How to increase the yield in the country? Expert Tips. How to increase productivity and soil fertility

Compliance with the timing of sowing crops.

The result of choosing the optimal sowing time will be the formation of hardy and pest-competitive crops, as well as a reduced likelihood of developing plant diseases and high yields. To determine the optimal sowing time, you need:

• know the total duration of the growing season and its compliance with the climatic zone;
• comply with the requirements of cultivated crops to soil temperature and moisture consumption;
• take into account contamination of crops.

The use of high quality seeds, the most productive varieties and hybrids.

On this depends the realization of the potential of a variety of crops. Purchase seeds only from reputable, reputable manufacturers - they will ensure good germination.

Proper care.

An important factor in increasing yields are pre-sowing tillage, harrowing, plowing, the timely holding of sowing, plant protection from diseases, pests and weeds, regular work to improve soil fertility. Yields can also be increased by retardants, which can not only accelerate growth, but also greatly facilitate harvesting.

Compliance with crop rotation.

Competent crop rotation will help replenish soil nutrients, make better use of fertilizers, protect the soil from erosion, prevent the spread of pests, weeds and diseases. Agronomists know that cultures should alternate with each other - this is how the optimum balance of nutrients in the soil will be created, therefore, the yield of subsequent crops will increase.

Weather forecasting.

Knowing the features of the climatic zone and the onset of “critical phases” of the growing season, one can take the necessary measures to protect plants. For example, a number of crops require overwintering, so they are sown in the fall. These include winter varieties of wheat, rye, barley, etc.

The quality of agricultural machinery.

Labor productivity in the field directly depends on the quantity and quality of agricultural machinery. It is necessary to update the worn elements in a timely manner in order to avoid breakage at an unnecessary moment. Only with the help of uninterrupted equipment can increase crop yields - uneven and untimely processing leads not only to downtime and time-consuming equipment, but also to the loss of a significant part of crop production.

Yield increase  - It is a controlled process that can be managed independently and adjusted if necessary. Follow the basic recommendations, use only proven tools and drugs, and at the end of the season you will be able to harvest a rich harvest.

The amount of harvest obtained from your favorite fruit trees, depends not so much on the condition of the soil on which they germinate (although, of course, it is not necessary to skip mandatory fertilizing), but rather on the environment. The main component of increasing fruiting should be the attraction of insect pollinators to trees. To do this, plant in the garden between them honey and nectariferous plants, such as dill, cumin, borage, and during flowering, spray the plants with sugar solution. Pay attention to the position of the branches on ...

Every gardener knows that fruit crops propagate not only by seed, but also vegetatively. These two types of reproduction are characterized by certain disadvantages and advantages. Seed propagation is the process of merging the male and female germ cells with the formation of a zygote that forms a new plant. Seed propagation has its drawbacks and advantages. For example, the advantage is that most fruit crops form full-fledged seeds only as a result of cross-pollination of different varieties, forms, then the hereditary basis of seed progeny ...

Every grower wants to get an earlier harvest. This is why expert advice will be useful. If there is a desire to try out the sowing of seeds in autumn and winter, then we follow the following recommendations. Not germinated seeds of carrots, dill, parsnip, onions, lettuce, cabbage, garlic and beets use free sites. The soil is engaged in the second half of summer. After all the plant residues have been removed, weeds have been collected, the plot is dug up and organic fertilizers are applied to the soil, and nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the spring. Large lumps formed ...

Not many gardeners can boast a really solid harvest, without the use of chemistry, of course! Often the reasons are laziness or lack of human power. When there is not enough human strength, it is not so easy to keep track of almost all cultures, as there is always enough work on every garden plot. But if you invest so much effort, and the result is still not happy, you should use the usual rules that you must follow. The first thing to do ...

Sometimes you can hear that a plot of 6 acres gives only losses. I will never agree with this opinion, because it contradicts practice. For example, my experience. I received my 6-square garden, like other members of our garden community, in the former swamp. Of course, we have enshrouded the swamp, but the consequences of it still let us know. But as the saying goes, “the will and labor of a man is created by divas”. All that I grow, I will not list ...

