What to do when digging potatoes. Harvesting potatoes - how to quickly and efficiently harvest. Potato digging tool

Most gardeners begin harvesting potatoes when the tops turn yellow and dry. But what to do if some of the tops are still green, some have turned yellow, and some are completely dead?

Such uneven drying of the tops is due to the fact that neither during storage nor when planting potatoes do amateur potato growers select root crops according to varieties and ripening periods. All potatoes are planted at one time and harvested after about 70-100 days.

However, wilted tops do not always indicate the ripening of potatoes. It can lie down when there is an excess of moisture or nitrogen - then the upper part grows very powerful, while the root crops do not have time to fully ripen.

In some varieties, the tops remain green until the end of September, although the tubers can already be dug up. Therefore the most best option– digging potatoes, starting from the end of August until mid-September.

If you are in doubt, just try digging up one or two bushes and see how ripe the tubers are. Having found a sufficiently large potato with a thick skin in the hole, you can begin harvesting the entire crop.

Useful tips for harvesting potatoes

Firstly, when the tops are mown, nutrients from the aboveground part will begin to pass into the tubers, due to which the peel will ripen faster and the shelf life of the potato will increase.
Secondly, diseases accumulated on the tops over the summer will not penetrate the tubers, which will also have a beneficial effect on the quality of crop storage.

After digging up all the potatoes, do not leave pulled out weeds and tops in the field, especially if you grow potatoes in the same place every year. Scattered plant waste will become a reserve for various viral, fungal and bacterial diseases, which could damage the new harvest next year. And the small weeds remaining in the soil will mature and complicate your work in the new season. Therefore, the tops and weeds are collected, dried and burned after a couple of days.

Potatoes are harvested, if possible, in dry, warm weather so that the dug up tubers can be ventilated and dry right on the field.

Dried potatoes are laid out in bulk (in a layer of no more than half a meter) or placed in bags in a dark place for a couple of weeks - the so-called healing period, during which the skin of the tubers will become denser, and diseases, if any, will have time to appear.

After the treatment period, you will need to re-sort the potatoes, removing infected or damaged tubers, and you can store the potatoes at a temperature no higher than 2-5 degrees.

How not to lose your health on potatoes?

Before starting “potato work”, be sure to do a warm-up for your neck, back and lower back. It is these parts of our country body that can be significantly damaged when digging potatoes. All kinds of tilts and turns of the body, stretching and traditional deep breaths and exhalations are suitable here. You can simply hang on the horizontal bar if you have one. Stretch your hands too - rub them, shake your hands. You can also walk in place, raising your knees high.

Every 45-50 minutes, take a break for ten minutes. Moreover, it is better to rest not sitting, but lying down - so that the back muscles relax. If you have a hammock hanging at your dacha, that’s great - that’s the best place to load up. Or lie on the floor with a blanket.

Hypertensive patients should carefully monitor their blood pressure (take a tonometer with you to the field) and not work upside down until your eyes completely darken. What to do? Dig the potatoes while sitting comfortably on an inverted bucket. Yes, this will slow down the process, but you will feel great.

We will lift buckets of potatoes like this: we squat down smoothly, take the bucket, and rise up smoothly. No jerks or sharp turns.
Don't put full buckets, have pity on yourself. It would be nice to buy a few plastic buckets - they weigh much less than the old and rusty veteran country buckets.

The bags should contain no more than two buckets of potatoes, and not three or four. Do not lift the bag with a jerk, throwing it high on your back - it is better to sit down first, then straighten your knees: the load will be on your legs, and not on your sore back.

In order for roots, trunks and tubers to develop well, deep tillage is needed.

Currently, many methods and techniques are recommended for basic soil cultivation:

Autumn tillage

Spring treatment

Deep plowing

On moderately cultivated soddy-podzolic soils, deep non-moldboard plowing should be carried out before planting potatoes. Before this, it is necessary to carry out moldboard plowing under the plowed land to the depth of the arable layer. According to some data, such soil cultivation increases the yield of tubers by 15-30 centners per hectare, when compared with deep cultivation in the fall, before the fall, since these soils are usually compacted in the spring to their original state. Typically, on more loose and cultivated soils, where the “ripening” of all layers of the soil occurs almost evenly and they are less compacted, it is better to carry out deep plowing without moldboard plowing after early spring harrowing. Before planting potatoes on these soils, additional pre-sowing cultivation is carried out to the depth of planting of tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry out to a depth, cultivation is carried out in layers, that is, first, after early spring harrowing, the manure is covered with disk or plowshare hoeing to a depth of 12-16 cm, and after 3-4 the day before planting the tubers, when the soil has “ripened” to its full depth, the plowed land is plowed without moldboard to a depth of 28-30 cm.

