10 mm long and 5-8 mm in diameter).

6. Germination of the root system of tubers. Temperature + 12-15 degrees. I sprinkle the tubers with small sawdust.

I pour warm water through the mesh of a fine watering can. Sprinkle again with sawdust and again water the tubers with water. As the sawdust dries, I moisturize. After 10 days, the root system of the tubers sprouted by 10-15 mm. I put boxes with potatoes in an unheated room for 5 days.

Nights in April are still cold +5 -10 degrees. Deep plowing of the site in the fall. In the spring, the plot before planting is cultivated with harrowing. I cook the holes manually (with a big hoe).

The hole from the hole is 25-30 cm. Between the rows 60 cm. Organic and mineral fertilizers are applied to each hole.

One teaspoon of ammonium nitrate is scattered in approximately equal proportions into three holes. I pour a floor into each hole liter jar bird humus (bird humus + mineral fertilizer nitrate, this rule must be observed). Potato planting begins on April 25-28.

I put two tubers in each hole. I plant directly from the box so as not to damage the sprouts and root system... I close the holes with a hoe. On the planted area, I perform harrowing of the area with a rake.

The plot turns out to be flat (uniform heating of the soil, this rule is mandatory). After seven days, repeat the harrowing (removal of weeds and access of oxygen to the sprouts). 12-14 days after planting the potatoes, I perform the first weeding.

After 12-14 days, I perform the second weeding (the rule is mandatory). After 35 - 40 days after planting, I carry out the hilling of the potatoes. I rake the earth high to the bushes (and many gardeners at this time are just doing the first weeding).

Potato shoots are thick, leaves are large, dark green. On June 10-15, the first ones appear on potato bushes. yellow leaves(photosynthesis is disrupted, and the intensive growth of tubers is reduced). I use Urea or Sodium Carbonate.

The drug is diluted into ten liters of water according to the instructions for use. I spray the potato leaves with the prepared solution. At this time, other gardeners begin to poison the first broods of the Colorado potato beetle.

I do not persecute the Colorado potato beetle on my site. Potato bushes are very "strong" and already have the first yellow leaves, there is practically no Colorado potato beetle. And if it comes across anywhere, then after treatment with a solution of Urea or Sodium Carbonate, it dies.

I start harvesting potatoes on June 25th. I dig it by hand, with a shovel (I haven't worked on the Farmer walk-behind tractor yet). From one bush 15-20 potato tubers, approximately 5-6 kg are obtained. I put the dug out potatoes in 20 kg boxes for sale.

You need to dig and lay the tubers carefully so as not to damage the peel. There are very few small tubers and therefore you have to buy a seed fund. We sell all marketable potatoes in 10 days.

On average, the weight of one tuber is 200 - 600 grams. Of course, the giant also grew, one potato weighed 1.8 kg. Of course, in May and June there were rains, there was no drought, which is why the harvest is so high.

We have no sales problems, there are two markets on the highway, where the dealers' cars are. Who carry young potatoes to the coast. It is profitable for them, and for me, I handed it over in bulk and there are no problems. If you want to trade on the market yourself, then the income will be even greater.

Thank you my friends and relatives for listening to my monologue. Let's have a drink, but the thing in my throat is dry. - Well, you are Ivan Alekseevich and well done, what kind of work is this?

I don't see anything complicated, my wife and I worked for 25 days. If we calculate everything then: preparatory work 2 days. Planting 5 days.

Harrowing, weeding, hilling potatoes - 8 days. Harvesting and realization of the harvest 10 days. I planted 20 buckets of seed potatoes and got a harvest of almost three tons. We left twenty-five buckets for food. Ten buckets of seed fund, we will buy the rest.

Naturally 100 kg waste, cut, damaged. And two and a half tons were sold at a good price of 8.5 rubles per 1 kg. But this is not the limit, many farms in central Russia get a crop from one hundred square meters of land to one ton of potatoes.

Yes, Ivan Alekseevich, you need to write a dissertation. -Thanks for the compliment. When I was young, I dreamed of becoming an Agronomist, but not destiny.

I like this job. I like doing in the garden, in the garden. I live and enjoy every day. PS.