Potatoes, perhaps, the only culture, the development of which stretched for centuries. But when mastered. It is to the address of the potato that it says: “Its merits are so great that it will forever remain the favorite food of the people.” In a word, second bread. After all, potato protein in biological value is on a par with bread protein. In addition, the tubers contain many vitamins, salts of calcium, iron and other substances that people really need for health. Good yields of tubers can be obtained almost everywhere ...

At the end of the summer, the potato furrows look variegated: on some bushes the tops of wood dried up, or even rotted, on others they turned yellow and began to dry out. But part of the landing is lush green, continuing to grow. One wonders to think: when is it better to start cleaning? The desire to get more harvest prompts - wait a week or two to green bushes plucked tubers. Those that are under the dried bushes, wait. But after all, the delay in harvesting inevitably threatens the destruction of a part of the crop from all sorts of diseases, and ...

There are no special secrets, except, perhaps, one thing: I don’t back down on the agrotechnology that came as a result of more than 25 years of raspberry cultivation. If you don’t perform one or two activities in time, starting from shoots of shoots and ending with their fruiting, then wait for a decrease in yield, because here everything is important: how you formed a bush, how you fertilize, and how you finally planted it. I plant raspberries not closer than a meter one bush from ...

Long can grow a fruit tree in one place - up to 100 years or more. But every year it will not be the same plant that was before. It seems to be invisible changes, but in fact the tree all the time changes and its appearance, and structure. Some of its parts, organs and tissues annually grow, increase in volume and mass, and live for a number of years, others are formed at the beginning of the growing season and ...

Unstable weather in late spring: the heat, as in midsummer, the sudden cold snap, right up to frost; then it is dry and there is no end to it, then the unexpected wind will bring rain, but it is so cold that everything seemed to cringe and froze. To match the weather and the mood of the gardener. Something bothers him, no matter how it dries out the soil and the plants, then, on the contrary, everything will flood. Whatever you say, but spring is for the gardener ...

Potatoes are grown in Europe for over 400 years. During this time, breeders adapted it exclusively for reproduction by tubers. However, this breeding has drawbacks: a significant part of the crop has to be left for planting; aging of varieties is rapidly occurring; various diseases, especially viral, are easily transmitted through tubers, and this leads to the degeneration of potatoes. The disadvantages of these can be avoided if you multiply the potatoes are not tubers, and seeds. Not to say that before such attempts were not, but the result did not work ...

We have two twelve year old sea buckthorn grown from seed. Each year, we shot 10-15 kg of fruits each year, depending on the weather. And last summer, they collected 25 kg each, the crop, I must say, was unusual. In the spring of fruit began a lot. As always happens, part of the ovary began to fall, and quite strongly. And I treated the foliage with a solution of urea and boric acid, 10 g of each and the other per bucket of water. Further care of the plants was normal ...

For each vegetable and fruit I have my own methods of increasing yields. But there are those who raise the harvest in the summer cottage as a whole.

A good month to improve the fertility of summer cottages is July. Planting and weeding behind, harvesting ahead. It's time to do an increase in yields and development for the future.

Tilled crops, such as potatoes, at this time it is better not to water with ordinary tap water, but with sparkling water (of course, not with mineral water from the store). According to researchers, this method of irrigation increases the yield by eight percent. Foliar application to the soil of iodine gives an even greater effect for any crops.

Harvest in the country can be increased

Ripening tomatoes can be accelerated by putting a regular plastic bag on a branch with ripe and unripe fruits. In this case, the volatile substances stimulating the ripening of tomatoes will not escape into the atmosphere, but will help to ripen unripe tomatoes. The result will be obvious in a couple of days.

With the same purpose, at a height of three centimeters from the soil, the stalks of tomatoes can be twisted with wire, squeezing the skin. In addition to accelerating ripening, it will increase the sugar content of fruits.

To increase the yield of carrots it is cut (shorten the leaves). From regular haircut, the roots get fat and gain weight.

Top dressing

Fertilizing vegetables must be fertilized correctly, and even you will not get the effect. The rules are as follows.

