Digging potatoes in the country. Let's go dig some potatoes? How easy it is to harvest the grown potato crop without losses. Proper storage of potatoes

In order for the roots, trunks and tubers to develop well, deep tillage is needed.

Currently, many methods and techniques are advised for basic soil cultivation:

Autumn tillage

Spring processing

Deep plowing

On medium-cultivated sod-podzolic soils, deep non-moldboard plowing should be carried out before planting potatoes. Before that, it is necessary to carry out moldboard plowing under the plow to the depth of the arable layer. According to some data, such tillage increases the yield of tubers by 15-30 centners per hectare, when compared with deep tillage in autumn, under the plow, since these soils are usually compacted in spring to their original state. Usually, on looser and more cultivated soils, where "maturation" of all soil layers occurs almost evenly and they are less compacted, it is better to carry out deep plowing without plowing plow after early spring harrowing. Before planting potatoes on these soils, pre-sowing cultivation is additionally carried out to the depth of incorporation of tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry out to a depth, processing is carried out layer by layer, that is, first, after early spring harrowing, manure is covered with disc or plow plowshares to a depth of 12-16 cm, and after 3-4 days before planting the tubers, when the soil "ripens" to the full depth, the fall is plowed without plow to a depth of 28-30 cm.

Agrotechnical requirements

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Autumn sadness and joy

At the end of autumn, when the forests are already bare, and the mountains on either side of the Yenisei seem taller, more enormous, and the Yenisei itself, in September still lightened to the bottom pebble, will take sleepy water from the bottom, and frost will appear in empty gardens, a short, but stormy time comes to the village, the time of cabbage felling.

Harvesting cabbage for the long Siberian winter, for large Chaldon families is a thorough business that requires annual preparation, and therefore I will tell the story about cabbage felling thoroughly, from afar.

The potatoes in the gardens have been dug up, dried and poured for food - underground, for seeds and sale - in the basement. Carrots, rutabagas, beets are also cut out, even radishes that have dug out the side of the ridges with blunt snouts are pulled out, and their piebald, burly bodies rest in the twilight of the cellar on top of all other vegetables. People say about this vegetable somehow with a sneer: "What the devil is not joking about, nowadays the radish is in the market! In post - the tail of the radish!" But they cannot do without it, especially after partying and in case of illness, when it is required to strengthen the spirit and strength.

The bread is harvested, the vegetables are in place, the tops are piled up, the seed is crumpled, the tangled whips of peas and gray-gray bean bushes with black, evenly charred pods are thrown near the porch to clean the feet.

You carry your shoes over the twisted threads of peas and involuntarily feel the yellow heap turned into a washcloth with your eyes, suddenly you see a pod, wrinkled, white, with hardened peas, and your heart trembles, shrinks. You wipe the pod on your pants, disassemble it and sadly pour the kernels into your mouth and, while chewing them, remember how recently grazed in the garden on peas, propped up with sticks, and how bees and bumblebees often examined lilac and white, which were often hung on the stems flowers, and like Sharik, an omnivorous dog, prowling in the pea thickets, biting off with his teeth and munching savoryly, crushing the sugary pea buns.

Now Sharik cannot be lured into a dirty, abandoned vegetable garden with a roll. One cabbage remained in the garden, tore its green clothes along the ridges. Rain and dew poured into the axils of the forks, between the leaves, and the cabbage was already so drunk, twisted such forks that she didn't want anything else. In a bright spray, in laziness and contentment, not afraid of small frosts, she is waiting for her hour, for the sake of which people have eased her out of two bluish leaves of seedlings, gave her water to drink.

A cow is standing in the middle of the garden, half asleep or thinking long, trying to understand why people are so changeable in handling her. Quite recently, as soon as she got into the garden, they, like a foreign enemy, drove her out and beat her with anything at all along the ridge, now they opened the gates - walk as much as you want, eat.

At first she walked, even ran, her tail lifted, peeled off two forks of cabbage, ate green grass under the bird cherry, chewed a vekhotka in the dressing room, then stopped and did not know what to do next. Out of melancholy, whether the cow suddenly swells from perplexity, swoons, and from all the gardens, because of the hemp and nettles between her, the same bewildered cows, bred with the collective, will respond.

Chickens also fly from the barn to the garden during the day, walk along the furrows, lazily peck and pound the grass that has been weeded for a long time, but they sit more, sprawled, gaze with annoyance at young cockerels who puff up, stand on tiptoes, try their voices, but it turns out they shameful, but not cute chicken heart, the ataman song of a badass cock.

In such a gloomy autumn time, I woke up in the morning from a rumble, thunder, hiss and at first I could not make out and see anything - steam was swirling around the hut, in the kuti, like devils in the underworld, people were rushing about with red-hot stones.

At first I even felt terrible. I crawled out of sleep by the pipe. But then I remembered that it was late autumn in the yard and it was time to knock out the barrels and tubs. Salt cabbage will soon be! The beauty!

Rolled off the stove and into kut.

- Bab, and bab ... - chased a crazy, sweaty grandmother. - Bab, and women? ..

- Get off! You see - not up to you! And what kind of ulcer are you getting on a wet floor?

Preparing the soil for potatoes

Will you start to sing? March to the stove! ..

- I just wanted to ask when to remove the forks. Okay, it's a pity ...

I climbed onto the stove. The ceiling is stuffy and parked. The face was enveloped in dampness - it was difficult to breathe. My grandmother in passing put a loaf of bread and a mug of milk on the oven.

“Eat and get out,” she commanded. - To clean cabbage tomorrow, bless, let's start.

In two chewing he ate a hump, in three gulps he drank milk, boots on his feet, a hat on his head, a coat in and out of the house. I groped my way along the kuti. Everywhere there are tubs, barrels, tubs covered with rugs. In them, distantly, rumble and seething. Hot stones are thrown into the water, trapped elements are raging in barrels. Draws from them currant, heather, mint grass and bath heat.

- Who ripped open the door there? - shouted the grandmother from the stove.

At the mouth of the stove, the flame stirred, tossed and turned, casting crimson reflections on Grandmother's face.

On the street I was already choked with air. Standing on the porch, panting, he shook his shirt so that a chill would wash over his sweaty back. Under the canopy, grandfather in old shoe covers stood at the sharpener and turned the wheel with one hand, and sharpened the ax with the other. It's embarrassing - to twist and sharpen. Well this is the first boy's duty - to turn the sharpener!

I hurried under the shed, my grandfather handed me an iron curved handle without speaking. At first I twirled briskly, red water was already sprinkling from under the stone. But soon my ardor weakened, I changed my hand more and more often and noticed with displeasure that there was a lot to sharpen today: about five iron saws and even knives for cutting cabbage, and, of course, my grandfather would not miss the opportunity and would certainly correct all the axes. I repented that I had leaned out to twist the sharpener, and secretly hoped for an accident with the sharpener or some other way out of this exhausting work.

When my strength was very low and steam began to flow from me, and it was not me who was spinning the sharpener, the sharpener was spinning me, the latch clinked on an iron tooth and Sanka appeared in the yard. Well, just like God or this demon Sanka! Always appears at the moment when you need to help me out or destroy me.

As far as possible, I smiled cheerfully and waited for him to ask for a sharpening pen as soon as possible. But Sanka is a great ulcer! He first greeted his grandfather, talked to him about this and that, as with an equal, and only after the grandfather nodded in my direction and muttered: "Change the worker." Sanka casually grabbed the handle from me, playfully, twirled it, twirled, whirled, the sharpener hissed, began to gush water out of the trough, the grandfather lifted the ax:

- Easy, easy! I take out the sting.