How to grow a rich crop of potatoes in the garden or in the field

Gone are the days when the entire population in countryside... Nowadays, rarely does anyone plant potatoes in the same volume as before. There are reasons for this.

Potatoes - the culture is quite laborious and risky enough - frosts, heat, diseases nullify the whole hard work for growing potatoes. Buying ready-made grown potatoes is both easier and cheaper. But ... People often do not look for easy ways in our country.

And on the market the quality of potatoes, especially young ones, leaves much to be desired. And it is not known when the potatoes that are sold on the market were last poisoned with chemistry - 20 days ago or 2 days ago. Therefore, many owners of backyards and summer cottages grow some potatoes for themselves, to get young potatoes.

And in the fall, when the price of potatoes is minimal, they buy potatoes for the winter. household plots they mainly grow potatoes in the usual old old-fashioned way: they pick up a shovel (motor-cultivator) or a pitchfork, if the ground is too damp, seed potatoes from the market or in seed shops and forth. Planting distance between seed potatoes about 10-15 cm, depending on the size of the seed potatoes.

If the tubers are small, then the distance is smaller. If the tubers are larger, then the distance between the potatoes is larger. The distance between seed potatoes is independent of the planting method.

It doesn't matter whether you are planting using a hole method (under a shovel, pitchfork), using a hand plow, or using a walk-behind tractor. Planting depth- about 10 cm. Distance between rows of potatoes- about 60 cm.

You can do more, especially if you plan to use some kind of compaction crop. For example, at home we successfully grew medium-late white cabbage for potatoes. Of course, the potatoes were eaten while still young.

Planting potatoes too tightly (less than 60 cm) is undesirable. And it is inconvenient to process (loosen, huddle), and the yield will be lower. When planting potatoes under a walk-behind tractor, the width of the rows depends on the grip of your attachment to the walk-behind tractor.

Scientific dates for planting potatoes coincide with folk- for our area this is the 3rd decade of March. Well, even the beginning of April. Those who plant much later, hoping to avoid the spring frost, forget that potatoes love moisture and do not tolerate heat and dry weather.

And we do not have the middle zone of Russia, where it is cooler both in May and in summer. Our point is that the potatoes grow in the spring moisture and have time to grow before the onset summer heat(this is usually July and August). The people, in the bulk, do not use seed planting, Dutch, Chinese technologies, etc.

It's easier. Those who plant a lot of potatoes for themselves or for sale use walk-behind tractors. With the help of special nozzles, they plant, and huddle, and loosen, and dig out. But is everything as simple as it seems? According to the tradition of this site, I give the floor to a specialist.

His recommendations for planting potatoes are valid for both private owners and owners of private farms or farmers. The chief and Chief Specialist regional department "Rosselkhoztsentr" Anatoly ZINOVETS.

“The conditions for growing potatoes in our area (northern zone of the Krasnodar Territory) are very unfavorable,” says Anatoly Mikhailovich. - And yet we all grow and will grow potatoes for ourselves. To receive you need to good harvest potatoes, it is necessary to prepare the soil, seed material, observe the agricultural techniques of growing potatoes.

Seeds of the Agrofirm "SeDeK" for the Krasnodar Territory

What else should be used when growing potatoes

- If fertilizers for plowing have not been applied since autumn, can the situation still be improved? - You can - by introducing nitroammofoska, ash, chicken droppings, sand directly into the holes during planting.

Keep in mind that their number should be small, otherwise the potatoes will rot. - What is the best way to prepare seed potatoes? - It is necessary to carefully sort out the tubers, make culling with small and thin sprouts, rotten and diseased tubers.

Then process the tubers in one of the solutions: albite, phytosporin, alirin, planriz. These are biological preparations, they have a beneficial effect, but they will not provide full protection tubers and seedlings.

Therefore, it is more reliable to carry out the etching chemicals: Maxim or Prestige. - What agricultural practices should be used when growing potatoes? - This is abundant watering (mandatory during the budding and flowering period), loosening, weeding, mulching of row spacings with straw, treatment against pests - the Colorado potato beetle, potato moth, aphids - with insecticides.

Treatment of potatoes with fungicides

Potato plants during the growing season suffer from a number of diseases - late blight, macrosporiosis, rhizoctonia, phomosis, etc. Diseases sharply reduce the yield and its quality, lead to premature drying of plants.