Secrets of loosening and weeding

California worm

We all know about the benefits of earthworms for the soil. Their American counterpart Californian worm is specially bred by US geneticists to help farmers. In a day this worm produces humus twice its weight!

If you buy about fifty Californian worm individuals and send them to graze at your dacha, by the end of the season thousands of red worms will live on the site. While the lifespan of your new friend is fifteen years. And every year the underground population of the garden will increase.

California worm increases soil fertility

Coconut substrate

One more useful substance came to our gardeners from tropical islands. These are crushed coconut shell fibers that can be bought at the store. From one tablet of the substrate, after soaking it, three liters of substrate are obtained, suitable for entering into the soil, from a briquette - ten liters.

Any crops grow well on the substrate, as it contains many useful substances, retains water well in the soil and perfectly passes oxygen. In addition, it protects plants from pests and insects. The use of the substrate doubles the time for the growth of plants from seeds. And the fruits are environmentally friendly, since the need for fertilizers decreases significantly.

How to grow a good crop without chemicals?

Application of humus replaces chemical fertilizers

Chemistry magic, undoubtedly, can dramatically increase yields. But millions of people still prefer to do without it whenever possible, if there are natural methods to increase fertility.

It is very important for a gardener to learn the basics of crop rotation. That is, to find out for yourself which crops after which they should be grown on their beds, so that soil fertility does not decrease year by year, but, on the contrary, increase steadily, crops growing on it become more powerful and viable.

Annual fertilization of organic fertilizers improves in the soil - liquid dressings, humus, as well as ash and sand. There are special plants - green manure, which are planted next to the cultivated specifically to improve the soil. The same goals are achieved by soil mulching.

If an invasion of pests occurs, you need to think seven times before using chemicals to destroy them. It should always be remembered that a person, like microbes and insects, also consists of cells. Chemicals preserved in the soil will be absorbed by garden and horticultural crops.

They will eventually end up on your dining table. It is possible that they will poison your body. It is better to miss part of the crop. In addition, there are many folk remedies that are not worse than chemicals. But the fruits are environmentally friendly.

If when planting plants to make compost and humus in the wells, the crop automatically increases one and a half to two times. Seed germination increases.

All open areas of soil need to sleep with mulch. In the summer we do this in the garden, and in the fall - in the garden after harvesting. As mulch used straw, mowed grass, hay, leaves, food waste, humus, dead weeds, compost, shredded cardboard and paper.

We sit sideraty

Siderats increase yields and fight weeds

These are plants that I plant specifically so that when they grow, they will be plowed into the soil as an organic fertilizer. They are rich in substances useful for garden and garden crops. Siderates also create a system of tubules in the soil, accumulate nitrogen in it, serve as food for beneficial worms and microorganisms, create a shadow to protect crops from hot rays, protect the soil from blowing and erosion.

Siderats include, first of all, all legumes: beans, vetch, peas, lupine, lentils; salvage, soybean, clover, kidney bean, phacelia, bream, as well as buckwheat and rye. Three consecutive crops of legumes at the site are equal to the complete coverage of it with a layer of manure. All these plants tolerate cold, and their roots intensively loosen the soil.

The skin of fruits and vegetables is also an excellent organic fertilizer. It contains a large percentage of vitamins and nutrients. Therefore, their place is not in the garbage heap, but in the garden.

In late August and early September, gardeners harvest potatoes. Some of the crop will please, someone sadly notice that "the game is not worth the candle." Why sometimes in the neighboring areas so different are the results of the work on growing the “second bread”, so beloved by Russians?

After harvest tubers, gardeners begin to prepare the basics of the future harvest. What should be done to make you happy next year? I hope that the tips and recommendations offered below will be useful for beginner potato growers, as well as for those who have been planting tubers for many years, but are dissatisfied with the results.

Potatoes are grown by many, and it is not a secret to anyone that the harvest depends not only on the climatic conditions, the season and the care of the plantations. The first role is played by the quality of the seed used for planting. And it, according to official statistics, is now extremely low in Russia. The fact is that in the process of annual selection of seed tubers for the next garden season, a whole bunch of viral diseases accumulate in their own potatoes. That is why every year the yields are becoming less and less, despite the quality of care for plantings. As a result, it turns out that it becomes unprofitable to grow potatoes - labor and material costs are mass, and the crop is bare.

