Many of us are waiting for spring to plant potatoes , and then consider the days before the start of the season of young fragrant potatoes. But it's one thing to dig up tubers for food for a few days, and quite another - to harvest for storage. A novice in this matter may not immediately say when one can dig out potatoes, but this is only a matter of experience. And just this issue we will deal with in this article.
How to know by the tops that potatoes can be excavated?
Most of the summer residents are in complete confidence that the completely dried aboveground part is the signal when you need to start digging out the potatoes. Unfortunately, this opinion could be true for our parents. The problem is gradual climate change, which leads to changes in growth. For example, the summer, which is too rainy for certain latitudes, allows the tops to grow abundantly. But closer to the fall of forces on this greenery the plant is not enough, the result of the tubers still grow, and the greens fade fast.
On the ground, it is difficult to determine when to dig out potatoes, and because of the mixing of varieties. Not every summer resident is able to competently select varieties, especially to distinguish between early and late. At present, it is still possible to determine by the tops when digging potatoes for storage. To do this, wait for her wilting and yellowing by about 80%. Next, cut the leaves, leaving no more than ten centimeters of the rods. A couple of days we give ripen to ripen, then we harvest. So you will not encounter the problem of soft tubers: when the tops begin to pull moisture out of them.
When do you need to dig up potatoes?
Not only on the ground side, summer residents determine the degree of maturity of the root crop. The time when it's time to dig up the potatoes for storage, will determine the peel of the tuber. Most varieties of the average ripening period around the beginning of July give the first sweet harvest, and towards the end of August they are pleased with the mature crop.
Choose a few scrubs for the sample. Here we draw attention to the size of the tubers, as far as they are large for a given variety. Further, we check whether the peel does not slit, as was the case with young potatoes.
If the potato is digested for a certain period of time, we are determined by the maturity of the root crop, then the day itself is monitored according to the weather forecasts. Quite an expected answer, when you can dig up potatoes, will be dry, sunny weather. If you leave the tubers after the rain with lumps of dirt, they will necessarily rot.