Therefore, during the growing season, 3-4 treatments of potatoes with fungicides are required - phytosporin M, abiga-peak, kurzat, thanos, etc. The proportions and doses are indicated in the instructions for the preparations. Timely harvest of potatoes also plays an important role in the preservation of potatoes.

You can not delay harvesting potatoes. It is necessary to harvest it as early as possible (after ripening). In our unfavorable conditions for the recovery of planting material, good effect gives summer growing of potatoes for seed purposes.

What varieties of potatoes to plant

On the advice of experts, it is preferable to plant from early potato varieties Good luck, Zhukovsky early, Red Scarlett... To keep the seedlings from frost, you need to completely cover them with earth. Romano, Nevsky and Alvara.

On varieties well written on the site kartofel.org Experience in recent years has shown that potato plants in summer can withstand air temperatures up to 30 degrees. After this limit, each degree of heat is 10 percent of the degeneration of the variety. According to long-term observations of Kuban scientists, a lower percentage of degeneracy showed variety Cleopatra.

A little about the economic benefits of growing potatoes for sale

Gone are the days when young potatoes were expensive. In the 80s under the USSR, early young potatoes cost up to 1.5-2 rubles per 1 kg. And at the end of summer - in the fall, the price dropped to 10-20 kopecks.

Therefore, it was possible to earn very good money on young potatoes. There is no such big difference now. Yes, young early potatoes cost a little more, but nothing more. In general, this applies to many crops.

Prices are simply obscenely low. Therefore, in our time, in order to make good money on potatoes, you need to take in the planting volume. At the same time, you simply cannot do without the use of agricultural machinery (tractor, mini-tractor, walk-behind tractor). If there is a lot of land for planting potatoes, there is equipment, there is an opportunity for watering, there is a place for storage, you can and should make money on potatoes.

To maximize profit, the scheme is as follows- we sell early potatoes, we sell a little (to "support the pants") in late summer - early autumn (the most low prices for potatoes), put potatoes in storage, wait for prices to rise again, and sell them again. Seed potatoes are also in good demand in the spring.

For example, in our market this spring, high-quality seed potatoes with sprouts are sorted at a price of 50 rubles per 1 kg. Not sprouted costs about 30 rubles. The profitability of growing potatoes depends entirely on the size of the crop, and on what price you can sell it.

I hope this material will help you when growing potatoes in your garden, dacha or personal subsidiary farm. Good luck on garden bed and fruitful potatoes!

Planting potatoes

Timely planting of potatoes is very important in obtaining a high yield. You can have good vernalized planting material, fertilized and cultivated area, but be late with the planting date and this will drastically reduce the yield.

Planting too early in cold soil usually slows germination, causing seedling disease and thinning. With a belated planting, young plants, developing rapidly, do not have time to form a powerful root system, do not productively use the reserves of winter moisture and, falling into dry and hot weather, are subject to massive wilting.

The optimal planting time is usually considered when the temperature of the soil at a depth of 10 - 12 cm reaches 7 - 8 ° C. In the Krasnodar Territory, where the soil warms up very quickly, the best results are given by early planting.

As a rule, it is necessary to start planting potatoes simultaneously with the mass sowing of ear crops (second, third decade of March). Experiments carried out at the Krasnodar Vegetable and Potato Breeding Station found that the best planting dates in the Kuban zone are March 15-25.

Planting potatoes should be carried out as soon as possible (5 - 6 days). In experiments with the variety Lorkh at the Krasnodar Vegetable and Potato Breeding Station in 1948, a crop was obtained from the planting date on March 20, 141.3 centners per hectare, and from the planting on April 6 - 121 centners per hectare.

Similar data were obtained with other varieties. It is necessary to plant potatoes in loose soil, that is, so that there is a loose layer of earth above and below the tubers. This condition must be remembered and observed.

Potatoes are planted under a hiller, with a KP-2 potato planting machine or under a shovel (in small areas). It is not recommended to plant under a plow in the conditions of the steppe and central zones of the Krasnodar Territory, as this forms blocks and dries up the soil.

When planting under a hiller, the field is marked for the required row spacing. In the footsteps of the marker, furrows are cut with a hiller and planting is carried out on the same day, with immediate filling of the furrows. The row spacing is usually taken as 70 cm.