I was sitting on a block of wood. I was a little offended to see and hear all this.

- And we will soon chop the cabbage.

- I know. Katerina Petrovna is evaporating our barrels too. We are called to help.

Yes, of course, nothing will surprise Sanka. Sanka is aware of all our economic affairs and is ready to work anywhere, with anyone, just not to go to school. He is unhappy for his behavior, and the teacher writes notes home. After reading the note, Aunt Vasenya blinked helplessly, then chased Sanka with an iron stick. Uncle Levontius, if he was sober, showed his son his hands covered in corns, tried to convince his son by his life example how hard it is for an illiterate person to get bread. Drunk uncle Levontius invariably asked Sanka's multiplication table:

- Sailor! Brother! - he raised his finger, adjusting his face to a serious teacher's expression. - What is five five? - and immediately answered himself with undisguised pleasure: - Thirty-five!

And it is useless to prove to Uncle Levontius that he is wrong, that five-five is not thirty-five at all. Uncle Levontius was offended by any amendments, he began to convince him that he was a positive, hard-working man, that he was a seaman, that he used to go to different lands and got run down a little now, but before that the captain of the ship greeted him by the handle, and some big man watches he was given a prize with a ringing, for good service. True, then he was written off from the ship, and he drank his watch out of grief, but still he never ceased to be proud of himself.

Sanka, meanwhile, was slowly getting out of the house. Uncle Levontiy, with claims to aunt Vasena, turned around - he was raising children incorrectly, there was no order on the ship! Vasenya with the opposite claim, and while the husband and wife were making noise at each other, they finally forgot what all the indignation had come from, and Sanka's upbringing ended there.

Whom Sanka revered and feared in the village was my grandfather, without whom he could not live a day. Sanka did all his work in such a way that grandfather nodded approvingly or at least glanced at him, then he could move the mountain, just to please my grandfather.

And when we began to harvest the cabbage, Sanka was carrying such bags on himself that the grandfather could not stand it, reproached his grandmother:

- Exactly on the horse! Baby all the same!

The word "child" in relation to Sanka sounded unconvincing somehow, the grandmother, of course, gave the grandfather an answer in the spirit that he never felt sorry for his children, strangers were always dearer to him, and that this convict and Zhigan, Sanka, he spoils more than her own grandson - me, so - but threw fewer forks into the bag. Sanka demanded to add a load, the grandmother looked sideways in the direction of his grandfather:

- Get in! The child is still ...

- Nishtya-a-ak! Pile up, don't talk! - Impatiently touching his legs, Sanka chewed with a strong crunch a white stump. Grandma added a fork or two and pushed him in the back:

- Go, go! Will be.

Tillage with the AKR-3 unit

Correct soil cultivation is one of the most important conditions for obtaining a good harvest, since potatoes make increased demands on the ventilation of the soil and its saturation with oxygen.

In order for the roots, trunks and tubers to develop well, deep tillage is needed. Currently, many methods and techniques are advised for basic soil cultivation:

• deep loosening with cultivators and flat cutters;
• plowing with a plow with a skimmer;
• deep plow-free loosening by plows without dumps and plows with cut-out bodies;
• plowing with a deepening of the arable horizon.

The choice of the method largely depends on the soil and climatic conditions. In different climatic conditions, the same technique gives different results.

In all regions, the highest yields are obtained when winter plowing is carried out to a depth of 27-30 cm or to the full depth if the soil has a small arable horizon. However, one must be careful: plowing to a depth above the arable horizon can lead to mixing of the humus layer with the podzolic horizon, which contains practically no humus. This will reduce the total amount of organic matter in the arable layer and increase its acidity, which will adversely affect the potato yield. In this case, it is better to carry out deep moldboard-free tillage of 30-35 cm, which is not inferior in efficiency to conventional plowing to the depth of the arable horizon.

Autumn tillage

After harvesting the predecessor in order to loosen the soil, incorporate crop residues, pests and pathogens, the field is plowed to a shallow depth 1-2 times, depending on what kind of weediness.

The soil is plowed with disc and share plowing plows

After 2-3 weeks, you can plow in the plow. If the soil has a deep humus horizon, then by 28-30 cm with an ordinary plow. Sod-podzolic, gray forest and other soils (with a plow horizon 19-22 cm deep) are best plowed with a plow with a soil deepener and moldboard tools without turning the subsoil layer. It is possible to deepen the arable layer by 2-3 cm.

If you are from the northeastern regions, where the post-harvest period is short, plow to full depth in mid-August and early September, and then, if weather conditions permit and the weeds have germinated, cultivate or stubble.

Bog soils and cultivated peatlands are plowed to a depth of 6-10 cm with heavy disc harrows, after which they are plowed to a depth of 30 cm. If weeds appear, then the field is cultivated 1-2 times with disc harrows.

On light sandy loam soils, tillage by 14-16 cm can be replaced with plowing.

Spring processing

As established by experience and practice, on chernozem, floodplain and peat soils, the best potato yields are obtained with early moldboard deep (by 30-35 cm) autumn plowing, cultivated from autumn as a semi-fallow. Sod-podzolic soils with a small humus horizon are best plowed without plows (with plows without dumps or plows with soil deepeners) to a depth of 28-30 cm with the simultaneous introduction of large doses of organic and mineral fertilizers, and on acidic soils and lime. On flooded floodplains, deep plowing is carried out in the spring, after the decline of spring waters.

Deep plowing

On medium-cultivated sod-podzolic soils, deep non-moldboard plowing should be carried out before planting potatoes. Before that, it is necessary to carry out moldboard plowing under the plow to the depth of the arable layer. According to some data, such tillage increases the yield of tubers by 15-30 centners per hectare, when compared with deep tillage in autumn, under the plow, since these soils are usually compacted in spring to their original state. Usually, on looser and more cultivated soils, where "maturation" of all soil layers occurs almost evenly and they are less compacted, it is better to carry out deep plowing without plowing plow after early spring harrowing.

What fertilizer should be applied in autumn for potatoes, how to prepare the soil?

Before planting potatoes on these soils, pre-sowing cultivation is additionally carried out to the depth of incorporation of tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry out to a depth, processing is carried out layer by layer, that is, first, after early spring harrowing, manure is covered with disc or plow plowshares to a depth of 12-16 cm, and after 3-4 days before planting the tubers, when the soil "ripens" to the full depth, the fall is plowed without plow to a depth of 28-30 cm.

Agrotechnical requirements

It is necessary to take into account the fact that future plowing must be carried out in the direction of planting. Often this happens the other way around: planting is carried out across the plowing, which can lead to undesirable consequences. In this case, the planter can move unevenly, as if along the waves. In order to ensure a level arable land, it is recommended to use reversible plows. The layer must be turned over, crumbled into small lumps and laid without voids. Seams from all hulls must be the same size. The furrow should be straight.

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When and how to quickly dig up potatoes - effective ways and recommendations

The harvest time of potatoes depends on various factors. The selected variety, planting time, weather conditions are taken into account. When to dig potatoes? This is the question many farmers are asking. There is no definite answer to it.

Experienced gardeners know that harvest depends on the time of planting. If the potatoes were planted at the end of April, you need to harvest before August. But according to statistics, the most successful landing time is May-month. Therefore, potatoes are usually harvested at the beginning of September. Although the harvest begins in mid-August.

