Harvesting potatoes too early or too late will certainly not do you any good. How can you tell when to dig potatoes and what are the signs of ripe tubers?
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Dangers of early or late harvesting of potatoes
The date for harvesting potatoes should be carefully planned, as if you miss even a few weeks, you risk losing the entire crop. The point is that potatoes, dug out too early, are fit for consumption only in the near future. Their peel is quite thin and highly susceptible to various mechanical damage, therefore, when harvesting, some tubers lose their integrity and can rot. These potatoes will turn into a real "time bomb" in your cellar, as the formed putrefactive parts or mold will easily spread to a significant part of your stock.
And, of course, one should not be late with the harvesting of root crops, hoping that the peel, in the end, will be strong, and the potatoes themselves will reach the greatest mass by mid-autumn. Firstly, by this period, the potato foliage dries up or completely decays, and then the bushes become invisible. Secondly, the weather can get rainy, and it will be difficult to pick root crops from damp soil. In addition, potato tubers must be dry during storage, otherwise the stock can also rot.
The right time to dig potatoes
As usual, in the central regions, the harvesting of potatoes can take place from the beginning of August and continue in September, when the hot summer days are already over and the rainy season has not yet begun. However, not only climatic conditions alone influence the choice of a suitable period, but also the planted potato variety.
To make it easier for yourself to harvest potatoes, about two weeks before digging, cut off the drying green mass and remove large weeds from the rows. Thus, you will make it easier for yourself, and you will not have to be distracted by additional manipulations.
When to dig up early varieties
If your variety can be attributed to those that ripen within 45-60 days, and planting was carried out, as recommended, on the May holidays, then you can harvest from June 15 or from the first days of July. But you should not expect large potatoes during this period, well, no matter how you want to preserve such a crop until winter, you will not succeed. In this regard, early potatoes need to be planted either in small quantities (for food during the summer), or for seasonal sale.
To understand that the first early potatoes are ready to be sent for cooking can be determined by two main criteria:
- potato leaves turn yellow and trunks dry out;
- above the bush, the ground slightly rose and cracked.
Did you find something similar? This means you can dig in your potatoes. Naturally, the size of the main part of root vegetables will be about the size of an egg or a little more, but for summer vegetables this is a good result.
Do not forget that you need to harvest the potato tops from the deserted areas. Because the decayed foliage will become a haven for wintering parasites, a causative agent of diseases, and it looks sloppy.
What time is it necessary to dig up potatoes for storage
for those who are engaged in the cultivation of medium-late and late varieties of this plant, harvesting potatoes from August or early September will be the best solution. During this period, the tubers had already taken everything they could from the foliage, formed a dense skin and stopped growing. As soon as the tops are completely dry, the potatoes are simply stored in the ground, but it is not recommended to leave them in such a "vegetable store" for a long time.
We noticed that the potato tops began to dry out and turn yellow, so start digging in about 20-21 days.
To finally make sure that the tubers are ripe, select several bushes with tops of varying degrees of drying in the garden and dig them out. In the event that the peel on absolutely all tubers is compacted, it does not hang in "rags", but the greatest the number of potatoes are freely separated from the bush or are simply separated, you can start collecting harvest. But if you still come across bushes with greenish tops, and you doubt their maturity, then do not dig these potatoes, as they will reach full ripeness by September 15-25.
The dug tubers should be sorted out and dried in the shade before storing them. Damaged or slightly rotten potatoes are best thrown away or used immediately. Store the sorted potatoes in boxes or mesh bags, place the container in a cold place for a week. Then infected or soft tubers will be visible, and you will have the opportunity to discard them.
Some gardeners wash potatoes before storing them. Whether it is worth doing this is a private matter for everyone. However, not every summer resident will want to spend time washing and painstaking drying.
Even properly dug out and cooked for the winter period, potatoes can easily deteriorate if the basement is damp enough or there are sudden temperature changes. To protect your supplies, you can spray potatoes with a solution of copper sulfate in a ratio of 2 g of product per 10 liters of liquid, or cooked daytime herbal tincture, which includes flake (1.5 kg), wormwood (3.5 kg) and tobacco leaves (750 g), all ingredients are poured liquid (10 l). After processing, the tubers must be thoroughly dried.
How can you plant a site after harvesting
As soon as you collect early potatoes, you can sow various spicy herbs, lettuce and head lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, as well as radishes, onions on a feather, and early ripening cabbage on the vacant bed.
Summer residents living in warmer regions can have time to grow young potatoes again by autumn.
Do you know when it's time to harvest potatoes?
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