Agrotechnical requirements

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Autumn sadness and joy

At the end of autumn, when the forests are already bare, and the mountains on both sides of the Yenisei seem higher, more enormous, and the Yenisei itself, which in September was still lightened to the bottom pebbles, will take up sleepy water from the bottom, and frost will appear in the empty vegetable gardens, in our The village is entering a short but stormy season, the time to cut cabbage.

Procuring cabbage for the long Siberian winter, for large Chaldonian families, is a thorough matter, requiring yearly preparation, therefore I will tell the story of cabbage chopping thoroughly, from afar.

Potatoes in the gardens were dug up, dried and stored underground for food, and in the basement for seeds and sale. Carrots, rutabaga, and beets were also cut out, even radishes, whose blunt snouts had broken through the edges of the ridges, were pulled out, and their piebald, portly bodies rested in the twilight of the basement on top of all other vegetables. People always speak about this vegetable with some kind of mockery: “Whatever the devil jokes about, now even radishes are in the market! In Lent - the tail of the radish!” But they cannot do without it, especially after partying and during illness, when they need to strengthen their spirit and strength.

The bread is harvested, the vegetables are in place, the tops are piled up, the seeds are crushed, tangled pea shoots and gray bean bushes with black, evenly charred pods are thrown near the porch - to wipe the feet.

You move your shoes along the twisted threads of peas and involuntarily feel with your eyes the yellow heap turned into a washcloth, suddenly you see a pod, wrinkled, white, with hardened peas, and your heart trembles and clench. You wipe the pod on your pants, take it apart and sadly pour the kernels into your mouth and, while you chew them, you remember how quite recently you were grazing in the garden on peas supported by sticks, and how, together with you, bees and bumblebees examined the lilac and white flowers that were often hung on the stems flowers, and how Sharik, an omnivorous dog, darted through the pea thickets, biting off the sugary pea buns with his teeth and, chomping with relish, devoured them.

Now you can’t even lure Sharik into the dirty, abandoned garden with a roll. One cabbage remained in the garden, scattering its green clothes over the ridges. Rain and dew poured into the bosoms of the forks, between the leaves, and the cabbage was so drunk, the forks were twisted so much that it didn’t want anything else. In the light splashes, in laziness and contentment, not afraid of small frosts, she waits for her time, for the sake of which people from two bluish leaves of seedlings groomed her and gave her water to drink.

There is a cow standing in the middle of the vegetable garden, either dozing or thinking long and hard, trying to understand why people are so changeable in their treatment of her. Just recently, as soon as she got into the garden, they, like an enemy-foreigner, drove her out and hit her with anything on the ridge, now they opened the gates - walk as much as you want, eat.

At first she walked, even ran, with her tail in the air, peeled off two forks of cabbage, ate green grass under a bird cherry tree, chewed a branch in the dressing room, then stopped and didn’t know what to do next. Out of melancholy, or out of perplexity, the cow will suddenly whine, wander, and from all the gardens, from behind the hemp and nettle fields, the same bewildered cows, divorced from the collective, will respond to her.

Chickens also fly from the barn to the garden during the day, walk along the furrows, lazily peck and powder the long-weeded grass, but mostly they sit, spread out, looking with annoyance at the young cockerels, who puff themselves up, stand on tiptoes, try out their voices, but they succeed shameful, but not dear to the chicken’s heart, the ataman’s song of a bully rooster.

In such a dull autumn time, I woke up in the morning from a roar, thunder, hissing, and at first I couldn’t make out or see anything - steam was swirling around the hut, people were rushing about with hot stones in the hut, like devils in the underworld.

At first I even felt terrified. I reached for the pipe, half asleep. But then I remembered that it was late autumn and it was time to drill out the barrels and tubs. The cabbage will be salted soon! Beauty!

He rolled off the stove and into the hole.

“Bab, and bab...” he was chasing after the crazy, sweaty grandmother. - Bab, what about women?..

- Get off! You see - it’s not up to you! And why are you dragging an ulcer across a wet floor?

Preparing soil for potatoes

Are you going to start dying? March to the stove!..

“I just wanted to ask when to put away the forks.” Okay, it’s a pity...

I climbed onto the stove. The ceiling is stuffy and parky. My face was enveloped in dampness—it was difficult to breathe. Grandmother casually slipped me a loaf of bread and a mug of milk onto the stove.

“Eat and get out,” she commanded. - We'll start harvesting the cabbage tomorrow, bless you.