Vegetable variety also affects harvest time. When and how to dig early-maturing potatoes? They are usually harvested 4-6 weeks earlier than the rest.

When answering the question of when to dig potatoes, you should also consider how exactly you plan to use the vegetable. This means whether it will be eaten immediately or will be left for winter storage.

Young potatoes are eaten, and for this they are dug at the end of July. If it is planned to store it in winter, it is better to delay the collection a little. In this case, the skin will have time to become dense, and the potatoes will be better stored.

Is it possible to determine maturation by external signs?

Potatoes are a fairly popular crop in gardeners' beds. It is grown in huge quantities. It is very important not to miss the digging time and harvest on time. There are external signs that help to understand whether it is time to harvest.

Here are the main signs of ripening potatoes:

• Bushes begin to dry, acquire yellow instead of green.
• The tuber skin becomes dense, thick, does not peel off, like a young one.
• The tubers contain the required amount of starch, which will allow the vegetable to be perfectly stored in the winter. You can find out by dropping a drop of iodine on the cut. If there is enough starch, the flesh turns purple.
• When digging up, the tubers are easily separated from the root structures.

Do I need to harvest on time?

How to quickly dig up potatoes? Much depends on the correct harvest time.

Why is it so important to harvest on time? If you collect potatoes earlier than a certain period, then the skin of such tubers is easily peeled off, and it will not be possible to preserve them for a long time.

For long-term storage, it is important that the peel hardens. But you should not overexpose the vegetable in the ground. There are several reasons for this:

• The vegetable can be damaged by insects or pathologies.
• The tubers dry out and lose weight.
• They can rot from waterlogging.
• The vegetable can freeze in case of cold weather.

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How to harvest correctly?

How to quickly dig up potatoes is not an idle question. There are several ways to harvest a vegetable. Gardening tools are often used, including a pitchfork and a shovel. Special agricultural techniques are also popular.

You can dig with your hands, but this process is too laborious. And gardeners in old age also health does not allow dwelling on this method. If the site is large in area, it is wiser to use a walk-behind tractor.

Application of a walk-behind tractor

Agricultural machinery can be used if all the tops are cut from the entire plot. It is worth waiting 2-3 days, and you can start harvesting.

The equipment is prepared in advance. Check the elements of rotation, lubricate with oil if necessary. Parts that directly loosen the soil are cleaned of dirt. Dull blades sharpen.

When using a walk-behind tractor, you should follow the recommendations:

• Bushes should stand in orderly rows, this is taken into account when planting. Then you don't have to make awkward maneuvers around the site.
• The intervals between rows are 70-80 cm, so the wheels of the walk-behind tractor will not damage the landing.
• When harvesting, it is worth using special nozzles to adjust the depth.
• The machine is preset for easy plowing.
• For a uniform ride of the walk-behind tractor over the site, digging is carried out through the garden bed.

If you are alarmed by the question of how to dig up potatoes correctly and not get tired, the walk-behind tractor will definitely help in this difficult process.

With your own hands or with a potato digger?

Digging potatoes quickly and easily with your hands, of course, will not work. In this case, a shovel or "digger" is used. A similar method is relevant if the land is not more than 5 acres. If the area is larger, the technique should be used.

The manual way to harvest potatoes is as follows:

• One gardener drives a shovel under a tuber and lifts it up.
• The second collects vegetables, following the first.

Using the manual method, it is convenient to sort the crop right away. You can let the tubers dry in the beds.

Sometimes gardeners use a manual potato digger.

Autumn fertilization of soil for potatoes

It is a tool that is easy to assemble and disassemble. The potato digger has a pitchfork that works automatically. The tool is placed next to the bush, the teeth go into the ground, the button is pressed with your foot. The teeth rise with the tubers, and the ground sinks down. Such a digger does not damage the tubers, since the digging is done from the bottom and sides.

Before starting to collect by hand, prepare a storage space. When collecting a vegetable, it is worth making sure that the tubers do not fall and are not damaged.

So, we looked at how to quickly dig up potatoes by hand, without using any technique.

How to prepare the land for plowing?

When growing potatoes, when and how to dig are not the only questions. Preparing the land before planting is just as important and will also affect the collection of tubers.

When landing, the earth is saturated with oxygen, applying in-depth processing. This allows the root structures and fruits to form better.

There are different ways to prepare the soil for planting:

• Deep processing with cultivators and flat cutters.
• Plowing with a plow.
• Deepening processing.

Spring preparation

If in the fall the main question is how to quickly dig up potatoes, then in the spring you should think about competent pre-planting preparation of the land.

When planting in spring, you should understand which soil is best for the plant. Clay soils are not suitable. You should also not plant where water constantly accumulates. These are various lowlands.

The most favorable soil for growing crops is loose, sandy. It is good if the soil is black earth, peaty. If the soil is acidic, ash, sand and manure or compost are mixed into it before planting.

The cultivation method is determined by the composition of the soil and the region. Plowing up to 30 cm is possible almost everywhere. If you dig deeper, the soil can become highly oxidized.

Preplant soil preparation

To get a good harvest, you need to saturate the earth with oxygen. Loosening will help in this direction. They need to do it on a dry day. Dig up the soil by 15 cm.

Before planting a vegetable, a number of activities are carried out:

• the soil is dug up to 15-20 cm to saturate with oxygen and destroy pests;
• enrichment of the earth with drugs for phytophthora;
• bring in minerals and organics;
• a year before planting, green manure plants are grown on the garden bed.

Spring and autumn tillage

With the onset of spring, after the snow has completely melted and the earth has warmed up by 10 cm, you can start processing. The activities carried out are related to the composition of the land:

• Sandy soils are loosened.
• Wet clayey lands are loosened twice - after drying and a day before planting potatoes.

When planting potatoes, the land is freed from weeds and insects. Fertilize and level the surface.

To saturate the soil with mineral and organic substances, you can apply the following options:

• 5 kg of rotted manure, 100 grams of ash, 50 grams of nitrophoska are added to one square meter.
• For each meter, 5 kg of compost, 30 grams of nitrophoska are taken, and ammonium nitrate and potassium salt are mixed between the rows in an amount of 20 grams each.

If there are diseases or pests in the soil, organic matter should not be used. Then you need to take care of preparation in advance with the help of green manure crops. This is a great way to improve soil structure and eliminate pests.

Autumn plowing of the soil is actual. With it, you can improve the arable layer and increase the soil potential.

To raise the fertile soil level after harvesting, manure is scattered over the beds. Can be fed with superphosphate and potassium sulfate. The tops must be harvested and burned outside the garden.

Now it becomes clearer when and how to dig potatoes correctly. There are some guidelines to consider in this process. Then it will not be difficult to harvest a decent potato crop.

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Archive number 36 (1090) from September 1, 2015 - Domestic matters

INTO THE BAG OF YOUR EXPERIENCE

When to dig potatoes?

There are differing opinions about when to dig potatoes. Some are sure that a sure sign is the dying off of the tops. Others warn: if you overexpose the tubers in the ground, rhizoctonia (black scab) will develop - one of the most harmful and common diseases on potatoes, and it will not be possible to store potatoes for a long time. But what if some of the tops are green, and some are killed? The potato grower Valentina PETRENKO helped to sort it out.

