Digging potatoes in the country. Shall we go dig potatoes? How easy and lossless to harvest the grown potato crop. Proper storage of potatoes

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

Currently, for the main tillage, many methods and techniques are advised:

Autumn tillage

spring processing

deep plowing

On medium-cultivated soddy-podzolic soils, deep non-moldboard plowing should be carried out before planting potatoes. Before this, it is necessary to carry out moldboard plowing under the fall to the depth of the arable layer. According to some reports, such tillage increases the yield of tubers by 15-30 centners per hectare, compared with deep tillage in autumn, under fall, since these soils are usually compacted in spring to their original state. Usually, on looser and cultivated soils, where the "ripening" of all soil layers occurs almost evenly and they are less compacted, it is better to carry out a deep plowing of plowing without moldboard after early spring harrowing. Before planting potatoes on these soils, pre-sowing cultivation is additionally carried out to the depth of planting tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry to a depth, processing is carried out in layers, i.e., first, after early spring harrowing, manure is covered with disc or share cultivators to a depth of 12-16 cm, and for 3-4 days before planting the tubers, when the soil "ripens" to the full depth, the plowing is plowed without a moldboard 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 higher, more enormous, and the Yenisei itself, which in September was still lightened to the bottom stone, will be taken from the bottom by sleepy water, and frost will come through the empty gardens, in our In the village comes a short but stormy time, the time of chopping cabbage.

Harvesting cabbage for the long Siberian winter, for large Chaldon families, is a thorough business, requiring annual preparation, and therefore I will tell the story of cabbage cutting thoroughly, from afar.

Potatoes in the gardens are dug up, dried and poured underground for food, underground for seeds and sale. Carrots, rutabaga, beets are also cut out, even radishes, which with their blunt snouts have broken through the edges of the ridges, are pulled out, and their piebald, portly bodies rest in the twilight of the basement on top of any other vegetable. People say about this vegetable somehow with a mockery: "What the devil is not joking, now the radish is also in the market! In the post - the tail of the radish!" But they cannot do without it, especially after parties and in case of illness, when it is necessary to strengthen the spirit and strength.

The bread is removed, the vegetables are in place, the tops are piled in heaps, the seed is crushed, the tangled lashes of peas and the gray bean bushes with black, evenly charred pods are thrown near the porch - for wiping the feet.

You carry shoes along the twisted threads of peas and involuntarily probe with your eyes a yellow heap turned into a washcloth, suddenly you see a pod, wrinkled, white, with hardened peas, and your heart will tremble, shrink. You wipe the pod on your pants, take it apart and sadly pour the nucleoli into your mouth and, while you chew them, you remember how you recently grazed in the garden on peas propped up with sticks, and how, together with you, bees and bumblebees examined the lilac and white often hung on the stems flowers, and like Sharik, an omnivorous dog, snooped in the pea thickets, biting off with his teeth and, savoryly munching, crushed the sugary pea buns.

Now you can't lure Sharik to a dirty, abandoned garden with a roll. One cabbage remained in the garden, scattered its green clothes over the ridges. Rain and dew poured into the sinuses of the forks, between the leaves, and the cabbage was already so drunk, she twisted such forks that she didn’t want anything else. In light splashes, in laziness and contentment, not afraid of small frosts, she waits in the wings, for the sake of which people from two bluish leaves of seedlings groomed her, gave her water to drink.

A cow is standing in the middle of the garden and either dozing or thinking long, trying to understand why people are so changeable in their treatment of her. Quite recently, as soon as she got into the garden, they, like a foreign enemy, drove her out and beat her with anything on the ridge, now they opened the gates - go as much as you want, eat.

At first she walked, even ran with her tail up, peeled off two forks of cabbage, ate green grass under the bird cherry tree, chewed on a piece of wood in the dressing room, then stopped and did not know what to do next. From melancholy, from bewilderment, whether the cow suddenly hoots, blissfully, and from all the gardens, because of the hemp and nettle between, the same perplexed cows, divorced from the team, will respond to her.