In two chews, he ate the humpback, drank the milk in three gulps, boots on his feet, a hat on his head, a coat for pregnancy and out of the house. I groped my way through the kuti. Everywhere there are tubs, barrels, tubs covered with rugs. There is a distant, roaring roar and seething within them. Hot stones are thrown into the water, trapped elements rage in barrels. They smell of currants, heather, mint grass and bath heat.

- Who broke the door there? - Grandma shouted from the stove.

At the mouth of the stove the flames stirred and swirled, casting crimson reflections on the grandmother’s face.

On the street I was already choking on air. Standing on the porch, puffing away, shaking my shirt so that a chill would hit my sweaty back. Under the shed, a grandfather in old shoe covers stood at a grindstone and turned a wheel with one hand and sharpened an ax with the other. It’s awkward to twist and sharpen. This is a boy's first duty - to turn the sharpener!

I hurried under the canopy, and my grandfather handed me the crooked iron handle without talking. At first I spun it briskly, and red water was splashing out from under the stone. But soon my ardor weakened, I changed my hand more and more often and noticed with displeasure that today there is a lot of things to sharpen: about five iron chops and even knives for cutting cabbage, and, of course, grandfather will not miss the opportunity and will certainly correct all the axes. I was already repenting that I had leaned out to turn the sharpener, and secretly hoped for an accident with the sharpening stone or some other deliverance from this exhausting work.

When I had very little strength left and steam began to flow from me, and it wasn’t I who was turning the sharpener, the sharpening stone was turning me, the latch clinked on an iron tooth and Sanka appeared in the yard. Well, just like God or this demon Sanka! He always appears at the moment when I need to help me out or destroy me.

As much as possible, I smiled cheerfully and waited for him to quickly ask for the sharpener handle. But Sanka is a great ulcer! He first greeted my grandfather, talked to him about this and that, as if he were an equal, and only after my grandfather nodded in my direction and muttered: “Replace the worker.” Sanka casually grabbed my hand, playfully twirled it, it spun, spun, the sharpener hissed, water began to pour out of the trough, the grandfather raised the ax:

- Easy, easy! I'm taking out the sting.

I was sitting on a block of wood. I was a little offended to see and hear all this.

“We’ll be chopping cabbage soon.”

- I know. Katerina Petrovna evaporates our barrels too. We are called to help.

Yes, of course, nothing will surprise Sanka. Sanka is aware of all our economic affairs and is ready to work anywhere, with anyone, just so as not to go to school. They give him bad marks for his behavior and the teacher writes notes home. Having read the note, Aunt Vasenya blinked her eyes helplessly, then chased Sanka with an iron stick. Uncle Levontii, if sober, would show his son his hands covered in iron calluses and try, with his life example, to convince his son how hard it is for an illiterate person to get bread. Drunk Uncle Levontius invariably asked Sanka for the multiplication tables:

- Sailor! Brother! — he raised his finger, adjusting his face to a serious teacher’s expression. - What is five five? - and then answered himself with undisguised pleasure: - Thirty-five!

And it is useless to prove to Uncle Levontius that he is wrong, that five is not thirty-five. Uncle Levontiy was offended by any corrections, began to convince him that he was a positive, hard-working person, was a sailor, visited different lands and was a little worse for wear now, but before the captain of the ship greeted him by the hand, and some big man I gave him the watch as a bonus for good service. True, he was later written off from the ship, and he drank away his hours out of grief, but still he never ceased to be proud of himself.

Meanwhile, Sanka was slowly sneaking out of the house. Uncle Levontiy turned around with claims to Aunt Vasena - he is raising children incorrectly, there is no order on the ship! Vasenya made the opposite claim, and while the husband and wife were making noise at each other, they completely forgot where all the indignation came from, and Sanka’s upbringing ended there.

Whom Sanka revered and feared in the village was my grandfather, without whom he could not live even a day. Sanka did every job in such a way that his grandfather nodded approvingly or even looked at him, then he could move a mountain just to please my grandfather.

And when we started harvesting the cabbage, Sanka was carrying such bags on himself that his grandfather could not stand it and reproached his grandmother:

- You're right on your horse! Still a child!

The word “child” in relation to Sanka sounded somehow unconvincing, the grandmother, of course, gave the grandfather an answer in the spirit that he never pitied his children, strangers were always dearer to him, and that this convict and Zhigan, Sanka, he she spoils her more than her own grandson—me, that is—but she threw fewer forks into the bag. Sanka demanded to add more burden, the grandmother glanced sideways at the grandfather:

- You'll get enough! The child is still...

- Nishtya-aak! Pile on, don't talk! - Impatiently moving his feet, Sanka chewed a white stalk with a strong crunch. Grandmother added a fork or two to him and pushed him in the back:

- Go, go! Will.