Such a row spacing provides mechanization when caring for potatoes and harvesting them. It can be planted 60 cm between rows, but such a row spacing excludes machine maintenance and cleaning. The distance between tubers (in a row) is given: for medium and late varieties 30 - 35 cm, for early ones 25 - 30 cm.

The planting depth of potatoes depends on the properties of the soil. On light soils (chernozems and sandy loams), tubers must be planted at 12-14 cm, and on heavy and clayey soils by 10-12 cm. The planting rate per hectare is determined by the size of the planting material and planting density.

When planting tubers weighing 60 - 80 g, with a feeding area of ​​70 cm x 30 cm; The planting rate of 70 cmx35 cm ranges from 24 centners per hectare to 35.6 centners per hectare. In order to better represent the change in the rate of planting of potatoes, depending on the size of seed tubers and feeding areas, we give a table: (see table).

Change in planting rate of potatoes depending on the size of seed tubers and feeding area The site is managed by the uCoz system

Potatoes in the Kuban - My experience

A sapper shovel for a garden trenchNone of the large agricultural enterprises on Black sea coast is not currently engaged in growing potatoes, considering it economically unjustified due to the sour heavy clay soil and hot dry summers. The saddest thing. that the majority of private owners also refused to plant potatoes, considering it impossible to get a good harvest.

But my many years of experience proves the opposite: even in such conditions, you can harvest "ten by yourself", that is, you can get ten buckets of good large tubers from one bucket of planted potatoes. But for this you need to work out good technology cultivation than, in fact, last years I am doing it. As I said, our earth is sintered in the summer and becomes like asphalt.

Therefore, the primary task is to "grow" the soil itself, and this is green manure, and the addition of any decomposed organic matter, and the use of chemical fertilizers. I dig only before winter to a depth of 20 cm. with them I make straight lines with a shovel on the ground.

These will be the axes of the trenches. I dig the earth to the width of a shovel to the left and right of them, laying the soil in the shafts (also on both sides). As a result, it turns out that I dig 50% of the entire area for planting potatoes.

At the same time, every next year, the axes of the trenches are shifted by 40 cm in any direction. I dig with a small sapper shovel, which I cut to 18 cm in width, leaving all other parameters unchanged. I make the holder for her myself.

The fact is that my site is located on the slope of the mountain at an angle of 30 °, so that, while digging the beds from the bottom up, to load the back as little as possible, I had to significantly increase the length of the grip. Its diameter is 35 mm, and in diameter I made it not round, but rectangular with rounded corners - it’s easier and more comfortable to hold in my hands during work. Closer to winter, I collect fallen leaves in the forest and lay them in a thick layer on the bottom of the trenches with a continuous cover.

By this time, a variety of vegetation appears on the ridges of the earth. I comb it out with a rake to the bottom of the trenches. What remains after that, I remove with a hoe made of thin manganese steel, the working and sides of which are sharply sharpened like a knife.

This tool replaces the well-known flat cutter to me.

A very clever way of planting potatoes

In the spring, before planting potatoes, I scatter leaves, hay, compost, mineral fertilizers (azofoska and superphosphate) and ash into the trenches. After that, with a hoe, I loosen the soil at the bottom of the trenches and after 30-40 cm I make shallow holes in which I put the seed potato tubers.

I roll them with earth taken from the upper rollers to a height of 6-8 cm. It turns out, as it were, a small solid ridge along the entire length of the trenches. Optimal term planting - from February 23 to March 15.

If the land in the garden is dry, I arrange artificial sprinkling of the entire area. I buy seed potatoes for planting on the market, and I choose only early varieties that would have enough time and strength to ripen before the summer heat begins.

About a month before planting, I put the tubers in plastic boxes, lined with plastic from the inside, and put them in a warm place, which is illuminated by the sun. This is necessary for the germination of potatoes.

Once every four days I spray it with a solution of a growth regulator mixed with a biological preparation that protects plants from fungal and bacterial diseases. I plant both whole tubers (the size of a chicken egg) and cut tops. I dip small whole potatoes into the holes, 2 pieces each, and cut them together using two wooden toothpicks, one at a time. Before this, I don’t powder the slices with anything, I only let the surface harden.