Chickens also fly from the barn to the garden during the day, walk along the furrows, peck lazily and peck at the long-weeded grass, but they sit more, spreading themselves, looking with annoyance at young cockerels, who puff up, stand on tiptoe, try voices, but it turns out they have shame but not cute chicken heart, ataman song of the bully rooster.

In such a dull, autumn time, I woke up in the morning from a rumble, thunder, hiss, and at first I couldn’t make out or see anything - steam swirled around the hut, in the kuti, like devils in the underworld, people rushed about with red-hot stones.

At first, I was even terrified. I climbed for the pipe awake. But then he remembered that it was late autumn in the yard and it was time to knock out barrels and tubs. Cabbage will be salted soon! The beauty!

Rolled off the stove and into the kut.

- Bab, and bub ... - chasing a mad, sweaty grandmother. - Bab, and Bab? ..

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

Soil preparation for potatoes

Will you start to breathe? March on the stove! ..

— I just wanted to ask when to remove the forks. Okay, sorry...

I climbed up the stove. Under the ceiling stuffy and parko. His face was covered with dampness - it was difficult to breathe. Grandmother casually slipped me a slice of bread, a mug of milk, on the stove.

“Eat and get out,” she commanded. - Tomorrow we will clean the cabbage, bless you, we will start.

He ate a pink salmon in two chews, drank milk in three sips, boots on his feet, a cap on his head, a little coat in his beret and out of the house. I groped my way along the kuti. Everywhere there are tubs, kegs, tubs covered with rugs. They are distant, roaring and seething. Hot stones are thrown into the water, trapped elements rage in barrels. It draws from them currant, heather, mint grass and bath heat.

Who opened the door there? shouted the grandmother from the stove.

At the mouth of the stove, the flames stirred, tossed, throwing crimson reflections on the grandmother's face.

On the street, I already choked on the air. Standing on the porch, puffing, shaking his shirt, so that a cold sweaty back was drenched. Under a canopy, grandfather in old shoe covers stood at the grindstone and turned the wheel with one hand, sharpening the ax with the other. It's awkward to twist and sharpen. Well, this is the first boyish duty - to turn the grindstone!

I hurried under the shed, grandfather without talking handed me a curved iron handle. At first I twisted briskly, red water was already splashing 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 slices and even knives for cutting cabbage, and, of course, grandfather would not miss the opportunity and would certainly correct all the axes. I already repented that I leaned out to turn the grindstone, and secretly hoped for an accident with the grindstone or some other deliverance from this exhausting work.

When my strength was very low and steam began to flow from me, and it was not I who was turning the grindstone, the grindstone was turning 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 save me or destroy me.

As far as possible, I smiled cheerfully and waited for him to quickly ask for a sharpener handle. But Sanka is a great ulcer! He first greeted his grandfather, talked to him about this and that, as if with an equal, and only after the grandfather nodded in my direction and grunted: "Substitute the worker." Sanka carelessly grabbed the pen from me, playfully twirled it, twirled, twirled, the whetstone hissed, water began to pour out of the trough, grandfather raised the ax:

- Easy, easy! I take it out sorry.

I was sitting on a chump. I was a little offended to see and hear all this.

- And we will soon chop the cabbage.

- I know. Katerina Petrovna is also evaporating our barrels. 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 so as not to go to school. He is reprimanded for his behavior and the teacher writes notes home. After reading the note, Aunt Vasenya blinked helplessly, then chased after Sanka with an iron stick. Uncle Levonty, if he was sober, showed his son his hands in cast-iron calluses, tried by his life example to convince his son how hard it is for an illiterate person to get bread. The drunken uncle Levontiy invariably asked Sanka the multiplication table:

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

And it is useless to prove to Uncle Levontiy that he is wrong, that five five is not thirty-five at all. Uncle Levonty was offended by any amendments, began to convince him that he was a positive, hard-working man, a sailor, went to different lands and got a little miserable just now, but before the captain of the ship shook hands with him, and some big man gave him a watch with a ringing for a prize, for good service. True, later they wrote him off the ship, and he drank his watch out of grief, but all the same he did not cease to be proud of himself.