Soil treatment with AKR-3 unit

Proper soil cultivation is one of the most important conditions for obtaining a good harvest, since potatoes place increased demands on soil aeration and oxygen saturation.

In order for roots, trunks and tubers to develop well, deep tillage is needed. Currently, many methods and techniques are recommended for basic soil cultivation:

• deep loosening with cultivators and flat cutters;
• plowing with a plow with a skimmer;
• deep non-mouldboard loosening with plows without moldboards and plows with cut-out bodies;
• plowing with deepening of the arable horizon.

The choice of method largely depends on soil and climatic conditions. In different climatic conditions, the same technique gives different results.

In all regions, the highest yields are obtained when autumn plowing is carried out to a depth of 27-30 cm or to the entire depth if the soil has a small arable horizon. However, one must be careful: plowing to a depth above the arable horizon can lead to mixing of the humus layer with the podzolic horizon, which contains practically no humus. This will reduce the total amount of organic matter in the arable layer and increase its acidity, which will have a bad effect on the potato yield. In this case, it is better to carry out deep non-moldboard tillage to a depth of 30-35 cm, which is not inferior in efficiency to conventional plowing to the depth of the arable horizon.

Autumn tillage

After harvesting the predecessor in order to loosen the soil, incorporate crop residues, pests and pathogens, the field is hulled to a shallow depth 1-2 times, depending on the level of weediness.

The soil is hulled with disk and ploughshare ploughs.

After 2-3 weeks you can plow the plowed land. If the soil has a deep humus horizon, then 28-30 cm with a conventional plow. Soddy-podzolic, gray forest and other soils (with an arable horizon depth of 19-22 cm) are best plowed with a plow with a subsoiler and moldboard-less implements without turning out the subsoil layer. It is possible to deepen the arable layer by 2-3 cm.

If you are from the northeastern regions, where the post-harvest period is short, in mid-August and early September, plowing is carried out to full depth, and then, if weather conditions permit and the weeds have had time to germinate, cultivation or peeling is carried out.

Swamp soils and cultivated peat bogs are peeled to a depth of 6-10 cm with heavy disc harrows, after which they plow to a depth of 30 cm. If weeds appear, the field is treated 1-2 times with disc ploughers.

On light sandy loam soils, tillage to a depth of 14-16 cm can replace plowing with plowing.

Spring treatment

As has been established by experience and practice, on chernozem, floodplain and peat soils, the best potato yields are obtained with early moldboard deep (30-35 cm) fall plowing, cultivated in the fall as a semi-fallow. Soddy-podzolic soils with a small humus horizon are best plowed without moldboards (ploughs without moldboards or plows with subsoilers) to a depth of 28-30 cm with the simultaneous application of large doses of organic and mineral fertilizers, and on acidic soils and lime. On floodplains, deep plowing is carried out in the spring, after the spring waters have subsided.

Deep plowing

On moderately cultivated soddy-podzolic soils, deep non-moldboard plowing should be carried out before planting potatoes. Before this, it is necessary to carry out moldboard plowing under the plowed land to the depth of the arable layer. According to some data, such soil cultivation increases the yield of tubers by 15-30 centners per hectare, when compared with deep cultivation in the fall, before the fall, since these soils are usually compacted in the spring to their original state. Typically, on more loose and cultivated soils, where the “ripening” of all layers of the soil occurs almost evenly and they are less compacted, it is better to carry out deep plowing without moldboard plowing after early spring harrowing.

What fertilizer to apply for potatoes in the fall, how to prepare the soil?

Before planting potatoes on these soils, additional pre-sowing cultivation is carried out to the depth of planting of tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry out to a depth, cultivation is carried out in layers, that is, first, after early spring harrowing, the manure is covered with disk or plowshare hoeing to a depth of 12-16 cm, and after 3-4 the day before planting the tubers, when the soil has “ripened” to its full depth, the plowed land is plowed without moldboard to a depth of 28-30 cm.

Agrotechnical requirements

It is necessary to take into account the fact that future plowing should be carried out in the direction of planting. Often this happens the other way around: planting is carried out across the plowing, which can lead to undesirable consequences. In this case, the planter may move unevenly, as if along waves. In order to ensure a smooth surface of the arable land, it is recommended to use reversible plows. The layer must be turned over, crumbled into small lumps and laid without voids. The layers from all buildings must be the same size. The furrow should be straight.

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Home comfort

When and how to quickly dig up potatoes - effective methods and recommendations

The time to harvest potatoes depends on various factors. The selected variety, time of planting, and weather conditions are taken into account. When to dig potatoes? This is a question many farmers ask. There is no clear answer to this.