So you have to pay huge money for an elite planting material, or learn how to grow potatoes from seeds. In other words, planting material is the basis for greater yields.

But there are other factors that can play a significant role in increasing yields, provided there is still high-quality planting material.

In general, potatoes - a very fertile and plastic culture. Its low yield at Russian gardeners is explained by the lack of knowledge of its biological characteristics, the use of random planting material of low reproduction for planting and the violation of the cultivation technology.

In many Russian kitchen gardens, potatoes are still grown under a simplified, primitive pattern: planting - hilling - harvesting. The planting is mainly used for what is necessary - the degenerate seed of long-term use, which means an unknown mass reproduction, since few conduct simple seed-growing work - the selection of tubers for seeds. It has not entered into the practice of potato cultivation and the use of methods to combat blight, including the timely spraying of plants with protective preparations, which leads to a significant shortage of crop, and much more.

Method 1 - quality planting material

Without it at hand, potatoes, as practice shows, it is better not to plant them - do not wait for the harvest. Although for some reason, many gardeners do this way from year to year and say that the potato will grow anyway. And then they dig up around a bucket of an incomprehensible type of trifles and rightfully consider that they faithfully fulfilled their duty to provide the family with potatoes.

Buy today an elite planting material, not infected with viral and other diseases, there is no problem - in the spring they sell many gardening shops. True, it will cost dearly. But you can go the other way, growing this elite planting material from the seeds themselves, though this is another story. Many experienced gardeners have learned how to grow and propagate valuable varieties through seedlings. In this case, from several valuable super-elongated tubers, seedlings can be obtained for a whole plantation.

Method 2 - alternating cultures

There is nothing new for us in this technique - everyone knows that most crops will never give a good harvest when planted in the old place. Potatoes are not an exception, although for some reason many people believe that this crop can be grown for many years at the same place. In fact, all advanced western economies return it to its former place no earlier than 3-4 years later, when the soil is cleared of the causative agents of many fungal and bacterial diseases.

Method 3 - High Fertile Soils

The Dutch, by the way, allocate only areas with a very high agricultural background for potatoes, knowing full well that there cannot be a rich harvest on poor land. In Russia, for some reason, a completely opposite approach - as a rule, plots are allocated for potatoes, where you can’t plant anything else.

Method 4 - do not plant a lot

Of great importance is the width of the potato rows. Dutch farmers, for example, plant potatoes with 75 cm spacing. Unfortunately, because of the land savings on our landings, you can see spacing of only 40-50 cm. This makes it difficult for hilling loose soil, developing roots are cut. As a result, plants are stunted in growth and development. Due to the lack of soil for hilling, the tubers become bare and turn green, which is unacceptable when growing ware potatoes. To obtain a full-fledged harvest, the width of the row spacings for early varieties of potatoes is recommended 65-70 cm, for late ones - 75-80 cm.

Method 5 - small ones are not always remote

Large tubers, compared with small ones (if it is not about elite), produce earlier and more friendly shoots and form a powerful bush. In the experiments of the Institute of Potato Farming, the harvest from tubers weighing 100 g was 25 percent higher than from 50 grams. But this was observed only in seasons favorable in meteorological conditions and on a high agricultural background: with fertile soil and timely care. The difference smoothed out in dry years and on sandy, sod-podzolic soils, on medium-cultural loams.

This is explained by the fact that powerful plants from large tubers, capable of synthesizing more organic substances for tuber loading, need an increased level of nutrition and water supply. With a lack of moisture, such plants suffer more than less developed plants due to intense evaporation. And middling in the conditions of any deficiency develop rhythmically.

The mass of planting tubers affects the timing of the harvest. For example, harvesting potatoes planted with large tubers is possible 20-40 days earlier. From large seeds collect more weighty tubers.

In case of frost damage, large tubers grow sprouts again faster due to a large number of spare buds.