Meanwhile, Sanka was slowly driving out of the house. Uncle Levonty, with claims to Aunt Vasena, turned around - he is raising children incorrectly, there is no order on the ship! Vasenya, with a claim to the contrary, and while the husband and wife were making noise at each other, they completely forgot what all the indignation came from, and Sanka's upbringing ended there.

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

And when we started harvesting cabbage, Sanka carried such bags on himself that his grandfather could not stand it, he reproached his grandmother:

- Exactly on the horse you bring down! Baby yet!

The word "child" in relation to Sanka somehow sounded unconvincing, the grandmother, of course, gave the grandfather an answer in the spirit that he never spared his children, strangers were always dearer to him, and that this convict and Zhigan, Sanka, he pampers more than her own grandson - me, that means - but she threw fewer forks into the bag. Sanka demanded to add a burden, the grandmother squinted in the direction of the grandfather:

- You're getting high! The child is still...

- Nishtya-a-ak! Come on, don't talk! - Impatiently moving his feet, Sanka chewed a white stalk with a strong crunch. Grandmother added a fork or two to him and pushed him in the back:

- Get on, get on! Will be.

Soil tillage with AKR-3 unit

Proper tillage is one of the most important conditions for obtaining a good harvest, since potatoes place high demands on soil ventilation and oxygen saturation.

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

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

The choice of 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 during autumn plowing to a depth of 27-30 cm or to the entire depth if the soil has a small arable horizon. However, one must be careful: plowing to a depth above the plow 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 non-moldboard tillage by 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 for the purpose of loosening the soil, incorporating crop residues, pests and pathogens, the field is peeled to a shallow depth 1-2 times, depending on the weediness.

The soil is stubbled with disc and ploughshare cultivators

After 2-3 weeks, you can plow on the fall. If soils with a deep humus horizon, then by 28-30 cm with an ordinary plow. Soddy-podzolic, gray forest and other soils (with an arable horizon 19-22 cm deep) are best plowed with a plow with a subsoiler and non-moldboard tools without turning the subsurface 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, plowing to full depth is carried out in mid-August and early September, and then, if the weather conditions allow and the weeds have time to germinate, cultivation or peeling is carried out.

Bog soils and cultivated peatlands are peeled 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 treated 1-2 times with disc cultivators.

On light sandy loamy soils, tillage of 14-16 cm can replace plowing 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 in autumn by the semi-fallow type. It is better to plow soddy-podzolic soils with a small humus horizon without moldboard (plows without mouldboards or plows with subsoilers) 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 floodplains, deep plowing is carried out in the spring, after the spring waters subside.

deep plowing

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

What fertilizer to apply in autumn under potatoes, how to prepare the soil?

Before planting potatoes on these soils, pre-sowing cultivation is additionally carried out to the depth of planting tubers. On poorly cultivated and heavy soddy-podzolic soils, which quickly compact and slowly dry to a depth, processing is carried out in layers, i.e., first, after early spring harrowing, manure is covered with disc or share cultivators to a depth of 12-16 cm, and for 3-4 days before planting the tubers, when the soil "ripens" to the full depth, the plowing is plowed without a moldboard to a depth of 28-30 cm.

Agrotechnical requirements

It is necessary to take into account the fact that future plowing should be carried out in the direction of planting. Often this happens the other way around: the landing 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 an even surface of arable land, it is recommended to use reversible plows. The layer must be turned over, crumbled into small lumps and laid without voids. The seams from all hulls must be the same size. The furrow must be straight.

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home comfort

When and how to quickly dig potatoes - effective methods and recommendations

Harvest time for potatoes depends on various factors. The selected variety, planting time, weather conditions are taken into account. When to dig potatoes? This question is asked by many farmers. There is no single answer to it.

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

The type of vegetable also affects the harvest time. When and how to dig potatoes of early ripening varieties? 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 immediately eaten or whether it will be left for winter storage.

