Potatoes bloom - tubers are formed. The plant gives a lot of energy to the development of buds. Potatoes lack nutrients that are very necessary for their growth.
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That is why there have been disputes between gardeners for a long time. Topic - to remove flowers from potatoes or not. In order to understand this issue, you need to know the principle of cultural development.
Potato development stages
From planting to harvesting, a crop goes through a certain number of stages. This process takes about three months:
- First greens appear in three weeks (under good conditions).
- Buds are formed three weeks after the shoots appear.
- Thirty days after planting, the flowering period begins.
- Tuber growth takes one and a half to two and a half months.
- The last stage is the dying off of the green part of the bush.
Important! The wilting of the tops indicates that the process of tuber growth has stopped.
Plucking inflorescences: what happens
Much research has been done to prove the effect of flower removal on potato formation. The inflorescences broke off during the budding period. All the nutrients that fed them were redirected to the tubers. The latter became larger.
There is also a minus in this process - culture in its development missed one of the important stages - the formation of fruits. Gradually the variety was degenerating.
The quality of the harvest was getting worse every year. This is due to genetic problems.
In the course of the experiments, one more conclusion was made. When the inflorescences were torn off, the plant was injured. It became more susceptible to various diseases.
From all of the above, it follows that the main disadvantages of the process of removing inflorescences include:
- danger of damaging the plant;
- the possibility of bacteria or fungi entering the fields;
- trampling of row spacings. This is the reason that less moisture and air is supplied to the plant.
The advantages of the method are increased productivity.
How to pick flowers correctly
Several recommendations:
- pluck before the buds open;
- be careful not to transfer the infection from the patient to a healthy bush;
- disinfect the tools with which you will cut the inflorescences
Important! Cut the flowers with a sharp knife or scissors. Do not break off or tear off. Walk carefully between the rows so as not to trample them too much.
Remember! If berries have already appeared instead of flowers, then you need to pick them off.
Everyone decides for themselves whether or not to pick off the inflorescences. Some gardeners firmly know that this is the right decision, others have the opposite opinion. They do not believe that such a method can have a positive impact.
Do you pick potato flowers?
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How to huddle potatoes, read the following article:Hilling potatoes: terms, rules, when and how to hilling