Experienced gardeners know that harvest depends on planting time. If potatoes were planted at the end of April, the harvest must be harvested before August. But according to statistics, the best time for landing is May. Therefore, potatoes are usually harvested in early September. Although the harvest begins in mid-August.

The type of vegetable also affects the harvest time. When and how to dig early-ripening potatoes? They are usually harvested 4-6 weeks earlier than the others.

When answering the question of when to dig potatoes, you should also consider how exactly you plan to use the vegetable. This means whether it will be immediately consumed as food or whether it will be left for winter storage.

Young potatoes are eaten, and for this purpose they are dug at the end of July. If you plan to store it in the winter, then it is better to delay the collection a little. In this case, the peel will have time to become dense, and the potatoes will be stored better.

Is it possible to determine maturation by external signs?

Potatoes are a fairly popular crop in gardeners' garden beds. It is grown in huge quantities. It is very important not to miss the time of digging and harvest on time. Eat external signs, which help to understand whether it is time to harvest.

Here are the main signs of potato ripening:

• The bushes begin to dry out and turn yellow instead of green.
• The skin of the tuber becomes dense, thick, and does not peel off, like a young one.
• The tubers contain the required amount of starch, which will allow the vegetable to be perfectly stored during the winter. You can find out by dropping a drop of iodine on the cut. If there is enough starch, the flesh turns purple.
• When digging, the tubers are easily separated from the root structures.

Do you need to harvest your crops on time?

How to quickly dig up potatoes? Much depends on the correct harvest time.

Why is it so important to harvest on time? If you harvest potatoes before a certain date, then the skin of such tubers is easily peeled off, and they will not be preserved for a long time.

For long-term storage It is important that the peel hardens. But you shouldn’t keep the vegetable in the ground either. There are several reasons for this:

• The vegetable can be damaged by insects or pathologies.
• The tubers dry out and lose weight.
• They can rot from waterlogging.
• Vegetables may freeze when cold weather sets in.

Video on the topic

How to harvest correctly?

How to quickly dig up potatoes is not an idle question. There are several ways to harvest vegetables. Gardening tools are often used, including a pitchfork and a shovel. Special agricultural technology is also popular.

You can dig with your hands, but such a process is too labor-intensive. And for gardeners in old age, their health does not allow them to stop at this method. If the area is large, it is wiser to use a walk-behind tractor.

Application of a walk-behind tractor

Agricultural machinery can be used if all tops are cut off throughout the entire area. You should wait 2-3 days and you can start harvesting.

The equipment is prepared in advance. Check the rotation elements and lubricate them with oil if necessary. Parts that directly loosen the soil are cleaned of dirt. Dull blades sharpen.

When using a walk-behind tractor, you should follow the following recommendations:

• The bushes should stand in orderly rows, this is taken into account when planting. Then you won’t have to make awkward maneuvers around the site.
• The intervals between the rows are 70-80 cm, so the wheels of the walk-behind tractor will not damage the planting.
• When harvesting, it is worth using special attachments to adjust the depth.
• The machine is pre-set to make plowing easy.
• To ensure uniform movement of the walk-behind tractor across the site, digging is done through the bed.

If you are worried about how to dig up potatoes correctly and not get tired, a walk-behind tractor will definitely help in this difficult process.

With your own hands or with a potato digger?

Of course, you won’t be able to dig up potatoes quickly and easily with your hands. In this case, a shovel or “digger” is used. This method is relevant if the land area is no more than 5 acres. If the area is larger, the technique should be used.

The manual method of harvesting potatoes is as follows:

• One gardener drives a shovel under a tuber and lifts it up.
• The second one collects vegetables, following the first one.

Using the manual method, it is convenient to immediately sort the crop. You can let the tubers dry in the beds.

Sometimes gardeners use a hand potato digger.

Autumn fertilization of soil for potatoes

This is a tool that is easy to assemble and disassemble. The potato digger has a fork that works automatically. The tool is placed next to the bush, the teeth go into the ground, and the button is pressed with the foot. The teeth rise with the tubers, and the soil falls down. Such a digger does not damage the tubers, since the digging is done from below and on the sides.

Before you start collecting by hand, prepare a storage area. When collecting vegetables, you should make sure that the tubers do not fall or get damaged.

So, we looked at how to quickly dig up potatoes by hand, without using machinery.

How to prepare the land for plowing?

When growing potatoes, when and how to dig are not the only issues. Preparing the land before planting is no less important and will also affect the characteristics of tuber collection.

When planting, the soil is saturated with oxygen using deep cultivation. This will allow root structures and fruits to form better.

Eat different ways preparing the soil for planting:

• Deep processing with cultivators and flat cutters.
• Plowing with a plow.
• Processing with deepening.

Spring training

If in the fall the main question is how to quickly dig up potatoes, then in the spring you should think about proper pre-planting preparation of the land.