Consider the landing time and living conditions

The formation of the crop, most often, ends in potatoes by the time the tops dry out. If it has dried unevenly, some is still green, and some have turned yellow, this suggests that when planting potatoes, tubers were probably not selected by varieties and ripening times.

But completely wilted tops do not always indicate potato ripening. She can lie down with an excess of moisture or nitrogen. In this case, the upper part "stretches out" powerful, and the tubers do not have time to fully ripen. The tops can turn black, affected by the fungus, and dry out. You cannot postpone harvesting here - pathogens will run from the leaves into the soil, affecting the tubers.

There are varieties in which the tops turn green until the end of September, and the tubers have long been ready for digging. Therefore, consider the timing of planting and the characteristics of the varieties. Usually mid-ripening varieties can be harvested 90–100 days after planting, medium-late - 100–110 days, late - 120 days. However, potatoes can ripen earlier if they received insufficient moisture during the growing season. Then the tops lie early, but the harvest can upset - the tubers are small. And if the plant received too much organic fertilizers, the ripening period increases. By the way, due to an overabundance of organic matter, the nitrate content in the tubers increases, so they should not be dug prematurely.

To dispel doubts, dig up one or two bushes and see how ripe the tubers are. If the potatoes are large enough with a tight skin, start harvesting.

The abode of disease is on fire!

Before harvesting, at least eight days in advance, mow the tops along with the weeds, leaving hemp 6-10 cm high.

When and how to dig potatoes correctly

Firstly, this way the nutrients from the aerial part will pass into the tubers, the peel will ripen faster, and the potatoes will be better stored. Secondly, the diseases that have accumulated on the tops over the summer will not be transferred to the potatoes.

Dry the mowed tops and burn them. Check that its remains are not lying on the site after harvesting potatoes. This waste will become the "home" for fungal, viral and bacterial diseases that attack the new crop next season.

It is advisable to harvest potatoes in dry warm weather so that the tubers can air out and dry out on the site. The optimum air temperature is not higher than 17 °, but not lower than 10 °. In autumn, it is better not to dig out plants early in the morning, when the air that has cooled down overnight is colder than the soil. Harvesting must be completed before the onset of stable frosts, which damage the tubers.

The most suitable harvesting tool is not a shovel, but a pitchfork. The first is more likely to stumble with a sharp blade on the tuber, damaging it. And you can dig a nest with a pitchfork without injuring it, besides, the earth from them easily crumbles. On the other hand, the cut obtained from the shovel in the air quickly winds up, and the potatoes can even be stored for some time, and with a puncture from the pitchfork, it must be used immediately.

Before storage - for rehabilitation

How to dig depends on the soil. On a loose, processed one, just pull the remaining stump, and the crop will be in your hands. Then - collect the potatoes remaining in the ground and dig to make sure there are no buried deeper. And on dense ground, you must first dig a bush from the side, trying not to damage the tubers.

If weather permits, leave the potatoes on the ground for two to three hours, sprinkling them in a thin layer. During this time, it will dry out and receive the necessary ultraviolet charge, which will disinfect the tubers and prevent the development of diseases during storage.

It is better to immediately select the planting material by choosing healthy medium-sized tubers from the best bushes. Set them aside without mixing the varieties. It is advisable to keep seed potatoes in the light until they turn green. So it will be stored better, and rodents will not shake on it.

Dried potatoes must go through a "rehabilitation period" before being sent for storage. Gently spread it out in a layer of no more than half a meter or put it in mesh bags in a dark place with high humidity and temperature no higher than 18 ° for two to four weeks. During this period, the skin of the tubers will become denser, and diseases will appear, if any. After that, re-sort the potatoes, removing the infected and damaged ones, and store them at a temperature not exceeding 2-5 °.

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Alena DUDNIKOVA

The best time to dig potatoes is the first days of September. It is good if these are dry sunny days. I do not recommend digging potatoes in the rain - this is both unpleasant, and then the tubers must be dried well so that they do not rot during storage. I read the following recommendations for harvesting potatoes from Galina Kizim and they seemed sensible to me:

• Mow the tops about a week before harvesting. She claims that it should not be left on the field, because when digging young potato tubers from the ground, phytophthora from the tops can get on them. If you leave part of the potatoes for seeds, then they will already have pathogens on them and next year the garden will be affected by late blight.
• The tops need to be dried and then burned,
• But the resulting ash can be used to feed plants and deoxidize the soil. The causative agent of the disease is no longer in it.

How to dig potatoes

The easiest way is to use a pitchfork so as not to damage the tubers. Forks Drive the forks into the ground about 15-20 cm from the base of the bush and gently turn the ground. Then, from the edges of the hole, stir the ground, some tubers are there.

Arrange young potato tubers in 1 layer in one place so that it dries in the fresh air. In the evening, shake off the dried soil from the potatoes, put them in bags and send the potatoes for storage.

After you dig up the crop, plant green siderates or winter rye in this area. This is done to improve the health of the soil and to prevent weeds from growing.

Preparing the soil for planting potatoes in autumn

In the spring, green manure needs to be mowed and dug up the ground along with this green mass and roots.

After about a week, after digging, you can plant potatoes.

Please note that this procedure introduces a lot of nitrogen into the soil, therefore, it is not necessary to additionally introduce mineral nitrogen fertilizers into the soil.

When to dig young potatoes

It so happens that you want to eat young potatoes in the summer, already in July or even in June. To do this, you need to plant potatoes at home in peat pots in February.

My mother-in-law does this and gets wonderful results in the form of young potatoes at the end of June. But she does not dig it, but carefully plunges her hands into a mound of earth near the potatoes, gropes for tubers there and pulls them out.

There is also a way to understand when you can dig potatoes:

• she has already faded,
• it took about 2 weeks after flowering,
• the leaves began to turn yellow slightly, such yellow streaks appear,

It's time to try to dig potatoes, just 1-2 bushes, in order to understand whether it is worth doing it now or not. If the size of the tubers suits you, then feel free to dig the potatoes, at least in order to eat the young potatoes right now.

When to dig potatoes according to the lunar calendarin 2016

• In August, harvest root crops: turnips, early potatoes, onions, garlic most auspicious days by Lunar calendar - 5, 12, 13, 21, 24, 26, 30 August.
• In September, the harvesting of potatoes and other root crops is favorable on September 3, 5, 10, 17, 20, 2016.

It often happens that rains and bad weather interfere with digging potatoes on time, and is it possible to dig potatoes after rain? Digging potatoes in the rain and after is possible, but it will be much harder than in dry weather, it takes more effort to dig and stick the earth to the shovel. After harvesting, the crop should be taken under the shed and wiped with a dry cloth.

It is necessary to harvest vegetables and fruits in a timely manner, otherwise the fruits may start to deteriorate, which will also significantly affect the shelf life. If the fruits that grow on bushes and trees are visible, and by their appearance you can understand that they are ripe, then with root crops everything is different. In this article, we will tell you about when to dig potatoes, what is the average ripening time of a vegetable, as well as how to harvest a seasonal crop.

How to determine when to clean?

First of all, gardeners must understand that there is no definite date that would indicate when to harvest potatoes. The fact is that several factors can affect the maturation of a culture.

There is a certain dependence on the time at which the potatoes were planted in the ground. When planted in late April, harvesting can be done as early as early August. According to statistics, the most favorable month for planting crops is May. In this regard, the collection of potatoes can begin in late August or early September.