Young potatoes are eaten, and for this they are dug at the end of July. If they plan to store it in the winter, then it is better to postpone the collection a little. In this case, the peel 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 garden 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 potato ripening:

• The bushes begin to dry, acquire yellow instead of green.
• The peel of the tuber becomes dense, thick, does not peel off, like a young one.
• The tubers contain the right 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 dug up, the tubers are easily separated from the root structures.

Do you 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 before a certain period, then the skin of such tubers is easily peeled off, and it will not be possible to save them for a long time.

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

• Vegetables can be damaged by insects or pathologies.
• Tubers dry out and lose weight.
• They can rot from overwatering.
• Vegetables can freeze in the event of cold weather.

Related videos

How to harvest?

How to quickly dig up potatoes is not an idle question. There are several ways to harvest vegetables. Often, garden tools are used, including a pitchfork and a shovel. Specialized agricultural technology is also popular.

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

The use of a walk-behind tractor

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

The equipment is prepared in advance. Check the rotation elements, lubricate with oil if necessary. Details 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 do not have to make uncomfortable maneuvers around the site.
• The intervals between rows are 70-80 cm, so the wheels of the walk-behind tractor will not damage the planting.
• When harvesting, it is worth using special nozzles to adjust the depth.
• The machine is pre-set to make plowing easy.
• For a uniform ride of the walk-behind tractor across the site, digging is carried out through the garden.

If you are worried about how to dig potatoes correctly and not get tired, a walk-behind tractor will definitely help in this difficult process.

With your own hands or 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 method of harvesting potatoes is as follows:

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

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

Sometimes gardeners use a manual potato digger.

Autumn soil fertilization for potatoes

This is a tool that is easy to assemble and disassemble. The potato digger has forks that work automatically. The tool is placed next to the bush, while the teeth go into the ground, the button is pressed with the foot. The teeth rise with the tubers, and the earth sinks down. Such a digger does not damage the tubers, since the digging is done from below and on the sides.

Before you begin to collect by hand, prepare a place for storage. When picking 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 potatoes by hand, without the use of technology.

How to prepare the land for plowing?

When growing potatoes, when and how to dig are not the only questions. Land preparation prior to planting is equally important and will also affect tuber collection patterns.

When planting, the earth is saturated with oxygen, using in-depth processing. So the root structures and fruits can better form.

There is different ways soil preparation for planting:

• Deep processing with cultivators and flat cutters.
• Plowing with a plow.
• Deep 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 preplant preparation of the land.

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

The most favorable soil for growing crops is loose, sandy. Well, if the soil is black earth, peat. If the earth has an acidic reaction, ash, sand and manure or compost are mixed into it before planting.

The way of cultivation 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 very oxidized.

Preplant soil preparation

To get a good harvest, you should saturate the earth with oxygen. Loosening will help in this direction. They need to be done on a dry day. The soil is dug up to 15 cm.

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

• the soil is dug up by 15-20 cm to saturate with oxygen and destroy pests;
• carry out the enrichment of the land with drugs from phytophthora;
• contribute minerals and organic matter;
• green manure plants are grown in the garden a year before planting.

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 clay soils are loosened twice - after drying and a day before planting potatoes.

By planting potatoes, the land is freed from weeds and insects. Apply fertilizer and level the surface.

To saturate the soil with minerals and organic matter, you can use the following options:

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

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

In autumn, autumn plowing of the soil is relevant. 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. You can feed with superphosphate and potassium sulfate. The tops must be collected and burned outside the garden.

Now it becomes clearer when and how to properly dig potatoes. There are some guidelines to keep in mind during this process. Then it will not be difficult to collect a decent potato crop.

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Archive number No. 36 (1090) dated September 1, 2015 - Household chores

TO YOUR EXPERIENCE

When to dig potatoes?

Opinions differ on when to dig potatoes. Some are sure that sure sign- death of the tops. Others warn: if the tubers are overexposed in the ground, rhizoctoniosis (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 part of the tops is green, and part is dead? Potato grower Valentina PETRENKO helped to figure it out.