Method 6 - Down with the Flowers

The blooming potato plot looks, no doubt, quite beautiful, but this beauty deprives us of 20-25% of the crop of tubers. Formed in a potato plant organic matter is actively distributed throughout all organs. They flow into the flowers, the formation of which coincides with tuberization. Studies have shown that during this period, 40-45% of organic substances flow into tubers, 23-25% remain in stems and leaves, and over 25% - in flowers.

This is how flowers “rob” tubers. The latter become depleted in starch and smaller in size. As a result, such tubers next year will yield lower than those with flower stalks. This is due to the fact that the growth and development of potato seedlings in the first period is due to the organic matter of tubers. Therefore, potato growers should not wait for the appearance of flowers, and destroy flower stalks at the beginning of budding.

Method 7 - not to do without modern and highly active fertilizers

This implies the introduction of these fertilizers when planting potatoes in the wells. It is much more convenient than to find out later that the potato is missing something, and to carry out numerous supplements.

As for fertilizers, today many of them can significantly affect the potato harvest.

Urgasa

Let's start with the biological fertilizer of the XXI century (that's what they call it), the effect of which is very high, and Urgasu can be cooked on its own during the winter on the basis of the purchased concentrate of bacteria Baikal-EM1. How to prepare Urgasu can be read in the instructions, and there were plenty of publications on this subject. And in a nutshell - this is all the food waste that has accumulated in your apartment over the winter (believe me, there will be a lot of them), treated with special bacteria. Do not be afraid, with a competent approach to business, there will be no odors in the apartment, and no guest will guess that you are actively producing fertilizers at home. The only thing is that all received fertilizer needs to be put in thick plastic bags (the same as fishermen use for fish), sprinkled with dead sawdust to reduce the humidity of the fertilizer (and so that, God forbid, nothing has gone anywhere), very carefully tie and send into the garden. It is possible in the winter in a backpack, if you make regular flights to your site, it is also possible by car in the spring.

In the hole when planting, I add one handful of Urgasas and mix it thoroughly with the rest of the soil components. This moment is extremely important, since the fertilizer is very concentrated and a tuber burn may occur. I have no official data on increasing the yield of potatoes when using Urgasy, but from personal experience I can say that bushes are developing much more actively.

Peaks Supercompost

It is also a very active fertilizer with a mass of beneficial microorganisms that help plants absorb nutrients. It is also introduced not randomly, but strictly in the wells during planting. May increase potato yield at least 1.5-2 times. I have data on the use of Peaks for growing potatoes in one of the Moscow state farms. They indicate that the local introduction of Peaks in the planting rows should be considered the most effective option. And they also say that Peaks fertilizer is required to obtain an equivalent crop at least 10 times less than half-dead manure.

Finnish complex fertilizers Kemira

Finnish complex chlorine-free fertilizers, saturated with microelements, Kemira wagon and Kemira potato also significantly increase the yield of potatoes. In the Moscow region on experimental fields, it was proved that the use of Kemira wagon and Kemira potato in comparison with our domestic fertilizers allows us to increase the yield 1.6-2.1 times. At the same time grow tubers with a higher starch content - 0.5-1.3% higher than in the version with domestic fertilizers. For my part, I can confirm that Kemira fertilizer is indeed very effective in growing potatoes.

Method 8 - Stimulants are not a luxury.

Biostimulants are natural or synthetic compounds that in very small doses can cause significant changes in the growth and development of plants. Once in the plant, they are directly involved in the metabolism and have a certain effect on it, which consists, first of all, in increasing the level of vital activity of the plant organism.

Gibbersib

Gibbersib is one of the most widely used plant growth stimulants in the world today. Gibbersib increases the yield and quality of vegetable (including potato), fruit and berry crops due to:

• stimulate plant growth and development;
• increasing the number of fruit set;
• accelerated ripening of the crop;
• increase disease resistance.

Potatoes are among the plants that are extremely sensitive to Gibbersib, and reacts positively to highly diluted solutions of this drug (0.005%). According to official data, Gibbersib's pre-sowing treatment of potato tubers increases the yield by 20-30%.

