Potatoes preparing for planting: nuances of tuber processing

Processing potatoes before planting to increase yield

Despite all the efforts of gardeners to increase potato yields, it is still not possible to avoid crop loss. The cause may be infected planting material, on the surface of which pathogens remain. In addition, larvae of the Colorado potato and May beetles, as well as wireworms, remain in the soil on the site since autumn. All this leads to the fact that the plants get sick, as a result of which the green mass does not increase, they lack nutrition, the tubers grow small with a small amount in the nest.

The larvae of Colorado potato beetles eat the tops, and the plants again lack nutrition. And the wireworm spoils the tubers, as a result they lose their presentation and deteriorate faster during storage. Therefore, when preparing material for planting, one of the important preventive measures is dressing the seed material. These measures will help increase productivity sometimes by up to 30-50%, because the plants grow healthy and are not affected by pests.

Preparing potatoes for pre-sowing treatment

Before planting home-grown potatoes, they need to be sorted, sorted (if you didn’t have time to do this in the fall) and warmed up. Over the winter, some tubers may deteriorate and become diseased. They are unsuitable for planting and can infect healthy seed material, so they are thrown away. If the potatoes are large, they can be cut into pieces with 2-3 eyes. Seed potatoes of the first reproduction cannot be cut.

Processing stages

Pre-sowing processing of potatoes requires compliance with the main steps. These include:

1. Disinfection from diseases, fungus.
2. Treatment against pests.
3. Growth stimulation.

It is important to provide adequate protection during the period of active growth. Treating planting material before planting home potatoes with complex agricultural preparations helps solve this problem.

The period of protective action is on average about 40 – 50 days. At this time, the young plant grows greenery and actively forms young tubers. If the bushes are not protected, then beetles eat the leaves, mole crickets and worms spoil the tubers, and the fungus can lead to blackening and rotting of the entire bush.

Processing time for potatoes before planting

It is impossible to give specific dates for the start of crop dressing. It all depends on the region where the crop is grown and weather conditions. For germination, potatoes are taken out of pits and cellars 30-45 days before planting in the ground. Pre-sowing treatment is carried out 2-3 days before planting in the ground. But if you carry out the treatment before planting, this will not be a violation.

The main criteria for planting our main vegetable that we should focus on are soil temperature and moisture. The soil temperature should by this time be +7+8º at a depth of 10-12 cm, and the humidity should not exceed 75%.

Why sprout potatoes?

Tubers planted without germination will have difficulty germinating due to underdeveloped sprouts. Such seedlings have a longer growing season and their growth is slower. For the timely awakening of the buds and their formation of stable shoots, appropriate conditions will be needed.

During the germination process, future shoots grow and strengthen

Processing potatoes before germination will require laying out tubers in one layer without slides of 10/12 kg on flat surfaces such as shelves, boxes or racks at a temperature of 18/20 ° C.

So they are stored for no more than a week; after the buds awaken, the potatoes are laid out in the same way in a room with access to sunlight at a temperature of 10/12 ° C.

Important! If the temperature is not lowered, the seedlings may begin to deteriorate, and the shoots they may sprout will become longer and more fragile during this time.

When kept under the sun's rays, the seedlings are turned to the light on the other side weekly, removing rotten or diseased potatoes from the seedlings.

Treating potatoes with Prestige against Colorado potato beetles and wireworms

To protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm, many gardeners use chemical insecticides such as Prestige or Tabu during pre-sowing treatment. Prestige is a drug from the German company Bayer CropScience, and Tabu is its Russian analogue, more concentrated.

The active ingredient in Prestige and Taboo is the same - imidacloprid. This is a systemic pesticide of contact-intestinal action, which, when entering the body of a larva or adult insect, causes paralysis and then death. The substance does not accumulate in growing vegetables. But Prestige also contains the substance pencycuron. This is a contact fungicide, has a long-term protective effect, which stops the germination of fungal mycelium, protecting against fungal diseases. Moreover, it does not get into the plant itself, but remains only on the tubers and in the soil nearby. Simply put, Prestige protects potatoes from pests and diseases, and Taboo only protects them from pests. This is their only difference.