When planting in spring, you should understand what soil is best suited for the plant. Clay soils are not suitable. You should also not plant where water constantly accumulates. These are various lowlands.

The most favorable soil for growing crops is loose, sandy. It’s good if the soil is chernozem and peaty. If the soil is acidic, ash, sand and manure or compost are mixed into it before planting.

The method of processing is determined by the composition of the soil and the region. Plowing to a depth of 30 cm is possible almost everywhere. If you dig deeper, the soil can become very oxidized.

Pre-planting soil preparation

To get a good harvest, you need to saturate the soil with oxygen. Loosening will help in this direction. You need to do it on a dry day. The soil is dug up to 15 cm.

Before planting a vegetable, a number of activities are carried out:

• the soil is dug up to 15-20 cm to saturate it with oxygen and destroy pests;
• they enrich the soil with preparations against late blight;
• add minerals and organic matter;
• a year before planting, green manure plants are grown in the garden bed.

Spring and autumn tillage

With the onset of spring, after the snow has completely melted and the earth has warmed up by 10 cm, you can begin processing. The activities carried out are related to the composition of the earth:

• Sandy soils are loosened.
• Wet clay soils are loosened twice - after drying and a day before planting potatoes.

When planting potatoes, the soil is freed from weeds and insects. Apply fertilizers and level the surface.

To saturate the soil with minerals and organic substances, you can use the following options:

• For one square meter add 5 kg of rotted manure, 100 grams of ash, 50 grams of nitrophoska.
• For each meter take 5 kg of compost, 30 grams of nitrophoska, and mix between the rows ammonium nitrate and potassium salt in the amount of 20 grams each.

If there are diseases or pests in the soil, organic matter should not be used. Then you need to take care of preparation in advance using green manure crops. This is a great way to improve soil structure and get rid of pests.

In autumn, fall plowing of the soil is important. With its help, you can improve the arable layer and increase the soil potential.

To raise the fertile soil level after harvesting, manure is spread over the beds. You can feed with superphosphate and potassium sulfate. The tops must be collected and burned outside the garden.

Now it becomes clearer when and how to dig potatoes correctly. There are some guidelines to keep in mind during this process. Then harvesting a decent potato harvest will not be difficult.

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Archive number No. 36 (1090) dated September 1, 2015 - Household chores

TO YOUR EXPERIENCE

When to dig potatoes?

Opinions differ on when to dig potatoes. Some are sure that a sure sign is the death of the tops. Others warn: if you keep the tubers in the ground, rhizoctonia (black scab) will develop - one of the most harmful and common diseases on potatoes, and you won’t be able to store potatoes for a long time. What if part of the tops are green, and part is dead? Potato grower Valentina PETRENKO helped figure it out.

Consider the planting date and living conditions

The formation of the crop most often ends in potatoes by the time the tops dry out. If it has dried unevenly, some are still green, and some have turned yellow, this indicates that when planting potatoes, tuber crops were probably not selected according to varieties and ripening periods.

But completely wilted tops do not always indicate the ripening of potatoes. It can die if there is an excess of moisture or nitrogen. In this case, the upper part “throws out” powerfully, and the tubers do not have time to fully ripen. The tops may turn black, affected by the fungus, and dry out. At this point, you can’t put off harvesting - pathogens will run from the leaves into the soil, affecting the tubers.

There are varieties in which the tops turn green until the end of September, and the tubers are ready for digging long ago. Therefore, take into account the planting time and characteristics of the varieties. Typically, mid-season varieties can be harvested 90-100 days after planting, mid-late varieties - 100-110 days, late varieties - 120 days. However, potatoes can ripen earlier if they received insufficient moisture during the growing season. Then the tops lie down early, but the harvest may be disappointing - the tubers turn out to be small. And if the plant received too much organic fertilizer, the ripening period increases. By the way, due to an excess of organic matter, the nitrate content in tubers increases, so they should not be dug prematurely.

To dispel doubts, dig up one or two bushes and see how ripe the tubers are. If the potatoes are large enough with a thick skin, start harvesting.

The abode of diseases - into the fire!

Before harvesting, at least eight days in advance, mow the tops along with the weeds, leaving stumps 6–10 cm high.

When and how to dig potatoes correctly

Firstly, this way nutrients from the above-ground part will pass into the tubers, the peel will ripen faster, and the potatoes will be better stored. Secondly, diseases that have accumulated on the tops over the summer will not transfer to the potatoes.

Dry and burn the cut tops. Make sure that its remains are not lying around on the site after harvesting the potatoes. This waste will become a “home” for fungal, viral and bacterial diseases that will attack the new crop next season.