Epin and Silk

These phytohormones stimulate the formation of stress proteins that protect the plant from the whole complex of harmful effects. As a result, plants begin to grow more efficiently. For example, employees of Oryol State University studied in detail the effect of phytohormones on potato plants. They found that it is the phytohormones that regulate the intake of the digested substances into the tubers in the second half of the growing season. The researchers also succeeded in proving that the external administration of one of the phytohormones of indole acetic acid accelerates the growth of tubers and increases the amount of starch and cellulose in them. And it turns out that only due to the fact that the plants were sprayed several times in the second half of the growing season, a significant increase in yield is achieved.

Method 9 - humates for the benefit of potato harvest

Humates are a powerful activator of the processes of growth and development of plants, and also have an anti-stress effect against adverse environmental factors, including diseases. Humates contribute to the development of plant special enzymes that help it survive in adverse conditions. The average data on long-term observations when testing humates on large potato fields indicate an increase in potato yield by 25-30%. However, experience shows that with the correct use of humates, much better results can be achieved.

Theoretically, there are two ways to use humic preparations on potatoes: preplant treatment and spraying during the growing season. Honestly, the first option requires less time and effort, and now I mostly use it only in combination with a pair of vegetative plant sprays.
   Pre-treatment. Available in two versions:

1. Soak the planting material  in a solution of humates. This can be done both before the germination of tubers, and directly on the eve of planting. Prepared potatoes are simply poured over the humate solution (the solution is prepared according to the instructions) and left for 8-12 hours. After that, the potatoes are planted in the usual way, and the remaining solution is poured into the wells. When the first shoots appear, it is advisable to pile up so that the sprouts that have appeared are covered with loose earth. This is done in order to direct the maximum of the action of humates on the development of the root system, and not the surface part of the plant.

2. The use of a special drug for potatoes Bulba, which is the finest powder that you need to process the potatoes before planting. The powder adheres well to the surface of the tubers, does not flake off and provides not only the nutrition of the tuber at the beginning of the development of the plant, but also protects against fungal diseases: late blight, scab, gray and black rot. By the way, the protective-stimulating treatment of seed potatoes with this preparation is also performed before laying it in storage for protection against all the same diseases, which is especially important for tubers with mechanical damage.

According to experimental data, the best results are obtained by combining the soaking of tubers in a solution of humate before germination with preplant treatment with Bulba.

Spraying during the growing season. To a large extent contribute to better development of plants in adverse climatic conditions, which in turn leads to an increase in yield. The treatment efficiency with a 0.05% GUMI solution of potato planting during budding is especially high.

It must be remembered that humates do not replace fertilizers, but only enhance their effect. Therefore, if you plant potatoes on poor soils, then additionally use mineral and organic fertilizers in the usual rate.

Method 10 - biofungicides to help plants

Scientists have invented another interesting drug - Fitosporin-M biofungicide, which is a safe culture for humans of bacteria with fungicidal and immunostimulating action. Treated before planting, the tubers or twice sprayed on the seedlings to a lesser extent, respond to negative climatic conditions, develop better and less affected by late blight. By the way, Fitosporin also contributes to better preservation of potato tubers in winter, if, before storing the tubers for storage, they are diluted 10-15 times with a solution of liquid Fitosporin (100-300 ml / 100 kg) and then dried in the shade.

Method 11 - “no” - diseases

A mandatory agricultural application, for example, on Dutch potato plantations, is spraying of plants with drugs against late blight - a harmful disease that can kill all plants in 3-4 days. Thus, during the season, potato fields are processed 5-6 times. Alas, this event in principle is not included in the list of works of our Russian gardeners. That is why the imported varieties of Dutch breeding did not justify the hope of Russian potato growers for late blight resistance, because it is achieved not on the basis of immunity, but as a result of repeated chemical treatments of plants. Of the mortal drugs available in Russia for the prevention of late blight, Oxyg is most effective.

Method 12 - “yes” - organic in potato mezhakh

Each of us probably paid attention to the fact that any plants planted near the compost heap are unusually powerful, including potato bushes. Practical conclusion: to lay organic matter in all potato lines. And the potato is better - all the same nutrients are never superfluous, and the soil is additionally enriched with humus. In this way, for example, I fold cutunches, cut grass, weeded weeds into the intergrain, however, not all of them, and beneath a layer of non-growing other organic matter, I sprinkle everything with old sawdust, etc. As a result, the potato well, and earthworms expanse. And all these weeds fit during the summer, as they appear.