It is imperative to take into account which varieties were used for cultivation in the current season. Early and late varieties can vary significantly in harvest time - from 4 to 6 weeks. Also, the timing will be affected by how the owners looked after the site and the crop during the summer, what the weather was like, how much moisture and fertilizer got into the ground.

You can dig a couple of bushes in the garden as early as the end of July, if the vegetables will be immediately used for cooking, for example, young boiled potatoes. If the owners plan to store potatoes for a long time, then early harvest should not be carried out in any case. The thing is that it will still have too thin peel, which significantly reduces the shelf life. After the slightest damage to the skin, the tubers will subsequently begin to deteriorate and rot. And if the unripe crop begins to deteriorate, then you can stay for the winter without reserves and without preparations for the next season.

When growing potatoes by seed, summer residents will find out the flowering time of the bushes, as well as the ripening period at the time of purchase of a particular variety. Also, the packages usually indicate the required time frame. If, in the process of caring for a plant, the flowering time occurs on time, then this means that the growth of the potato is normal and it will ripen just right.

Usually, most summer residents are guided by the appearance of the bush. After the tops begin to turn yellow, there is every prerequisite to believe that the potatoes are ripening and are already at the last stage. When the tops are dry, a liter of opal, then after a few days you can start digging.

However, it often happens that some of the shrubs have already turned yellow and dry, and some have not. This may be due to the fact that after digging out the potatoes last season and harvesting the tubers, they were not sorted by varieties, and, accordingly, by ripening time. If you have a similar situation, then you need to dig out the ripe bushes, and return to the rest in 10-14 days. At this point, you can see the changes, and then dig out the remaining potatoes. However, you must not forget to continue to water the plantings.

When summer residents plant one crop variety, then it will need to be collected after the same period of time. Usually the crop is harvested in 70-100 days.

In some cases, wilted tops are not always indicative of potato ripening. This can happen if there is not enough moisture in the ground during a particularly hot period. So after a few days the bushes will begin to dry out a lot. To prevent this, you need to take care of the garden.

With an excess of moisture or nitrogen fertilizers, the tops can grow strong, while the root crops themselves do not have time to ripen by the time of harvest.

There are varieties in which the tops will remain green even when fully ripe. In this regard, it is possible to conditionally determine the most favorable time for harvesting - the end of August and the first half of September. If in doubt, you can always try to dig up a couple of bushes to check the condition of the root crops of this variety.

Another way to determine the stage of ripening of a potato is by the skin. If the peel is easily washed off and it is thin, then it is better to wait with cleaning.

Dig one bush to check. If the peel is not yet ripe, try it after 7-10 days.

To determine how many tubers can be harvested from one square meter of seedlings, you need to know which variety was used during planting. Note that young potatoes will have smaller fruit sizes.

Cleaning methods

Many summer residents are interested in how many methods of digging potatoes exist. Several methods can be used during harvest.

The most commonly used garden tools are a shovel and a pitchfork. At the same time, during work, you have to experience a considerable physical stress, and since most gardeners are no longer young, this can become a problem. The lower back will be strained the most. For those who have problems with the musculoskeletal system, it is better to use other methods, since in poor health, back pain may appear within a few hours.

In large farms, it will be necessary to cultivate much larger territories than summer residents. For large-scale cleaning, special devices have been designed to greatly facilitate the work. These include a potato digger or walk-behind tractor.
Usual physical work can significantly load the back of the gardener. In this regard, if the cultivation area is very large, and you have access to special agricultural equipment, then it is better to use it.

Harvesting with this equipment can be done after you have cut all the tops on the surface. After a few days, you can start working and dig out the potatoes.

Having determined when to dig the potatoes, you need to prepare the equipment. First of all, you need to pay attention to the state of the rotation elements. They should be well lubricated. Parts that will loosen the soil and help harvest crops should be cleaned of old hardened earth, clay, and pebbles. If the sharp edges are dull, then you will need a special sharpening. It should be understood that the use of a walk-behind tractor implies compliance with a number of specific rules:

• all rows of planted potatoes must be even so that you do not have to change the direction of the device;
• the distance between all rows should be the same, since the wheels of the walk-behind tractor can drive into a neighboring planting, damaging the tubers;
• when cleaning, it is better to use a special attachment for the cultivator, choosing a certain depth for digging up the earth;
• the walk-behind tractor must be configured so that it moves easily, then the tubers will rise to the surface;
• to facilitate the process of working with the cultivator, it is best to dig out the potatoes through the row, otherwise one of the wheels of the equipment will move on the plowed land, and the other along the trampled path.

Before starting work, it is recommended to immediately prepare a place where you will sort out or dry the crop. It is better to try not to throw or drop the tubers in order to prevent mechanical damage to the fruits, otherwise they will deteriorate in a few weeks.

In the process of harvesting, you need to immediately reject damaged and diseased fruits, so as not to waste time on this later. Bag good crops and place in a cool, dark, dry place. It is best to additionally cover the bags with a thick cloth so that sunlight does not break through to the harvest. This measure will delay the germination of potatoes. Please note that it is best to sort the varieties straight into bags to avoid confusion.

When leaves and weeds remain on the field after harvesting, it can be dried in the sun. After a few days, you should collect everything, and then bury it in a compost pit. If, in the process of work, you noticed that the plant has signs of disease or fungus, then it is better to burn the tops.

Try to follow these rules, it will make your job of harvesting potatoes easier.

Video "How to dig potatoes with a mini walk-behind tractor"

This video demonstrates how to quickly dig out potatoes with a Jikov motor cultivator or a mini walk-behind tractor with attachments of home-made equipment without a shovel.

Planting potatoes and growing them is sacred for most of the inhabitants of our country. The end of summer - the beginning of autumn is harvest time when the potatoes need to be dug out of the ground. This does not pass without a trace for the body: the back hurts, calluses appear on the hands, there is nothing to say about general fatigue. Therefore, to make the process of digging potatoes easier, read our article. Today we'll talk about how to dig up potatoes correctly and quickly.

When to dig potatoes

Every gardener must firmly understand that a huge number of different factors affect the process of final ripening, including potato tubers. These are the features of the current season, and the condition of the soil and the degree of infestation by pests and diseases, and, finally, varietal characteristics, which also dictate their own rules. For example, if you planted potatoes for the May holidays (or at the end of April, if the soil warmed up well and was ready to work with it), then you can dig up the potatoes around mid-August, until the end and the beginning of September. This is the usual ripening period for the vast majority of various potato varieties.

Naturally, do not forget, or even better, when planting potato tubers in the soil in spring, write down the varieties of which ripening period you are planting: early, medium or late, because the period of the beginning of your harvest will also depend on this. Don't assume that the difference can be small. So, if it is indicated that the potato variety is early, then you can start digging it up a whole month earlier than the mid-season variety and a month and a half earlier than the late variety. In addition, take a look at your site: if you are a conscientious owner and weeded the weeds on time, then perhaps your potatoes received the maximum amount of nutrients from the soil, bypassing missing competitors, and you can dig it out at least a couple of weeks early. And if there are so many weeds that the potato tops are not visible, then perhaps your potatoes are starving and it needs a little more time to finally "ripen".