I do it in the following tricky way: on one side of the rows of potatoes I apply nitrogen fertilizers, and on the other, potassium fertilizers. And when the tops of the potatoes rise to 20 cm, I scoop up the soil from the rollers to the bushes, but I do this only either after rain or after good watering.

In the final version of hilling, the rows of potatoes represent a truncated solid pyramid, and where there were rollers from the dug earth, a groove appears. Constant deep loosening around the growing potatoes does not allow the weeds to raise their heads. After that, I fill the aisles with mowed and sun-dried grass. Tops from carrots, radishes, beets and other garden waste are also placed here.

By the way, it is on this mulch that I then make abundant watering directly from the hose (in the heat - at least two or three times a week). At the same time, I try not to pour over the plant itself, but all water treatments I spend after 18 hours. At this time, there is a decline in the summer daytime heat.

By the night upper layer the mulch will dry out a little, and all the water will be absorbed into the aisles. And also - I do not cut the flowers on the potatoes and I consider it a waste of energy and time, although at first I also believed that this helps the plants. But then, in practice, I became convinced of the complete erroneousness of this opinion. Colorado potato beetle?

I do not know this ... Many gardeners strive to plant exactly according to lunar calendar... For me, it is more important that the earth not only fluffed up after winter, but also warmed up.

True, I do not plant potatoes on forbidden days (full moon, new moon, solar eclipse). There is no entrance to my site, so I cannot bring peat or manure into the garden. It remains to improve the fertility of the earth with green manure (corn, sunflower, oats), which I plant on the vacated ridges immediately after harvesting the potatoes.

In late autumn I chop down these plants with a hoe, grind and sprinkle them with earth. That seems to be all my ideas. It seems nothing special, but if you do not complete at least one of the listed stages of work in a timely manner, then you can not hope for a harvest. Seeing my potatoes, relatives from the Kuban did not believe that I had grown it in my garden. “Yes, you have never grown such potatoes in Sochi!

I bought it at the bazaar, but you are fooling us, ”they said. And only after my wife confirmed my words, the relatives changed their anger to mercy.

And then they began to meticulously ask how I managed it ... But readers may have a question: why am I not saying anything about the main enemy - the Colorado potato beetle? And he simply is not in my garden. Where this sinister went, I myself do not really understand.

Perhaps he was frightened by the variety of plants growing in my area, but with another misfortune - late blight - I fight with the help of several combined fungicides. And I try not to treat the plants with the same preparation twice.

I spray for the first time when the height of the tops reaches 10 cm, regardless of whether there is late blight or not. After 15 days, I use another drug. Yes, but before the peasants coped with all diseases without the use of chemistry. And what crops were taken!

My late mother always planted peas on potatoes, inviting my brothers and me to eat their fruits, and at the same time weed or spud the planting of the second bread. By the way, the pages of "Dacha" are full of confirmation of the indisputable fact that the same peas, as well as beans and beans, loosen the soil and enrich it with nitrogen. folk beliefs, potatoes are able to absorb energy - both positive and negative.

Therefore, for example, if you sort out the relationship with the household in the kitchen in the "presence" of potatoes, it will absorb the hostility in the air and return you a hundredfold all the negativity when you decide to have dinner with it. Don't believe me? Check it out ... Good harvests for everyone in the new season!

Characteristics of potatoes

Potato variety Kubanka - domestic selection, table. The first tubers ripen within 45 days after planting, but the maximum yield should be expected at the end of the growing season.

Average from 1 hectare you can harvest up to 220 centners of selected potatoes... The variety is not very sensitive to changes in the weather, it tolerates short-term drought, heat, slight cold snap. The yield is stable from year to year, the seed material does not degenerate.

Compare the yield of Kubanka with other varieties using the data in the table:

Bush of medium height, intermediate type, erect, not too spreading. The formation of green mass is moderate. The leaves are dark green, medium-sized, with slightly wavy edges.

Large white flowers are collected in compact corollas, low berry formation. Under each bush, about 15 large even tubers are formed. Not a lot of non-commodity little things.

Standard bush care... You need to plant tubers in the middle or late spring. At early landing it is possible to get 2 harvests per year.

Diseases and pests

The Kubanka variety is resistant to many dangerous diseases: golden cyst-forming, ordinary. Early maturation saves tubers and leaves from.