It is advisable to harvest potatoes in dry, warm weather so that the tubers can ventilate and dry out in the area. The optimal air temperature is not higher than 17°, but not lower than 10°. In autumn, it is better not to dig up plants early in the morning, when the air that has cooled overnight is colder than the soil. Harvesting must be completed before the onset of persistent frosts that damage the tubers.

The most suitable tool for harvesting is not a shovel, but a fork. The first one is more likely to hit the tuber with a sharp blade, damaging it. And with a pitchfork you can dig a nest without injuring it, and besides, the soil easily falls off from them. On the other hand, a cut made from a shovel quickly ventilates in the air, and potatoes can even be stored for some time, but with a puncture from a fork, they must be used immediately.

Before storage - for rehabilitation

How to dig depends on the soil. On a loose, processed one, just pull the remaining stump, and the harvest will be in your hands. Then, collect the remaining potatoes in the ground and dig to see if there are any buried deeper. And on dense soil, you first need to dig up the bush from the side, trying not to damage the tubers.

If weather permits, leave the potatoes on the ground for two to three hours, spreading them out in a thin layer. During this time, it will dry out and receive the necessary ultraviolet charge, which will disinfect the tubers and prevent the development of diseases during storage.

It is better to immediately select planting material, choosing healthy medium-sized tubers from the best bushes. Set them aside without mixing varieties. It is advisable to keep seed potatoes in the light until they turn green. It will be stored better this way, and rodents will not covet it.

Dried potatoes must undergo a “rehabilitation period” before being sent for storage. Carefully spread it out in a layer of no more than half a meter or place it in mesh bags in a dark place with high humidity and a temperature no higher than 18° for two to four weeks. During this period, the skin of the tubers will become denser, and diseases, if any, will appear. After this, re-sort the potatoes, removing infected and damaged ones, and store them at a temperature no higher than 2-5°.

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Alena DUDNIKOVA

The most best time when to dig potatoes is the first days of September. It's good if it's dry sunny days. I don’t recommend digging potatoes in the rain - it’s unpleasant, and the tubers then need to be dried well so that they don’t rot during storage. I read the following recommendations from Galina Kizima for harvesting potatoes and they seemed practical to me:

• Mow the tops about a week before harvesting. She claims that it cannot be left on the field, because when digging young potato tubers out of the ground, late blight from the tops can get on them. If you leave some of the potatoes for seeds, then they will already have pathogens on them and next year the garden will be affected by late blight.
• The tops need to be dried and then burned,
• But the resulting ash can be used to feed plants and deoxidize the soil. The causative agent of the disease is no longer in it.

How to dig potatoes

The easiest way is to use a pitchfork to avoid damaging the tubers. Stick the pitchfork into the ground approximately 15-20 cm from the base of the bush and carefully turn the ground over. Then stir up the soil from the edges of the hole; some tubers will be there.

Place young potato tubers in one layer in one place to dry in the fresh air. In the evening, shake off the dried soil from the potatoes, put them in bags and store the potatoes.

After you dig up the crop, plant green manure or winter rye in this area. This is done to improve the soil health and to prevent weeds from growing.

Preparing the soil for planting potatoes in the fall

In the spring, green manure needs to be mowed and the ground must be dug up along with this green mass and roots.

About a week later, after digging, you can plant potatoes.

Please note that this procedure introduces a lot of nitrogen into the soil, so there is no need to additionally add mineral nitrogen fertilizers to the soil.

When to dig new potatoes

It happens that you want to eat new potatoes in the summer, already in July or even in June. To do this, you need to plant potatoes at home in peat pots in February.

My mother-in-law does this and gets wonderful results in the form of new potatoes at the end of June. But she doesn’t dig it, but carefully plunges her hands into a mound of earth near the potatoes, feels for the tubers there and pulls them out.

There is also a way to understand when you can dig potatoes:

• she has already bloomed,
• about 2 weeks have passed since flowering,
• the leaves began to turn slightly yellow, yellow veins appeared,

It's time to try digging potatoes, just 1-2 bushes, to understand whether to do it now or not. If you are satisfied with the size of the tubers, then feel free to dig the potatoes, at least to eat the new potatoes right now.

When to dig potatoes according to the lunar calendarin 2016

• In August, harvest root vegetables: turnips, early potatoes, onions, garlic most favorable days according to the Lunar calendar - August 5, 12, 13, 21, 24, 26, 30.
• In September, harvesting potatoes and other root crops is favorable on September 3, 5, 10, 17, 20, 2016.

