How to germinate potatoes for planting?

To get a good harvest of potatoes, the tubers must be germinated before planting. The quality and quantity of fruits harvested in the fall largely depend on the correctness of this procedure.

Sprouting tubers before planting in the soil can solve several problems at once.

1. Sorting through potatoes, a person selects only the strongest tubers. This helps to significantly increase the germination of the crop.
2. Tuber sprouting speeds up the ripening process of the crop. As a rule, potatoes after such preparation bear fruit two or even three weeks earlier than usual.
3. Strong and prepared for planting potatoes are less likely to get sick, and also remain resistant to the effects of various dangerous pests.

It is necessary to germinate tubers in the spring. This is usually done 3-5 weeks before planting in the ground. That is, if the planting of tubers is planned in May, you need to prepare for this procedure from the beginning of April.

But if there is no time for such a long preparation, you can apply methods that help to cope with this task in a week.

Before proceeding with the germination of potatoes, the planting material must be removed from the cellar and sorted out. When choosing tubers for planting, you should pay attention to the following points.

1. The planting material should not be affected by fungal diseases. If there are traces of rot on the tubers, you should immediately get rid of them. The same can be said for specimens covered with dark spots or mold.
2. Do not use irregularly shaped tubers or potatoes without eyes for planting. Very often they do not produce a normal bush.
3. The selected potatoes should be fairly large. Usually gardeners choose tubers weighing 40-100 grams for planting. They look like a large chicken egg.

Preference should be given to medium-sized potatoes with small eyes and an even, dense skin.

There are several popular methods for germinating planting material. Each of them has its own characteristics.

This method of preparing potatoes for planting is simple and time-tested. All the gardener needs to do is get the tubers a couple of weeks before planting. Spread the potatoes on the floor in a warm and bright place. The temperature at which the tubers are stored should be no higher than 20-23 degrees.

When strong shoots about a centimeter long appear on the surface of the peel, the seeds should be transferred to a cool place. There the tubers can be stacked in two to three layers. At this stage, they can be stored both directly on the floor and in boxes prepared in advance.

This method is not very popular among gardeners. The fact is that the shoots that appear in the dark remain weak, thin and pale. Besides, potatoes do not get the hardening that they could get in the light. Therefore, after disembarkation, it does not differ in resistance to various diseases.

The conditions for germinating potatoes in this way must be prepared in advance.To do this, empty boxes must be filled with a mixture of sawdust and well-rotted humus. Selected specimens are placed in this container. Sawdust potatoes should be stored in a warm place at a temperature of 13-14 degrees. The length of the shoots on the tubers reaches 3-4 centimeters after a couple of weeks.

This germination method is very convenient. The gardener needs to prepare several sturdy packages. They are required to put the tubers selected in advance. It is worth making a few small vents in each bag. After that, it must be tied and hung so that it is constantly in the sun. From time to time, the package needs to be rotated. This is usually done every 2-3 days.

After a few weeks, you can start planting. It is necessary to transport tubers to the planting site in packages. This must be done very carefully so as not to break the emerging shoots.

This method produces fast growing potatoes that are resistant to most diseases.

It is quite simple to create conditions for proper germination of potatoes. First you need to take several boxes of the same size. The bottom of each of them must be covered with cellophane. Tubers are placed in boxes mixed with peat. After that, they are carefully spilled with water. It should be warm.

In this form, the potatoes should be left in a warm place for a week. After this time, the tubers should be additionally fed with complex fertilizers diluted in warm water. After another two days, this procedure is repeated. After a week, you can start planting potatoes.

Germinating planting material in this way takes the most time. Gardeners begin to prepare for planting in a month and a half. To begin with, potatoes are germinated in the light for 18-20 days. After that, the tubers are transferred to a box, mixed with sawdust and humus. The potatoes prepared in this way are carefully watered with water. In this form, it is left for another two weeks.

Sprouting potatoes outdoors begins in the second half of April or early May. It is important to wait until the air temperature rises to 10-12 degrees, and the snow has completely melted. This process consists of the following steps.

1. First you need to allocate a place for germination. This area needs to be insulated with straw. To speed up the germination process, straw can be mixed with rotted manure or peat.
2. Put potatoes on top. Usually it is laid in 1-2 rows.
3. It is recommended to cover the tubers with plastic wrap.
4. After 2-3 weeks, this film can be removed. At this stage, there should already be long shoots on the surface of the potato.

Tubers sprouted in this way can be planted immediately. When preparing potatoes for planting in this way, do not leave them open in the rain. This will lead to the fact that the tubers simply rot.

This way it is worth preparing potatoes for planting in a heated room. The temperature in it should be above 16-17 degrees. All you need to do is spread a litter on the floor and place the tubers on top. In this form, they need to be left for two weeks. During this time, the tubers will be covered with strong sprouts 3-4 centimeters long.