How to use Prestige

The drug is available for sale in packages of 30, 60, 150, 500 ml. Before use, you must make a working solution. To do this, 60 ml of the drug is diluted in 600 ml of water. This amount of solution is enough to process 60 kg of root vegetables. If the packaging is large, then the exact amount of the product can be measured using a medical syringe. The working solution turns out to be a bright red saturated color.

Having made the working solution, spread the potatoes in one layer on the film and spray them with a spray bottle, turn them over and spray them on the other side. Leave the tubers to dry. Treatment can be carried out 1-2 days before planting in the ground.

You can spray the seed material just before planting, nothing bad will happen. But we must keep in mind that the indicator paint is poorly washed off from buckets or gloves, so after pickling the tubers they are difficult to wash off and perhaps because of this they will become unusable. If this moment does not bother you, then you can spray it immediately before putting it in the soil.

Analogues of Prestige

With a similar mechanism of action and application, its analogues are commercially available:

• Taboo,
• Commander.
• Rector,
• Matador,
• Prestigator.

Before use, carefully read the instructions for use. Since these are potent chemicals, handle them with caution, using personal protective equipment (gloves, goggles, respirators).

Pest treatment

Treating potatoes before planting has a number of advantages over spraying bushes against pests during growth:

1. Complexity – one treatment protects against a number of pests.
2. Long period of action.
3. Protection from diseases.
4. Saving money and time.

Some insecticides also protect against a number of diseases. Celest Top protects against ground beetles and those that live in the soil. It has a pronounced antifungal effect. The consumption rate for 30 kg of seed material is 0.25 liters of water and 20 ml of Celest Top. The active ingredients do not penetrate into young tubers. Suitable for early varieties.

Matador Grand is a systemic drug that is effective against a number of insects and has a pronounced antifungal effect. To spray 30 potato tubers, take 200 ml of water and 30 ml of Matador Grand. For larger quantities, the proportions are increased.

Among other disinfectants, Commander and Cruiser are popular. These drugs can be used simultaneously with fungicides and growth stimulants.

Treatment of potato tubers against diseases with Fitosporin

Fitosporin is a new generation natural biofungicide used for the prevention and treatment of plants from fungal and bacterial diseases. It has no analogues in terms of concentration of beneficial bacteria and quality. The main active component is the live spore bacterium Bacillus subtilis - Bacillus subtilis. The effectiveness of Fitosporin-M is also enhanced by the Gumi fertility elixir. The product is perfect for pre-sowing treatment of potatoes, while protecting the seed from diseases and accelerating the germination of tubers.

The drug is sold in packages in the form of a paste. To prepare the stock solution, you need to dilute the paste in a 1:2 ratio with water, stir thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous solution. And a working solution is prepared from the mother liquor. For pre-sowing treatment, spray with a solution prepared at the rate of 4 tbsp. l. (60 ml) stock solution per 300 ml (1.5 cups) water. From the resulting amount of solution, you can spray 10 kg of tubers.

The potatoes are scattered on oilcloth and evenly sprayed with the prepared solution, allowed to dry, avoiding direct sunlight. Treatment can be carried out 1-2 days before or immediately before planting.

Treatment for late blight

The first signs of the disease may appear already during the germination period. The use of special anti-infection drugs at the planting stage also allows for effective protection of the plant.

"Celeste Top"

This is a combined product based on three substances, two of which have antifungal activity. Fludioxonil comes from a new chemical class of phenylpyrroles. This is an analogue of a natural antibiotic that prevents the development of infection on the surface of the root itself. It suppresses the vital activity of spores and sprouted fungal hyphae even before they penetrate inside the mother tuber.

Difenoconazole is a systemic substance against pathogens of fungal infections found on planting material and soil. This allows you to keep both seeds and seedlings healthy.

The third component of the product is the insecticide thiamethoxam. Thanks to it, the product fights soil pests. In addition, it provides up to 100 days of protection against the Colorado potato beetle.

This is a fungicidal disinfectant based on fludioxonil. Substances have a different mechanism of action than other chemical groups.

The product protects crops from infections caused by ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, and imperfect fungi. The product has a selective mechanism of action and does not destroy beneficial bacteria. The composition includes a signal dye that allows you to control the completeness of the etching. "Maxim" also makes the plant resistant to many diseases during the growing season.