Consider the landing period and the conditions of "life"

The formation of the crop, most often, ends with potatoes by the time the tops dry. If it has dried unevenly, part is still green, and part has turned yellow, this indicates that when planting potatoes, tubers were probably not selected according to varieties and ripening dates.

But even completely withered tops do not always indicate the ripening of potatoes. It can lie down with an excess of moisture or nitrogen. In this case, the upper part “looks out” powerful, and the tubers do not have time to fully ripen. The tops can turn black, affected by the fungus, and dry out. Here it is impossible to postpone harvesting - 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-season varieties can be harvested 90-100 days after planting, mid-late - 100-110 days, late - 120 days. However, potatoes can ripen earlier if they receive insufficient moisture during the growing season. Then the tops lie down early, but the harvest can upset - the tubers are small. And if the plant received too much organic fertilizer, the ripening time increases. By the way, due to an excess of organic matter, the content of nitrates in tubers increases, so they cannot 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 dense skin, start harvesting.

The abode of diseases - into the fire!

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

When and how to dig potatoes

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, diseases that have accumulated on tops over the summer will not move to potatoes.

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

It is desirable to harvest potatoes in dry, warm weather so that the tubers can ventilate and dry 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 up plants early in the morning, when the air that has cooled overnight is colder than the soil. You need to complete the harvest before the onset of stable frosts that damage the tubers.

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

Before storage - for rehabilitation

How to dig depends on the soil. On loose, processed, it is enough just to pull the remaining stumps, 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, spreading them out in a thin layer. During this time, it will dry out and receive the necessary charge of ultraviolet radiation, which will disinfect the tubers and prevent the development of diseases during storage.

It is better to immediately select planting material by choosing healthy medium-sized tubers from the best bushes. Set them aside without mixing varieties. Seed potatoes should preferably be kept in the light until they turn green. It will be better stored this way, and rodents will not covet it.

Dried potatoes must go through a “rehabilitation period” before being sent for storage. Carefully lay 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 a temperature not higher than 18 ° for two to four weeks. During this period, the peel of the tubers will become denser, and diseases, if any, will appear. After that, re-sort the potatoes, removing the infected and damaged ones, and put them in storage at a temperature not higher than 2-5 °.

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Alena DUDNIKOVA

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

• Mow haulm about a week before harvest. She claims that she should not be left on the field, because when digging up young potato tubers from the ground, phytophthora from the leaves can get on them. If you leave part of the potato on the seeds, then they will already have pathogens and next year the garden will be affected by phytophthora.
• 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 with a pitchfork, so as not to damage the tubers. Forks Drive the forks into the ground at a distance of about 15-20 cm from the base of the bush and gently turn the earth over. Then dig the ground from the edges of the hole, some tubers are there.

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

After you dig up the crop, plant green manure or winter rye in this area. This is done to improve the soil and so that weeds do not grow.

Preparing the soil for planting potatoes in autumn

In the spring, siderates need to be mowed and dig up the ground along with this green mass and roots.

About a week after digging, potatoes can be planted.

Please note that this procedure introduces a lot of nitrogen into the soil, so you do not need to add mineral nitrogen fertilizers to the soil.

When to dig new potatoes

It 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 already at the end of June. But she does not dig it, but carefully plunges her hands into the mound of earth near the potatoes, feels for the tubers there and pulls them out.

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

• she has already bloomed
• 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, to understand whether it is worth doing now or not. If the size of the tubers suits you, then feel free to dig potatoes, at least in order to eat young potatoes right now.

When to dig potatoes according to the lunar calendarin 2016

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

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

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

How to determine the cleaning time?

First of all, gardeners should understand that there is no exact 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 at what time the potatoes were planted in the ground. When planted in late April, harvest can be carried out as early as early August. According to statistics, the most favorable month for planting a crop is May. In this regard, the potato harvest may begin in late August or early September.

