What to do if potatoes have long sprouts?

Regardless of the conditions in which the potatoes are stored, tubers begin to sprout in late winter or early spring. Novice gardeners do not always know what to do in this case.

First you need to understand why seed potatoes sprout so early. The reasons may vary.

1. Incorrect storage conditions. To prevent potatoes from spoiling and sprouting, they must be stored in a cool basement or cellar. The air temperature in the room should be within 3-4 degrees Celsius. It is also important that there is very good ventilation here. In such conditions, the tubers will be perfectly stored and wake up only at the time of planting.

2. Warm winter. If the weather is warm in winter, the indoor temperature rises rapidly. Because of this, sprouts begin to hatch on the surface of the potato, which stretch out very quickly. They remain thin and white due to lack of light.

3. Storing potatoes in a bright room. Under such conditions, the sprouts, even at normal temperatures, begin to stretch and thin out. If it is not possible to place the tubers in a windowless room, they should be stored in bags or sacks.

4. Wrong neighborhood. After harvesting, many gardeners do not think about where the tubers will be stored. In the spring, some of this may cause problems. To prevent this from happening, potatoes should be stored separately from garlic and onions. After all, the neighborhood with them contributes to the accelerated growth of young shoots.

If planting is postponed for several weeks for some reason, there are several ways to slow down the awakening of the sprouts.

1. Seed processing. A drug called Sprout-Stop is best suited for this. Treatment of potatoes with such a preparation slows down the accumulation of sugars in the tubers. For this reason, tubers do not germinate too early.

2. Using herbs or essential oils. You can use bunches of mint, rosemary, or lavender in sacks or bags of potatoes. Instead of herbs, you can also use pieces of cloth soaked in the essential oils of these plants. They also help slow down the sprouting process of potatoes.

3. Spraying tubers with a solution of copper sulfate. For its preparation, 2 grams of the product are diluted in 10 liters of water. You need to handle the tubers carefully. Moisture should not accumulate on their surface.

If done correctly, the process of "waking up" the eyes can be postponed for a while.

In this case, the shoots should not be allowed to be too long. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect the tubers from time to time. If sprouts appear on them before February, they must be carefully broken off.

In the second half of March and in April, this is no longer possible. Such a procedure can harm the potato and slow down its growth. The formation of young tubers will slow down due to exhaustion and stress. The harvest will be poor this year.

Therefore, potatoes should be planted in the soil without breaking off young shoots before that. This planting method has its advantages.

1. Young tubers form faster in the plant. Properly planted potatoes will grow even before the heat hits.

2. The yield of potatoes is increasing. This is due to the fact that the first sprout of each eye is the most productive one.

3. Bushes grow more vigorous. This means that potatoes are less likely to get sick and suffer less from heat.

Potatoes with long white sprouts must be planted correctly. The process of planting tubers is as follows.

1. Before planting, potatoes must be removed from the cellar and examined. The optimum length of sprouted shoots is 10 centimeters. If they have grown to 15-20 cm, their edges must be carefully shortened with scissors or a sharp knife. This should be done directly on the day of planting the potatoes. After this procedure, the planting material must be disinfected. As a rule, it is sprinkled with dry wood ash or placed in a container with Fitosporin solution. Clean ash is also poured into the landing holes. If the soil on the site is poor, when planting potatoes in trenches, you can also put Azophoska.

2. The potato rows should be quite far apart.... The optimum row spacing is 60 centimeters. Many gardeners prefer to make furrows in advance. In this case, the earth will have time to warm up better.

3. Prepared potatoes are laid out in grooves at a distance of 10-15 centimeters. At the same time, they try not to break off the sprouts. So that they do not get entangled, it is recommended to carefully spread them along the trench. However, some gardeners do the opposite. They carefully wrap the tuber with shoots. In this form, it is much easier to plant it. It is worth remembering that it is not recommended to place tubers with very long sprouts and not sprouted potatoes in one groove. They develop in different ways. This means that due to such a planting, the bushes that grow first will interfere with their neighbors' normal development.

4. After planting, the grooves are carefully covered with earth. You do not need to tamp it. It can also damage fragile shoots.

Planting time for potatoes with large sprouts depends on the local climate. Experienced gardeners recommend planting sprouted tubers after the spring frosts have finally left, and the soil warms up well. Potatoes with thick and long sprouts sprout very quickly.

Summing up, we can say that the appearance of long white shoots on tubers is normal. If possible, it is better not to touch these shoots. But if there is too much seed, the sprouts should be shortened so as not to waste time laying the tubers in the trenches.