"Maxim" and "Celest Top" delay the appearance of late blight for 2 weeks. And with the preparations “Quadris” and “Uniform”, which are applied directly to the soil, they extend protection by 3-4 weeks.

Prices for fungicide Maxim

"Planriz-Bio"

Late blight is fought by the bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens and biologically active substances that are produced during cultivation. Microorganisms colonize the roots of the plant and produce enzymes and antibacterial substances that prevent the occurrence of rot. In addition, this product is a growth stimulant. Tubers are treated with Planriz-Bio 1–2 days before planting or on the same day.

Chemical means for protecting potatoes before planting

Chemical remedies most often have a prolonged effect for 20-45 days. Active poisons of the drugs disintegrate within a few weeks, which is especially dangerous for early varieties. But if you decide to treat the seed against pests and diseases, then use universal means

• Prestige,
• Taboo,
• Commander,
• Aktara.

When using these products, strictly adhere to the instructions for use.

The following preparations can also be used for dressing potatoes.

Copper sulfate - 1 tbsp. l. dilute in 6 liters of water, dip the tubers into the prepared solution for 2-3 minutes, then allow them to dry.

Potassium permanganate . Prepare a solution at the rate of 10 g of product per 10 liters of water, stir well so that the crystals dissolve. And then the vegetable is immersed in the solution for 30 minutes.

TMTD VSK is a contact fungicide; it does not penetrate the plant, but it suppresses growth and kills mycelial spores on the surface of tubers. Treatment is carried out before planting. The product is mixed in equal quantities with water and the working solution is sprayed at the rate of 200 ml per 10 kg of potatoes.

Prestigator is both a fungicide and a pesticide, an analogue of Prestige. To prepare a working solution, 10 ml of the product is diluted in 10 liters of water. The working solution is sprayed on the planting material 2-3 hours before planting. Consumption rate – 100 ml per 10 kg of tubers.

What can be used to treat diseases: a list of remedies with descriptions

When deciding how to treat potatoes before planting against diseases, the gardener is faced with a lot of products that the industry offers. In addition to ready-made preparations, simple inexpensive products are also suitable for use: potassium permanganate, wood ash, boric acid.

Potato bushes need treatment even as a preventive measure

Application of fungicides to treat potatoes before planting

To protect against late blight and other fungal diseases, planting material is sprayed with Bordeaux mixture before planting. The product is inexpensive, easy to manufacture and has good effectiveness. It is low toxic to animals and insects.

Bordeaux mixture should be prepared immediately before use. To do this, you will need to take 3 plastic buckets or basins with water with a capacity of 10 liters. This amount of liquid will require 100 g of copper sulfate and 150 g of quicklime. Preparation procedure:

1. In one bucket, copper sulfate powder is poured with a liter of hot (45-50 °C) water and mixed thoroughly with a wooden spatula. Complete dissolution of vitriol occurs in 15 minutes. Add 4 liters of clean and warm water to the resulting concentrate.
2. In another container, pour lime with a liter of cold water. The process of slaking lime with water is accompanied by the release of gas and heat. If you do not protect your hands with gloves and your face with goggles and a respirator, you can get burns. Add water to the mixed lime milk to a volume of 5 liters.
3. Mix the components of the mixture only in one order - copper sulfate is poured into the lime. Pour in a thin stream with constant stirring.

Important! The resulting solution is sprayed onto potatoes before planting.

In addition to Bordeaux mixture, you can use the following means.

• Albit is a product for protecting tubers from fungal diseases and increasing potato immunity. It is a paste with a pine aroma. Available in dosages from 1 ml to 1 l. Consumption of product for spraying tubers before planting is 1 ml per 1 liter of water.
• Planriz is a biostimulant containing strains of beneficial bacteria. It is used to increase the plant's immunity and protects potatoes from late blight and rot. The potatoes are dipped in a planriz solution (10 ml per bucket of water) or the tubers are generously sprayed.
• Fitosporin M is an inexpensive biofungicide that can be used to treat tubers before planting. Destroys fungal spores and some viruses. For 50 kg of seed tubers you will need 1.5-2 liters of phytosporin M solution.
• Maxim is a strong remedy for fungal diseases. To prepare 10 liters of working solution, you will need 40 g of the drug.