Be sure to take into account which varieties were used for cultivation in the current season. Early and late varieties can differ significantly in assembly time - from 4 to 6 weeks. Also, the timing will be influenced by how the owners looked after the site and 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 at the end of July, if the vegetables are immediately used for cooking, for example, young boiled potatoes. If the owners plan to store potatoes for a long time, then early picking should not be carried out in any case. The thing is that it will still have too thin a 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 starts to deteriorate, then you can stay for the winter without stocks and without preparations for the next season.

When growing potatoes 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 required terms are usually given on the packages. If, in the process of caring for the 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 reason to believe that the potato is ripening and is already at the last stage. When the tops have dried, a liter has fallen, then after a few days you can start digging.

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

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

In some cases, withered tops do not always indicate the ripening of potatoes. 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 a lot. To prevent this, you need to take care of the garden.

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

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

Another way to determine the stage of potato ripening is by peeling. If the peel is easy to wash and it is thin, then it is better to wait a little with cleaning.

Dig up one bush to test. If the peel is not yet ripe, then try in 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. Please note that young potatoes will have smaller fruit sizes.

Cleaning methods

Many summer residents are interested in how many potato digging methods exist. Several methods can be used during harvesting.

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

In large farms, it will be necessary to process much larger areas 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.
Ordinary physical work can significantly load the gardener's back. In this regard, if the area of ​​​​cultivation is very large, and you have access to special agricultural equipment, then it is better to use it.

Harvesting with this equipment can be carried out after you cut all the leaves on the surface. After a few days, you can get to work and dig up potatoes.

Having determined when to dig potatoes, you need to prepare the equipment. First of all, you need to pay attention to the state of the rotation elements. They must be well lubricated. The parts that will loosen the soil and help harvest the crop must be cleared of old hardened earth, clay and pebbles. If the sharp edges are dull, then a special sharpening will be required. 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 should 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 itself can drive into an adjacent landing, damaging the tubers;
• when harvesting, it is better to use a special attachment for the cultivator, choosing a certain depth for digging the earth;
• the walk-behind tractor must be set up so that it moves easily, then the tubers will rise to the surface;
• to facilitate the process of working with a cultivator, it is best to dig up potatoes through a row, otherwise one of the wheels of the equipment will move on plowed land, and the other on a trodden path.

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

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

When tops and weeds remain on the field after harvesting, they can be dried in the sun. After a few days, everything should be collected, and then buried in a compost pit. If, in the course 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 help to facilitate your work on harvesting potatoes.

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

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

Planting potatoes and growing them for most of the inhabitants of our country is a sacred matter. The end of summer - the beginning of autumn - the time of harvest, when 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 facilitate the process of digging potatoes, read our article. Today we’ll talk about how to properly and quickly dig potatoes.

When to dig potatoes

Each gardener must firmly understand that the process of final ripening, including potato tubers, is affected by a huge number of different factors. These are the features of the current season, the condition of the soil and the degree of infection with 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 potatoes around mid-August, right up to its end and beginning of September. This is the usual ripening period for the vast majority of the most different varieties potatoes.

Naturally, do not forget, and even better, when planting potato tubers in the soil in the spring, write down the varieties of what ripening period you are planting: early, medium or late, because the period at which your harvest begins will also depend on this. Don't think 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 one and a half months earlier than the late variety. In addition, take a look at your site: if you are a conscientious owner and weeded weeds on time, then perhaps your potatoes received the maximum amount nutrients from the soil, bypassing the missing competitors, and it can be dug up at least a couple of weeks earlier. And if there are so many weeds that the potato tops are not visible, then perhaps your potato is 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 potato harvesting, you should carefully monitor the forecast:

• harvesting should not be delayed if prolonged rains are expected: waterlogging of the soil provokes diseases of tubers, rot, worsens keeping quality during storage; digging potatoes with earth stuck to it is also not too easy and pleasant;
• the optimal air temperature for harvesting potatoes is not higher than +17 degrees, but not lower than +10: cold can cause blackening of 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 autumn, it is not recommended to dig potatoes in the morning, when the air that has cooled overnight is much colder than the soil that still stores summer heat;
• harvesting should be completed completely before the onset of persistent frosts, which can damage not only the tops, but also the tubers in the ground.