Effect of weather on digging up potatoes

If we can accelerate the ripening of tubers, then no one can influence the weather conditions. Meanwhile, this is also very important, therefore, when planning the harvesting of potatoes, you should carefully follow the forecast:

• it is impossible to delay harvesting if long rains are expected: waterlogging of the soil provokes diseases of tubers, rot, worsens keeping quality during storage; digging potatoes with soil adhered to it is also not too easy and pleasant;
• the optimum air temperature for harvesting potatoes is not higher than +17 degrees, but not lower than +10: cold can cause blackening of the tubers;
• it is best to dig potatoes on a clear, fine day, when the tubers can be dried in the air, and the soil is well cleaned and does not stick;
• in the fall, it is not recommended to dig potatoes in the morning, when the air cooled over the night is much colder than the soil, which still stores summer heat;
• harvesting should be completely completed before the onset of stable frosts, which can damage not only the tops, but also the tubers in the ground.

External signs of ripening potatoes

Potatoes are plants that are grown in large quantities relative to other crops. It is important not to miss the harvest time and dig up the root crop in time. It is important to be able to external signs understand that the vegetable is ripe.

The main signs of ripening potatoes include:

• shrubs dry up, wither and turn yellow;
• the peel of dug potatoes coarsens, becomes thicker and does not peel off well (unlike young potatoes);
• the tubers have accumulated enough starch to survive for a long time and survive the winter. It's easy to find out, you need to drop iodine on the pulp. If the pulp has become lilac, then the potatoes are ready for storage;
• the tubers are easily detached from the stems and root when harvested.

How to dig up potatoes correctly

Before starting "potato work" be sure to warm up for the neck, back and lower back. It is these parts of our summer cottage that can be significantly affected when digging potatoes. All sorts of bends and turns of the body, stretching and traditional deep breaths are suitable here. You can just hang on the horizontal bar, if you have one. Knead your hands too - rub them, shake them with your brushes. You can also walk in place by lifting your knees high.

Take a break for ten minutes every 45-50 minutes. Moreover, it is better to rest not sitting, but lying down - so that the back muscles relax. If you have a hammock in your dacha, that's great - that's where it is best to boot. Or lie on the floor with a blanket.

Use a shovel or pitchfork for cleaning. On loose soil, it will be enough just to pull on the remains of the tops, collect all the tubers, and then additionally check the hole with a tool. Planting in dense soil involves pre-digging in the bush.

Which tool is better to use, each gardener decides independently. It is believed that a shovel often damages tubers, however, the cut remaining after it winds up faster and less often rots. It is more difficult to damage potatoes with a pitchfork, but the deep punctures formed because of them almost always serve as a source of disease. In any case, damaged specimens should not be stored, but eaten immediately.

A very useful tool in this regard is the manual potato digger. It is a lightweight and convenient device that can be assembled and disassembled in no time. It can be used to dig up potatoes and other root vegetables. The device is equipped with a forks that work automatically under a turn and give a picking angle of 30 cm. It is very simple to use the digger. Place it next to the potato bush so that the forks go into the ground, and press the button with your foot. The tines will move upward with the potatoes and the soil will pass back between the tines. This digger will not injure the potatoes and cut off the fruits, since the digging is carried out from the bottom and to the sides. The potato digger can be used for other purposes - for digging a site or for loosening the soil.

Proper storage of potatoes

The next step is sorting the potatoes. If there are enough helpers, you can give each a bucket and give the task to put the smallest / medium / large potatoes there. In the process of harvesting, it is necessary to immediately select seed material, that is, even and healthy medium-sized tubers from the most productive bushes. Sick and damaged potatoes during digging should also be folded separately.

Fresh articles about garden and vegetable garden

After sorting, the potatoes are transported to a barn or garage, and poured onto the paved floor (you can spread a regular old blanket). Only after 3-4 weeks the harvest can be lowered into the cellar. Why? During the "rest" period, tubers infected with some kind of disease will manifest themselves, and they can be easily identified and removed from the general heap. In addition, during the specified period of time, the potatoes will ripen, their peels will dry out and thicken, which will have a positive effect on storing tubers in the cellar. Important: the storage should provide sufficient air humidity and maintain the optimum temperature (15-18 ° C). Some summer residents leave potatoes in boxes during the "rehabilitation" period. And that's okay. The main thing is that air is available to all tubers. For the same purpose, it is imperative to ventilate the storage (leave the doors open for several hours).

Some summer residents practice the following method: before sending potatoes for storage, they must wash and dry them. They do this so that the potatoes are better stored in the cellar. In some ways they are right. After all, you must admit that all damage and diseases are clearly visible on clean tubers, which cannot be said about potatoes covered with a dense layer of dust. Of course, if a large number of acres were planted under the potatoes, then it is almost unrealistic to first wash and then dry all the tubers with high quality. But, as an experiment, each of us can process, say, a couple of boxes of potatoes in the specified way, and draw our own conclusions about how well this secret of storing potatoes works.

It's not for nothing that potatoes are called our second bread. And its correct harvesting begins precisely with the correct digging, during which, unknowingly, you can cause significant harm to the crop.

Harvesting vegetables, fruits, fruits, berries is quite simple. We see whether the color of the collected, say, fruit is typical, we can pick it (after all, there are many more of the same on the tree, and we will not damage the plant in any way) and taste it, finding out if it is ready to taste. With root crops, and in particular with potatoes, everything is different: in order to correctly dig up potatoes and so that in the end the tubers turn out to be ripe, tasty, large and, most importantly, remain as long as possible, until the new harvest, you need to know a number of subtleties and features of this culture ... Let's try to figure out how, when and what is the best way to dig potatoes.

Digging up potatoes. © Sara

When to dig potatoes?

Every gardener must firmly understand that a huge number of different factors affect the process of final ripening, including potato tubers. These are the features of the current season, and the condition of the soil, and the degree of infestation by pests and diseases, and, finally, varietal characteristics, which also dictate their own rules.

For example, if you planted potatoes for the May holidays (or at the end of April, if the soil warmed up well and was ready to work with it), then you can dig up the potatoes around mid-August, until the end and beginning of September. This is the usual ripening period for the vast majority of various potato varieties.

Naturally, do not forget, or even better, when planting potato tubers in the soil in spring, write down the varieties of which ripening period you are planting: early, medium or late, because the period of the beginning of your harvest will also depend on this. Don't assume that the difference can be small. So, if it is indicated that the potato variety is early, then you can start digging it up a whole month earlier than the mid-season variety and a month and a half earlier than the late variety.

In addition, take a look at your site: if you are a conscientious owner and weeded the weeds on time, then perhaps your potatoes received the maximum amount of nutrients from the soil, bypassing missing competitors, and you can dig it out at least a couple of weeks early. And if there are so many weeds that the potato tops are not visible, then perhaps your potatoes are starving and it needs a little more time to finally "ripen".

How to check?

Of course, you can always not guess, but check if it's time to dig out the potatoes, why choose a simpler bush closer to the edge and dig it up entirely, examine the tubers, the peel on them. If the tubers are easily separated, and the skin on them is dense, then it is quite possible to start digging out all the potatoes.

Important! This applies to beginners who for the first time and independently strive to grow potatoes on their site. Often, due to inexperience and ignorance, they begin to dig up potatoes right in the middle of summer. The harvest is good, but such tubers have a thin skin, they boil quickly, that is, they are ready for immediate cooking, but they will not be stored for a long time.

Let's take a look at the tops

If you don’t want to dig the bushes, then take a look at the tops of the potatoes: has it turned yellow, has it perished. If this happens at the end of August, then the potatoes themselves tell you that it is time to get them out of the soil, otherwise, the hour is uneven, frosts will hit and the potatoes will become sweet.