How to treat potato tubers with potassium permanganate

When treating potatoes with Prestige or Tabu, we use strong chemicals - insecticides. They kill not only the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm. But it’s worth thinking about how big it will grow later if it’s treated with such strong agents? The proposed remedy will do much less harm, but at the same time will protect the seed from further development of diseases and damage by insects.

To prepare it for 10 liters of water, take:

• 1 tsp. margartsovka,
• 2 tsp. boric acid,
• 3 tsp. (or 1 tbsp.) copper sulfate.

Add them to the water and stir well. Potassium permanganate will protect potatoes from wireworms, copper sulfate will protect them from fungal diseases, and boric acid is a growth regulator and will make the vegetable germinate faster.

For greater effect, you can add 1 liter of mullein to the solution. It contains many microelements, enzymes and humates, which will also be beneficial for the vegetable.

Then place the box with potatoes on a wide basin or bathtub, and water the tubers from a watering can so that they are all moistened with the prepared solution. The solution will wet the entire surface of the tubers and flow into the basin through the holes in the box.

The solution can be poured back into the watering can and poured over another box of potatoes.

There is no need to soak the potatoes in the solution, since they already have sprouts on them that can burn during processing. Place the box with the processed vegetables in the sun or under a canopy so that the vegetables dry.

Work can be carried out no earlier than 5 days before disembarkation. By the time of planting, the potatoes should turn a little green so that nutrients are more attracted to the sprouts.

Growth stimulants

The use of these substances allows you to obtain maximum yield. This is achieved through:

• rapid development of the root system;
• early shoots;
• awakening “sleeping” eyes;
• protection against infections and high resistance to adverse weather conditions.

In addition, potatoes become more nutritious because their starch and vitamin content increases.

This is one of the most famous drugs. The active ingredients are a complex of 2,6-dimethylpyridine-1-oxide with succinic acid.

When using it:

• shoots appear 5–6 days ahead of schedule;
• stems develop thicker;
• the plant more easily tolerates damage caused by the Colorado potato beetle;
• the crop becomes resistant to late blight.

The manufacturer promises a harvest 24% higher than usual

You can read more about how to grow a good potato crop in our article.

The active substances of the product are modified humic acids, for which the acidity of the soil does not matter. The formula also contains polyhydric alcohols, carboxylic acids obtained from natural products.

Related article: Do potatoes grow if the tops are dry: when to harvest

Stimulation of growth is achieved by increasing the biological activity of intracellular water, accelerating cell division and regulating the intensity of mineral nutrition. The drug works in the following areas:

• increases oxygen access;
• increases the synthesis of the main energy substance ATP;
• accelerates the absorption of nutrients from the soil;
• improves carbohydrate metabolism, promotes the formation of sugars;
• increases resistance to frost and heat;
• helps increase the volume of the root system by 60%, leaf mass - by 35%.

The drug also strengthens the plant’s immunity and reduces susceptibility to diseases by 1.5 - 2 times. The consumption of fungicides is reduced by 2 times by reducing the frequency of treatment of the area.

"Vympel 2" increases the volume of root exudates, increases the activity of microorganisms inhabiting the soil, promotes the growth of their numbers and thereby stimulates the accumulation of humus. This creates conditions for optimal mineral nutrition of the crop and reduces the use of mineral fertilizers by up to 70%.

Treatment of potatoes against late blight before planting

Some gardeners ask and ask whether it is possible to treat late blight before planting? Late blight on potatoes is a threat to most of the crop. Warmth and moisture are the optimal environment for the development of fungal infections. Spores of the causative agent of late blight live in the soil and remain on the tubers. They can be carried by water flows or wind, and remain on last year's plant debris. Fighting the disease is difficult, but necessary.

Dry weather and hot sun rays prevent the development of late blight. But it is difficult to predict in advance what the weather will be like in summer. For the purpose of prevention, it is advisable to treat tubers at the pre-sowing stage. This will help prevent the proliferation of spores at first. Fitosporin will cope well with this task.

To prevent massive crop loss, gardeners need to use potato varieties that are resistant to late blight. In addition, for preventive purposes, it is necessary to treat the soil in advance. Pre-sowing treatment is carried out using chemicals - fungicides, biological and folk remedies.