External signs of potato ripening

Potato belongs to 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 outward signs understand that the vegetable is ripe.

The main signs of ripening potatoes include:

• bushes dry up, wither and turn yellow;
• the peel of a dug potato becomes coarser, thicker and poorly peeled off (unlike young potatoes);
• the tubers have accumulated enough starch to survive the winter for a long time. This is easy to find out, you need to drop iodine on the pulp. If the flesh has turned lilac, then the potatoes are ready for storage;
• tubers are easily detached from the stems and roots when harvested.

How to dig potatoes correctly

Before starting the “potato work”, be sure to do a warm-up for the neck, back and lower back. It is these parts of our country body that can be significantly affected when digging potatoes. All kinds of tilts and turns of the body, sipping 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 brushes. You can also walk in place by raising your knees high.

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

Use a shovel or fork 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 preliminary undermining the bush.

Which tool is better to use, each gardener decides for himself. It is believed that a shovel damages tubers more often, but the cut left after it winds up faster and rots less often. It is more difficult to damage potatoes with a pitchfork, but the deep punctures that form 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 a manual potato digger. This 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 crops. The device is provided with forks that operate on the machine under a turn and give a grip angle of 30 cm. It is very simple to use the digger. Place it next to a potato bush so that the fork teeth go into the ground, and press the button with your foot. The tines will rise up along with the potatoes, and the soil will slide back between the tines. This digger will not injure the potatoes and cut off the fruits, since the digging is carried out from below and on the sides. A potato digger can also be used for another purpose - 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 one 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. Potatoes sick and damaged during digging should also be folded separately.

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After sorting, the potatoes are transported to a barn or garage, and poured onto a laid floor (you can lay a regular old bedspread). Only after 3-4 weeks the crop can be lowered into the cellar. Why? During the “rest”, tubers infected with some kind of disease will manifest themselves, and they can easily be identified and removed from the general heap. In addition, over the specified period of time, the potatoes will ripen, the peel will dry out and thicken, which will positively affect the storage of tubers in the cellar. Important: sufficient air humidity should be ensured in the storage and the optimum temperature should be maintained (15-18 ° C). Some summer residents during the "rehabilitation" period leave potatoes in boxes. And that's okay. The main thing is that all tubers have access to air. 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 always wash and dry them. They do this so that the potatoes are better stored in the cellar. In a way, they are right. After all, you must admit that all damages 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 impossible 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 this way, and draw our own conclusions about how well this potato storage secret works.

Potatoes are called our second bread for a reason. And its correct harvesting begins precisely with the correct digging, during which, out of ignorance, significant harm can be done to the crop.

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

Potato digging. © Sara

When to dig potatoes?

Each gardener must firmly understand that the process of final ripening, including potato tubers, is affected by a huge number of different factors. These are the features of the current season, and the condition of the soil, and the degree of infection with 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 potatoes around mid-August, right up to its end and beginning of September. This is the usual ripening period for the vast majority of various varieties of potatoes.

Naturally, do not forget, and even better, when planting potato tubers in the soil in the spring, write down the varieties of what ripening period you are planting: early, medium or late, because the period at which your harvest begins will also depend on this. Don't think 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 one and a half months earlier than the late variety.

In addition, take a look at your site: if you are a conscientious owner and weeded weeds in time, then perhaps your potatoes received the maximum amount of nutrients from the soil, bypassing the absent competitors, and you can dig it out at least a couple of weeks earlier. And if there are so many weeds that the potato tops are not visible, then perhaps your potato is 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 up potatoes, why choose a bush simpler and closer to the edge and dig it out entirely, inspect the tubers, the peel on them. If the tubers are easily separated, and the peel is dense on them, then it is quite possible to start digging up the entire potato.

Important! This applies to beginners who for the first time and independently seek to grow potatoes in their area. Often, due to inexperience and ignorance, they begin to dig up potatoes right at the height of summer. They get a good harvest, but such tubers have a thin peel, they boil quickly, that is, they are ready for immediate preparation, but they will not be stored for a long time.