It so happens that part of the tops of the potatoes have died and the time in the yard is appropriate, and part of it is green-green, as if it is not the end of August now, but some June. Why it happens? This happens among gardeners who were too lazy to sort the early varieties from the middle and late ones and plant them on different plots.

In this case, you need to dig up that part of the potato, the tops of which have died and began to dry out, and try not to touch the young tops, of course, if the digging is done with a pitchfork or a shovel. With a walk-behind tractor, everything is more difficult: you should not go around these late bushes, you will have to sacrifice them and this will be a lesson for you for the future.

Phytophthora, which is not at all on time

By the way, by the time the potatoes are harvested, you can see the following picture: some of the bushes have already died, the tops on them are clearly dead, and some are "gnawing" late blight. It has been noticed that such bushes can also have tubers affected by this dangerous fungal infection. And imagine what would happen if you dig out such bushes and place the affected potato tubers in storage with healthy ones? True, no good: all or most of the crop may die.

Therefore, I advise you to dig such potato bushes in the very first place, and the tubers removed from the soil, either destroy or feed livestock, I would not recommend eating them.

Digging a potato bush. © Arthur McWerter

Do you need to remove the tops when harvesting potatoes?

Disputes about the removal of tops before harvesting potatoes do not subside until now. Personally, I firmly decided for myself that everything is fine in moderation: the complete removal of the tops (to the level of the soil) will elementarily complicate then digging out the potatoes - you will have to look for the place where the bush was.

The second problem is the same late blight: when you mow the entire potato tops as a whole, spread the infection throughout the entire area, and when you dig up the tubers, you will also embed the fungus in the soil - which is what the infection needs. In principle, the tops can be harmful, but in farms where potatoes are harvested by machines, the hard tops can corny damage the tubers.

At home, I advise you to do this: first of all, we remove and destroy all living, but eaten by late blight plants. Neither tubers nor tops of such plants are needed. Next, we mow the entire tops to a height of 12-15 cm, not lower. So you will see the bushes and give an impetus to the tubers: they say, they need to get out of the soil soon, which means they should stock up on a strong "crust". A week later, you can start harvesting potatoes. By the way, healthy tops devoid of phytophthora are good compost.

Digging potatoes

First, choose a suitable day. It is great if it is hot and windy, if there was no rain for a couple of days before and forecasters do not promise it for as many days. Next, we carry out a control digging: the potato peel is hard, the tubers are easily separated - then everything is ready.

Step three - we estimate the likely amount of the crop in order to know how many people, bags, wheelbarrows, bins or storage boxes and other equipment are needed. How to find out? A simple way: we dig out five potato bushes, choose every single tuber from each, divide by five, we get an average crop per bush, quite accurate.

Next, we multiply it by the number of bushes on the site; again we have, albeit an approximate, but close to real yield from the site. If something is missing for transportation or storage of this vegetable, then we urgently buy it. Remember, the sooner you dig up the potatoes while the weather is fine, dry them and put them in storage, the better.

When going out to harvest potatoes, I advise you to take with you four lots of bags, a pitchfork (if the soil is hard for digging) and a shovel (if it will be easy for you to dig it). You can also take a walk-behind tractor, but we will tell about it later. Not everyone has it and not everyone knows how to manage it, but progress is inexorable and you cannot miss this moment of cleaning.

Why so many lots of bags? It's simple, I advise you to divide it into four parties immediately after digging the potatoes. The first batch - these will be giant tubers, the largest, which can either be eaten or left for seeds. In the second bag we put potato tubers of normal size, up to 80-90 grams, in the third - tubers, which are even smaller (40-50 g, no more), and finally, in the fourth - all the small things, cut off, pierced with a pitchfork, damaged tubers, which will go either for food immediately, or for livestock feed.

Digging the harvest of potatoes. © Christina Ricchiuti

Potato digging tool

Shovel.This is a reliable tool, but it is advisable to have several of them, as handles break in the process. I would not recommend taking an all-metal shovel, it is better to take the one where there are cracks in the body, soil will wake up in them and it will be easier to dig.

The disadvantages of a shovel are that it often spoils potato tubers - it cuts, leaves cuts, but the choice is yours, which also depends on the soil (personally, I could dig in the clay with a shovel for no more than a couple of hours).

Pitchfork. A pitchfork is also desirable to have a pair. Take a pitchfork with four or five teeth, no more, so it is easier to reduce the risk of damage to potato tubers to a minimum. Be more careful with the pitchfork, especially when you drive them into the soil, you can easily pierce a rubber boot, so here I would advise you to put on tarpaulin boots, they will be stronger. In principle, digging with a pitchfork is no different from digging with a shovel (although for me personally, digging with a pitchfork is easier, but it’s like anyone).

When digging potatoes, you need to stand so that the sun looks in your back, so you can see what and where you are digging. Be sure to dress thoroughly so that all parts of your body are covered from the sun, a panama with brims on your head, and a persistent scent of mosquito and horsefly spray on the surface of your clothes. As for shoes, the ideal option is boots (it may be hard in them, but it will be very difficult to injure your leg by accident). Several people should follow you, no more than a couple of holes behind and wearing gloves, they should select potatoes and sort them into bags.

Cultivator. This is already from the field of modern technology, it is designed for those who have free funds and the ability to manage such equipment. A cultivator, in my opinion, is relevant if at least a hectare of land is planted with potatoes. A smaller area can be slowly dug up by three people. When working with a cultivator, it is advisable to remove all potato tops without leaving anything on the site. But the first step is to dig with a pitchfork or a shovel the bushes infected with late blight, and at the same time the tubers with it. Next, you need to wait a few days so that the grass settles down and does not interfere with work.

The weather is the same - warm and dry for a couple of days. By choice of potatoes: here, rather, everything will have to be done together and at the end of each row that the cultivator will pass or in general - after harvesting the entire plot.

In order for the work with a motor-cultivator when digging potatoes to be a pleasure, and not turn out to be flour, it is necessary that all rows are even and the cultivator does not have to “walk” in different directions. Further, the distance between the rows is also desirable to be the same. Naturally, when digging potatoes for a cultivator, you need to use attachments designed for digging potatoes and nothing else. The speed of rotation of the knots should be adjusted so that they pick the tubers, but do not throw them forcefully to the surface.

From my own experience, I can say that when digging potatoes with a motorized cultivator, you should not dig row by row, it is better to dig potatoes through one row, otherwise one wheel will always move on the plowed ground, and the other on the tamped ground, so it is more difficult to work.

What is good about a motor-cultivator: it usually allows you to select all potato tubers from the soil, rarely spoils them, facilitates work and significantly speeds it up incomparably. A couple of people behind the cultivator can also go and sort the tubers or do it later, when the work of the cultivator is completed, as we mentioned above.

Digging potatoes with a pitchfork. © Steve

Drying and storage of potatoes

After harvesting all potatoes, dry them before storing them. For this, it is necessary to choose a sunny and preferably windy day, but you cannot pour the potatoes in an open and well-lit place: it can accumulate, albeit a little, solanine poison. The best option is a canopy located on the south side.

Potatoes can be dried in fractions, as it only takes 4-6 hours to dry. Each fraction after drying in one layer, with rotation to another barrel after two hours, must be placed in the cellar. The usual standard cellar provides a depth of 2-3 meters, four walls, bleached with lime and whitewashed every year, and bins - in fact, large wooden boxes or standard apple wooden boxes, always new and dry. When pouring potatoes, it is impossible for them to bump against each other and fall from a height of more than 10 cm, this can lead to negative consequences, cause anything, even rot.