Biological agents for processing potatoes

Biological remedies are considered natural antibiotics. They inhibit and suppress harmful microflora and fungi, and strengthen plant immunity. I have already talked about Fitosporin, and now briefly about other biological products used for treatment before planting.

Biological product Maxim . The drug is diluted at the rate of 4 ml per 100 ml (or 40 ml per 10 l) of water. This amount is enough to spray 10 kg of tubers. The effect of the drug lasts for 12 weeks. The working solution is sprayed onto the potatoes or immersed in a net in the solution for 1 hour, then allowed to dry.

Immunocytophyte is a biostimulant that strengthens the resistance of vegetables to 150 ml of water. The resulting working solution is sprayed onto the tubers 2-3 days before planting in the ground.

Agate -25K also refers to biofungicides. The working solution is prepared at the rate of 1 g of product per 4 liters of water. The treatment is also carried out 2-3 days before planting the tubers in the ground.

Fungus treatment

Potatoes can be affected by a number of fungi and bacteria. The most common causes of crop damage are late blight, scab, rot, potato cancer, and rhizoctonia. Losses can reach 20-30%.

Disinfectants can be divided into three groups:

• prophylactic agents;
• long-acting fungicides and insecticides;
• complex drugs.

Both infected tubers and soil and planting material become sources of diseases. It is physically difficult to disinfect everything, so most often only the seed material is treated.

A few hours or a day before planting, the tubers are sprayed with an active solution or soaked for a few minutes. The tubers should be warmed up and germinated, but not too much. For spraying, potatoes are laid out on a flat surface in one row. First, one side is processed, then the potatoes are turned over and processed on the second side.

How to treat potatoes before planting against wireworms and Colorado potato beetles

In addition to chemical and biological preparations, you can treat potatoes using folk remedies.

Garlic infusion . It is prepared at the rate of 1 kg of garlic pulp per 10 liters of water. Infuse for 2-3 hours, and the strained infusion is poured or sprayed on all sides of the planting material. Or, the root vegetables are dipped into the solution for 2 hours, and then the tubers are dried.

Whey + ammonia . To do this, add 1 liter of whey to 9 liters of water and add 40 ml of a 10% aqueous ammonia solution to the same.

Infusion of birch ash . Fine ash is poured with warm water and left for a day. Then the tubers, placed in a net, are dipped in the infusion for 5 minutes, then dried. For the best effect, they are dusted in wood ash with the addition of tobacco dust.

Growth stimulation treatment

To stimulate growth, both organic and mineral substances are used. Organic matter is used when the soil is well prepared for planting: mullein or other fertilizer is added. On poor soil it is better to use mineral fertilizers and stimulants. These include:

1. Superphosphates.
2. Epin.
3. Baikal.
4. Succinic acid.

Superphosphates are used when planting potatoes, pouring them directly into the holes. When working with this mineral fertilizer, be sure to follow the recommended doses of powder. It gradually decomposes in the soil and saturates it and growing crops with phosphorus and other microelements. Application rate 3 – 4 g. for 1 bush.

Epin

Epin stimulates the greening of the bush, as a result of which metabolic processes in the leaves and stem are accelerated, and roots are better formed. The ripening time is reduced and the yield increases.

Processing of potato tubers is carried out as follows: The tubers are sprayed a day before planting. To do this, 0.25 ml of the drug is mixed with 400 ml of water. The resulting solution can be used to treat up to 200 potatoes. Repeated application of Epin-extar is carried out according to seedlings.

Baikal

Baikal is an inexpensive microbiological growth stimulator. In addition to directly feeding the tubers, it promotes the formation of humus in the soil. Incompatible with fungicides.

In order to treat seeds and planting material with Baikal, you need to prepare a solution: 25 drops per 1 liter of water. Potatoes need to be soaked for 3-4 hours and then immediately planted in the soil. The drug can be used again after greenery appears. Microbacteria block the movement of bacteria to potato seedlings.

succinic acid

Succinic acid is a white crystalline powder. Fertilizing with the drug increases resistance to diseases and temperature changes, stimulates the growth of the root system, greening of the bush, and flowering of the bush.

Before planting potatoes, the tubers need to be sprayed with a 0.01% solution of succinic acid, covered with film for 2 hours and then planted immediately. The acid is not toxic to people, insects, and animals.