Svetlana Shlyakhtina,
   Yekaterinburg city

I will list some of the positions in the cultivation technology, allowing to increase the yield of potatoes, which gardeners and agronomists-specialists pay attention to. Your choice, your right to take note of them is not. But I have no doubt that they will help you navigate, choose the appropriate ways to increase the harvest.

Great harvest!

1. The longer the leaves of the potato remain green, the higher the harvest will be

I found this observation interesting, as it is often said that plants should not be overfed with nitrogen — this encourages the growth of green mass to the detriment of potato tubers. But, nevertheless, a good leaf volume means that the potato has more area for intercepting sunlight, which is converted into energy for the growth of tubers through photosynthesis. This helps the plant develop a good root system that extracts water and nutrients from the soil. Consequently, the efforts of the gardener to increase the green mass of the potato bush will increase the yield.

2. The quality and quantity of stems is key

That is, the more stems, the higher the yield. The stems that grow from the seed potato eyes are the main ones and usually they are the roots of the new crop. Therefore, the more main stems, the more tubers will be in this bush of potatoes. The stems that branch off from the main stem are secondary, these stems usually do not form tubers - they can be removed so as not to draw energy from the main stem. This technique will also help increase yields.

3. Watering

This is a key stage in the cultivation of potatoes. Of course, it is advisable to water it throughout the entire growth cycle, especially in hot, dry weather, if you want to keep the harvest. But it is especially important that it should be in wet soil during this growing season — 3-4 weeks after the first leaves appear from the ground. Do not forget that the more wet the land, the greater the chance of increasing yields.

4. Drying Potato Foliage

When the foliage begins to die off - the plant comes to the end of its life cycle. But you should pay attention to where the foliage begins to die. It is very important. If the potato leaves begin to turn yellow from the bottom of the bush, then it’s normal - you have to dig up healthy tubers. However, if the lower leaves are healthy, but the upper leaves turn yellow, then a pest or disease attack may be the reason why the potato bush lacks nutrition. Some urgent action should be taken. The measures taken will depend on the signs of the disease or on what pests you have found. If it is late blight of potatoes, then some measures, and if you find signs of scab or rhizoctoniosis, the control measures are different. Pest control measures are also different - with the wireworm - some, and with the Colorado potato beetle - others. In time, the measures taken to combat diseases or pests will allow, if not to increase, then at least to preserve the potato harvest.

5. Processing of potatoes with copper sulphate solution

If potatoes are sprinkled with a solution of copper sulfate (50 g per 10 liters of water) 1-2 weeks before harvest, the tops begin to dry. It will wilt, lose moisture, and the nutrients will be transferred to the tubers, which will markedly speed up ripening, increase the yield and quality of potatoes.

6. Spraying potato bushes with superphosphate solution

This is another trick to increase yields. Spraying the superphosphate solution slows down the growth of the tops, increases the flow of nutrients from the leaves to the tubers, and as a result, increases the yield. Superphosphate is poorly soluble, so it must be thoroughly mixed. Experts advise to insist the granules of superphosphate in water for 1-2 hours, but I came to the conclusion that it is best to leave the solution overnight, and after several mixing to defend it, drain it into another bucket. Ten liters should be enough for one hundred. Do it during flowering or after it.

7. Potato treatment with magnesium chlorate

In a cool, wet summer, this technique will speed up ripening and increase yields. 200 g of the drug is dissolved in a bucket of water, spray this solution with potato tops. Bucket solution should be enough for one hundred.

8. Peas planted in one hole with potatoes, allows to increase the yield.

And also scares the Colorado potato beetle. On one well enough to plant 5 peas.

9. Grass as fertilizer for potatoes

To increase the yield allows a unique way of planting potatoes in trenches, pre-filled with mowed grass. From above, seed tubers are covered again with mowed grass. This method allows not only to increase the harvest several times, but to do without hilling, without weeding. For more information about this method of growing potatoes, see the video.