It is necessary to sort each batch, as we did on the field. It is advisable to have access to all potato fractions to check their condition.

For the normal maintenance of potatoes in the storage, it is necessary that the temperature in it be at the level of plus 2-3 degrees of heat, and the humidity should be at around 85-90%.

After laying all the potatoes for storage, pay attention to the field: all the tops and weeds, if they are disease-free (and the weeds are without seeds), can be collected and laid in a compost heap. If you notice signs of fungal diseases, then it is better to burn the tops.

That's all there is to say about when and how to dig potatoes.

This, one might say, is our national tradition. Someone has a smaller plot for potatoes, someone has a larger one, but almost every summer resident has it!
And all the subtleties of the annual ceremonial harvesting are carefully passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, from father to son.

An interesting approach to growing our "second bread". Most of the potato growers refer to this culture with true pragmatism: when 10-15, or even all 50 acres of land are allocated for planting, there is no time for an individual approach. The rest believe that potatoes are worthy of "dancing with tambourines" no less than a tomato or eggplant, and therefore treat potatoes with all their attention. But for both the former and the latter, the culmination of the entire season is harvesting. Let's figure out when, how and how to dig potatoes.

To dig or not to dig - that is the question!

In fact, this is the most difficult question, since there is no definite answer to it. The publication of our site can help to understand that it is already high time. It tells in detail about all the "signs" of harvesting potatoes.

It is important to remember that the most obvious and reliable sign of harvest readiness is wilting and drying of the tops. As soon as you notice that the potato "tops" have lost their attractiveness, you have 20 days to dig out the "roots". The tubers should not lie in the ground longer. We look at the forecast, choose fine days and immediately take up the shovel.

It is necessary to pay attention not only to the situation with precipitation, but also to night temperatures. It so happens that the days are fine and warm, and at night the frost already picks up. Potatoes, even slightly touched by sub-zero temperatures, will have an unpleasant sweetish taste, and they will not be able to preserve them.

The agony of choice

So, the harvest is ripe, you even dug out a couple of bushes to make sure that it's time to harvest the potatoes. What tool is right for this business? And there are three of them in our arsenal: a shovel, a walk-behind tractor and a pitchfork. Consider the pros and cons of each.

Motoblock

Many gardeners, not having enough information, do not trust the technique of digging their potatoes for fear of ruining half of the harvest. And therefore, all relatives who are able to hold a shovel in their hands, as well as their children, grandchildren and dogs for the selection of tubers, are called for harvesting.

However, everything is not so bad. The mini-tractor itself is used for harvesting potatoes only as a pulling force. A variety of attachments can be purchased for almost any model, including a potato digger, consisting of a plow with steel rods welded to it. The extraction of tubers to the surface is quite delicate; there are fewer losses than with manual digging.

The undoubted advantage of technology is speed and high productivity. Having a mini-tractor, you can tackle large areas: the range of attachments includes a potato planter. In unstable weather, when every dry hour counts, only with help you can quickly dig up and harvest your crop. And our "kulibins", having a little help, are able to further improve the process of harvesting potatoes, reducing it by one operation. Watching the video.

The disadvantages are obvious: a mini-tractor and attachments for it need to be bought in addition to the gardening tools you already have. In addition, like any other technique, the walk-behind tractor will require storage space, maintenance and fueling.

Shovel

Technology is good, but not everyone has the opportunity or need to acquire it. has always been a faithful assistant to any summer resident. Many people prefer to dig potatoes with it. The current shovel is not as simple as the shovel of our grandmothers. Then there were only 2 types of metal blades - a bayonet and a scoop, and only 3 types of cuttings - long, short and broken off)) Nowadays, the choice is much wider and more varied, and the tool is selected based on the type of soil on the site and the type of work that you plan to use it. Which shovel is more convenient to use in each specific case?

If on your site light loose earth with the presence of sand, a bayonet shovel with a rectangular or slightly rounded blade is suitable for you. Working with such a tool is very effective - a blade of this shape captures a large volume of soil.

ideal for harvesting potatoes on loose soil

But for use on heavy hard soil such a shovel will not work. Sticking it in will be problematic, and unsafe for the back. To work on dense loam, you need to choose a shovel with a pointed blade.

... Trademark "Sibrtech"

When buying, pay attention to the stalk. For truly reliable shovels, it is made of steel and has a polypropylene lining. The shovels of the Sibrtech trademark have a strong handle securely attached to the bayonet with a double joint (welding + steel riveting). Moreover, it moves away at an ergonomic angle, like the so-called "American women" - working with them is much more comfortable than with a conventional straight shovel. After bending, the super-elastic blade returns its shape without permanent deformation, so that it will not break in heavy soil.

A good sturdy shovel is a great tool for harvesting potatoes. It would seem that there are some pluses. However, some gardeners say a categorical "no" to this tool, explaining this by the fact that the blade often cuts the tubers, and they become unsuitable for storage.

Pitchfork

Proponents believe that when using this tool, digging is easier - the earth wakes up between the teeth. The potato nest is easier to remove completely to the surface. These are undoubtedly pluses. Opponents say that a tuber (or even a boot!) Is pricked with a pitchfork no less often than it is damaged with a shovel. But the pierced potato cannot be stored at all - it immediately begins to rot, while the cut with a bayonet dries up quite quickly and such a "wounded" person will lie down for a while.

In any case, if you settled on, then it is advisable to choose them with 4 teeth, which should be flat. And gardeners, especially talented for invention, adapt crushed stone forks for digging potatoes, which have more teeth, and they are located more often. They assure that it is convenient!

So, the potatoes are ready for harvesting, the tool is selected, you can start. Listen to some of the recommendations of seasoned gardeners before starting work.

1. If you have a walk-behind tractor equipped with a potato digger, then before starting to dig it you must mow the tops... Otherwise, it will interfere with the operation of the equipment, or even injure the tubers. When using a shovel or pitchfork, mowing "tops" is optional, especially if they are thoroughly wilted. If the time has come, and the tops are still fresh, removing them, we accelerate the ripening of the potatoes. And, undoubtedly, it is obligatory to be mowed, removed and burned greens, touched by diseases.

2. In case of disappointing forecasts, they dig in the rain (but not in the pouring one). Then in advance you need prepare the room for drying harvested potatoes.

3. If the weather favors, then it is better to let the newly dug tubers lie right in the garden for about 3 hours - due to this, the skin will coarsen a little. These potatoes keep better.

4. When digging with a mini tractor don't go row by row, better in one. Otherwise, one of the wheels will move on the plowed land, and the other on dense, which is very inconvenient.

5. Dress thoroughly to clothes covered all parts of the body... Don't forget to apply horseflies too. A hat with a brim or at least a cap on your head will also come in handy.

6. Whoever digs should stand back to the sun - so he will see what he is doing.

7. Going to the potato plantation, do not skimp on bags - in the work should be immediately 4. In the first, put off planting material for the next year - healthy tubers from the most fertile nests. Give the second one for large and medium potatoes, in the third one put small change weighing 40-50 g. The fourth bag is for damaged specimens, which will go directly to food or livestock feed.

8. After harvesting, do not be lazy remove all plant residues and fertilize the soil... Potatoes take up a huge amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus compounds.