It often happens that rain and bad weather prevent you from digging up potatoes on time, and is it even possible to dig up potatoes after the rain? It is possible to dig up potatoes in the rain and after, but it will be much more difficult than in dry weather; more effort is required to dig and the soil to stick to the shovel. After harvesting, the crop should be taken under a canopy and wiped with a dry cloth.

Potatoes are dug up, focusing on many factors: variety, planting region, climate and weather conditions, as well as tuber development. The length of preservation of tubers and the yield in general depend on compliance with the rules of digging, no matter what the purpose and scale for the harvest are envisaged.

If the optimal planting period for most varieties is April-early May (for the southern regions - the end of March), then the situation with digging is more complicated. Therefore, it is important to know how to correctly determine the time and conditions of digging, which tools are preferable to use, as well as the specifics of storing potato tubers in order to reap a good harvest.

How to determine deadlines?

This question worries many gardeners. Let's figure it out.

By potato variety and planting time

Whether a potato belongs to a particular variety is directly related to its taste and storage characteristics, but primarily to the time of digging.

Planting time is an equally important factor in determining when to dig.

Early planting does not always lead to rapid vegetation and the formation of tubers, especially if there is excessive watering or it is cold.

For example, planting too late will lead to the fact that by the time of digging, the tops will still be growing, but the tubers will not ripen.

As a rule, young potatoes begin to be dug up when the flowers on the bushes just begin to fall, which approximately occurs in June (this period lasts 15-20 days).

Overground part

Perhaps the most frequently used method, since it clearly demonstrates the state of affairs, but do not delude yourself:

The withered ground part can also deceive, hiding unripe tubers underneath. This indicates an excess of nitrogen in the soil.

According to the condition of the tubers

This method is the most correct.

Potatoes are dug up if:

According to weather conditions

Potatoes are dug up:

• Shortly before the autumn rainy period, potatoes are dug up immediately, since its excessive content in damp soil leads to spoilage during storage.
• The best temperature for digging potatoes is 10-15 degrees.
• A dry, warm day is the optimal time to harvest potato crops. Dry the potatoes in the fresh air.
• Dig up tubers before the onset of autumn frosts, otherwise they will not be suitable for consumption.

According to the lunar calendar

With help lunar calendar learn the most favorable days for harvesting the potato harvest, which influences the shelf life and high taste.

The lunar calendar for 2018 shows favorable days for digging up potatoes:

• in July – 14-19, 22-28;
• in August – 1-7, 10-11, 29-30;
• in September – 1-4, 7-10, 26-30.

If potatoes are dug up for quick consumption (as often happens in July), the rules of the lunar calendar are not strict.

When are potatoes dug up in different regions?

When determining when to dig up potatoes of a certain variety, it is necessary to focus on regional climatic conditions.

Depending on them, the ripening time of tubers may vary:

1. IN middle lane Russia Potatoes are dug up until mid-September. Growing mid-late varieties (applies to northern regions); Late varieties are also suitable for the southern regions - harvesting is delayed by 1-2 weeks.
2. In the Urals The optimal time to dig up potatoes is in early September, and only drought- and frost-resistant varieties are grown.
3. In the south of Russia Early varieties, dug up as early as June, are popular, although any are suitable, the collection of which depends on the varietal characteristics.
4. In outskirts of Moscow traditionally start from the second ten days of August, preferring early and mid-early varieties.

How do you dig up potatoes?

Using hand tools

With the help of hand tools, they dig out not too large areas, as a “budget” option using pitchforks, shovels or hand potato diggers:

With the help of technology

How to properly store potatoes?

How to dry it?

There are two ways to dry potatoes:

1. In the fresh air immediately after digging. In this case, you need to make sure that the crop is not exposed to the sun for a long time and does not turn green, but it is better not to risk it if it rains. This drying lasts 3-4 hours.
2. Under the canopy. Enough space is needed so that the potatoes do not lie in one mound. Possible time drying - 1-3 days.

Potatoes are sorted after drying by variety and size: small, medium, large. Damaged and diseased tubers are selected, and if the former are suitable for primary use, then the latter are recommended to be eliminated altogether.

What and where should I store it?

1. Potatoes are stored in the underground, cellar or in the basement at a temperature of 3-6 C and a humidity of no more than 85%.
2. Potatoes are stacked in wooden boxes with slits or poured into burlap bags (not tied), which are placed not on the floor, but on stands away from the walls.
3. Potatoes are also stored on the balcony(if you insulate the boxes), both in the apartment and in a bag in the refrigerator, but these places do not provide long-term storage.

Dug up potatoes are useful if the digging and storage technique is followed:

• lack of sunlight;
• correct digging time (otherwise there will be a lack of starch and other nutrients);
• healthy potato roots are very rich in vitamins C, B2, B3 and B6.

Video: A quick way to dig up potatoes