The cultivation of potatoes does not require particular cultivation practices; just follow some precautions when planting the seedlings and harvest.
The potato is a vegetable that grows underground, for this reason it is good to take special care when it is harvested. Let's see in detail all the useful information on how to grow potatoes for a good harvest.
All about the cultivation of potatoes, golden rules
- digging
This operation must be performed very carefully; digging must be at least up to a depth of at least 30 cm. Subsequently the hoe will be used to break the excessively large plates and to make the ground uniform.
- Composting
To fertilize the soil, the horse's dung can be used; it must first be spread on the earth and then lightly interred: it will be the frost of the winter months to refine it.
- Tuber plant
Itubers must be buried at a depth of 12-14 cm and in parallel rows spaced at least 60 centimeters: the holes destined to house the tubers can be made with the aid of an awl. The space does not serve to facilitate the propagation of the tuber but to better carry out normal maintenance work and facilitate the harvest. This is why, in crops on the balcony, the potato can be buried in a sack full of soil and compost. Always to facilitate maintenance work (irrigation, elimination of weeds) and harvest, it is preferable to distance the tubers along the row with 20-30 cm
- Rotation
For the cultivation of potatoes, rotation is a necessary practice; avoid sowing the potatoes on the same land for more than a year. In place of potatoes we can sow green beans, corn ...
- Potato seed
For the subsequent sowing to avoid using your own tubers, it is better to change the seed of the potato to prevent the production from diminishing.
- Illnesses
The potatoes fear the morning dew as it exposes them to the proliferation of mushrooms. To avoid this problem copper can be used. It should be placed before flowering and then after flowering.
- tamping
When the seedlings start to grow and therefore reach a height of about 30 cm, it will be necessary to carry out tamping operations, which consists in heaping a little soil around the stem. This practice serves to give the plant more stability, so the potatoes will grow in the ground and not on the surface.
- Collected
The potato harvest should be done when the plant is dried and when the potato does not peel anymore. To check it, just take a potato from the ground and rub it in your hands: if the skin remains compact and attached to the tuber means that they are ready to harvest.