If the temperature in the room where the potatoes are stored is higher, the potatoes will germinate much faster.

This germination method is suitable for apartment residents. A month before planting, potatoes should be placed in glass jars or plastic bottles with cut tops. The containers filled with tubers are placed in a warm and bright room. They are usually placed on a windowsill or balcony.From above, each container is covered with gauze folded several times. After a month, the tubers are covered with short, strong shoots.

This method of germination can significantly increase the yield of the crop. The process of preparing tubers consists of several stages.

1. First you need to select medium-sized tubers for planting. It is best if they are the same.
2. At the end of winter, the potatoes need to be taken out of storage and left for 1-2 weeks in a warm place.
3. After that, the tubers should be moved to a cool and dark room. This will harden the planting material.
4. Further, the middle part of the body of each tuber must be carefully cut, while moving in a circle. After this procedure, the potato resembles a small snowman, consisting of two circles. This procedure will help stimulate rapid growth of the shoots.
5. Then the potatoes must be placed in glass jars, mixed with a nutrient substrate. Next, you need to add a little warm water there.
6. In the future, the potatoes must be regularly moistened, and the jars must be turned. This is to ensure that the tubers receive sufficient sunlight.
7. After the sprouts stretch up to 6-7 centimeters, the potatoes must be treated with dry wood ash.

Planting prepared potatoes is in light airy soil. To get a good harvest, the plants need to be well fed after planting.

This method of sprouting potatoes also improves crop yields. The process of preparing tubers consists of the following activities.

1. First you need to select medium-sized tubers and rinse them well under running water. Next, they must be folded into a container of a suitable size.
2. Pour potassium permanganate solution there. The dry product is preliminarily diluted in hot water. The finished composition should have a rich pink tint.
3. After 10-15 minutes, the potatoes must be removed from the container with the solution and rinsed again under running water. Next, it must be dried. Usually potatoes are laid out on the floor in a warm place. In this form, it is left for 2-3 weeks. If the weather is unsuitable, potatoes can be germinated in jars by turning them periodically.
4. After the right time, the potatoes will turn rich green. Due to the increased content of solanine in tubers, the crop will become unattractive to pests.
5. Green potatoes should be placed in cardboard boxes with small ventilation holes in the walls. The tubers should be spaced apart from each other.
6. Cover the first layer of potatoes with paper sheets. Another row of tubers is laid on top. In this way, the box is filled with potatoes up to the very top.
7. The tubers are left in a warm place for 2-3 weeks. If done correctly, they will be covered with sprouts 6-7 centimeters long.

Using the advice of experienced gardeners, the process of sprouting potatoes can be accelerated.

Most often, stimulating cuts are made on the surface of the tubers for this purpose. This procedure helps to increase the number of sprouts.

The depth of the cut must be at least one centimeter. As a rule, it is made circular. In order not to harm the potatoes, the knife must be treated with Fitosporin or any other similar agent before the procedure. This will help disinfect it.

The tubers prepared in this way are germinated. It is best to do this in the light or outdoors.

If you need to germinate potatoes quickly, it is recommended to treat it with one of the stimulating solutions. As a rule, chemicals are used to treat the tubers.

1. Planriz. Potatoes are sprayed with this product exactly one week before planting in the soil. After processing, the planting material is dried.
2. "Albite". Potatoes must be sprayed with this tool a day before planting.
3. Fitosporin. The use of this product helps to protect tubers from various diseases. Tubers are sprayed with them just before planting.

For disinfection of tubers, you can use a light solution of potassium permanganate. Sprouted tubers are poured with it for half an hour. After that, the wet potatoes are sprinkled with clean wood ash. Anyone can carry out such a procedure at home.

Some gardeners instead mix a kilogram of ash in 10 liters of warm water. The planting material is immersed in the resulting solution just before planting. The remains of dry ash are poured onto the bottom of holes or trenches. This procedure helps to speed up the growth of potatoes, as well as to protect them from common diseases.

Unsprouted potatoes can also be placed in a container with mineral fertilizers diluted in water. The germination of tubers in jars or boxes with organic fertilizers such as moss, sawdust, humus or peat also has a good effect on the speed of emergence of shoots. Fertilizers are usually placed on potatoes in layers 4-5 centimeters wide.

For a good harvest, the potatoes begin to germinate just before they are planted in the soil. But it also happens that due to improper storage conditions, the tubers are covered with sprouts ahead of time.

This usually happens when the storage temperature rises sharply. In this case, weak shoots appear on the tubers, which constantly reach the sun. If this happens, do not delete them. Typically, gardeners either cut off the tops of the shoots or plant the tubers in wider trenches, taking care not to damage these long shoots. At the same time, they try to immerse the sprouts in the soil.

Summing up, we can say that properly prepared potatoes for planting will grow well in any conditions. Therefore, do not ignore the tuber germination procedure.