To prevent planting, they are abundantly sprayed with medicinal preparations. The introduction of wood ash into the soil will help prevent the appearance of a black leg. We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with information about potato diseases such as,.

Potato bushes can be affected. In warm regions, cicadas also attack plantings. For prophylaxis, loosening and hilling are recommended; in case of severe injuries, industrial ones are used.

The pickling of the tubers before planting, as well as the correct crop rotation, helps from the wireworm. Every few years, potatoes are planted in new fields that they previously occupied,

Recently, the impact of climate warming on crops has become more and more noticeable. Yields are falling, the keeping quality of the crop decreases during storage, many popular varieties of potatoes are degenerating, and even more recently they were successfully grown in the Kuban. Droughts are no longer unusual and occur almost every summer. Since climate warming occurs throughout the entire territory of not only Russia but also the planet, these tips for growing potatoes in the country, the site described for the Kuban may be useful to residents of Central Russia.
According to their biological characteristics potatoes are not some whimsical crop that requires special conditions for their development. On the contrary, it is a very plastic culture.
For example, in middle lane In Russia, in the private sector, even today, potatoes are grown according to a very primitive scheme: planting - hilling - harvesting. Of course, yields are not record-breaking, but average and good.
This is explained by the fact that natural conditions this zone is very favorable for the cultivation of potatoes. Here temperate climate, regular and even rainfall and light on the mechanical structure of the soil.
The southern zones, on the contrary, due to their soil and climatic conditions are not suitable for growing this valuable food crop... Adverse factors such as heat, drought, high solar lighting and heavy black soil in terms of mechanical composition, sharply inhibit the growth and development of potatoes, which ultimately results in high yields and rapid degeneration, change in seed quality of tubers.
Nevertheless, potatoes were grown in the south and will always be grown. For example, in the Krasnodar Territory alone, more than 100 thousand hectares of arable land are allocated annually for this crop. This is explained by the fact that today for most families, potatoes have become the second bread.
In addition, only imported potatoes cannot solve the food problem in the region. Finally, despite unfavourable conditions, the potatoes grown in our region, in taste and nutritional value, are far superior to those imported from other places. Prices in city markets speak volumes about this.
Today, more than 95% of potatoes are grown by private owners, in dachas and personal plots, each of which uses its own, based on personal experience technology. It is clear that in such conditions it is very difficult to raise the yield of potatoes all over the place at once.
First of all, when recommending a particular technology, it is necessary to take into account the following facts: first, the summer resident-potato grower does not have modern technology for growing potatoes; second, the average wealth of potato growers is not high enough to use expensive chemicals.
First of all, you need to choose a suitable place for growing your potatoes.
V southern zones, including the Krasnodar Territory, potato sowing should be placed on well-provided with moisture soils - irrigated lands, floodplain areas with low relief, in floodplains of rivers, in fields with high level standing groundwater, on the slopes of hills and in the foothills.
What crop rotation to observe when planting potatoes
Re-planting potatoes in their original place is recommended no earlier than three years later.
Therefore, it is also important to choose the optimal crop rotation, which must meet two basic requirements: 1) promote high yields; 2) be cost effective.
For farms growing potatoes, you can use a shortened, three-field crop rotation:
1.winter wheat or spring barley;
2. perennial herbs;
3. potatoes.
Summer residents, potato growers, whose areas in their country house, plot are limited, can use a more economically profitable crop rotation, where the previous crops are table and fodder beets, cabbage, cucumber, carrots, pumpkin (except for nightshades).
However, in dachas, many potato growers, due to the limited area, are deprived of the opportunity to use even simple crop rotations and are forced to grow potatoes in the same place from year to year.
In the world practice of potato growing, such facts are also known. For example, in Scotland and the mountainous regions of Armenia, peasants have been growing potatoes over potatoes for more than 25 years and collecting average yields.
This, in principle, proves that potatoes can be grown in monoculture conditions, but not desirable. First, the potato yield in these areas is low. Secondly, the risk of infection of plants with such harmful diseases as late blight, rhizoctoniasis, and common scab increases sharply (5 times or more).
Sources of infections of these diseases are affected plant residues remaining in the soil after harvest.