Let's take a look at the top

If you don’t want to dig bushes, then take a look at the tops of potatoes: have they turned yellow, have they died. If this happens at the end of August, then the potato itself tells you that it is time to get it out of the soil, otherwise, the hour is uneven, frost will hit and the potato will become sweet.

It 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’s not the end of August now, but some kind of June. Why is this happening? This happens with gardeners who were too lazy to sort early varieties from medium and late ones and plant them in different plots.

AT this case you need to dig up that part of the potato, the tops of which have died and begun to dry out, and try not to touch the young tops, of course, if 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 to you for the future.

Phytophthora, which is not at the right time

By the way, by the time the potatoes are harvested, you can also see the following picture: some of the bushes have already died, the tops on them are clearly dead, and some are “biting” late blight. It has been noticed that such bushes may also have tubers affected by this dangerous fungal infection. And imagine what will happen if you dig up such bushes and place the affected potato tubers in storage along with healthy ones? True, nothing good: all or most of the crop may die.

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

Digging up a potato bush. © Arthur McWerter

Do I need to remove the tops when harvesting potatoes?

Disputes about the removal of tops before harvesting potatoes have not subsided so far. Personally, I firmly decided for myself that everything is good in moderation: the complete removal of the tops (to the level of the soil) will simply make it difficult to dig up potatoes later - you will have to look for the place where the bush was.

The second problem is the same phytophthora: when you mow down the entire potato tops, spread the infection throughout the area, and when you dig up the tubers, you will also plant the fungus in the soil - which is what the infection needs. In principle, the tops can be harmful, but on farms where potatoes are harvested by machines, hard tops can simply damage the tubers.

At home, I advise you to do this: first of all, we remove and destroy all living, but plants that are eaten by phytophthora. 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 will soon need to be removed from the soil, which means that you should stock up on a strong “crust”. After a week, you can start harvesting potatoes. By the way, healthy tops, devoid of phytophthora - this is a good compost.

Digging potatoes

First, choose the right day. It’s great if it’s hot and windy, if there wasn’t rain for a couple of days before and the same amount of weather forecasters don’t promise it. 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 boxes for storage and other inventory are needed. How to find out? A simple way: we dig up five potato bushes, select every single tuber from each, divide by five, we get the average yield from the bush, quite accurate.

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

When going out to harvest potatoes, I advise you to take four lots of bags, a pitchfork (if the soil is heavy for digging) and a shovel (if it will be easy for you to dig). You can also take a walk-behind tractor, but we will talk 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 batches of bags? It's simple, I advise immediately after digging potatoes to divide it into four batches. The first batch will be giant tubers, the largest, which you can either eat or leave for seeds. In the second bag we put potato tubers of normal sizes, up to 80-90 grams, in the third - tubers that are even smaller (40-50 g, no more), and finally, in the fourth - all the little things, cut off, pierced with forks, damaged tubers, which will go either for food right away, or for livestock feed.

Digging up the potato crop. © 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 advise taking an all-metal shovel, it is better to take one where there are slots in the body, the 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 clay with a shovel for no more than a couple of hours).

Pitchfork. Will is also desirable to have a pair. Take forks with four or five teeth, no more, so it is easier to reduce the risk of damage to potato tubers to a minimum. Be careful with pitchforks, especially when you stick 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 from digging with a shovel is, in fact, no different (although it’s easier for me personally to dig with a pitchfork, but that’s for everyone).

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

Cultivator. It's from the area modern technology, it is designed for those who have free funds and the ability to manage such equipment. The cultivator, in my opinion, is relevant if at least a hectare of land is planted with potatoes. A smaller area can be slowly dug by the three of us. When working with a cultivator, it is desirable to remove all potato tops, leaving nothing on the site. But the first thing to do is to dig out bushes infected with phytophthora with a pitchfork or a shovel, and at the same time tubers with it. Next, you need to wait a few days for the grass to subside and not interfere with work.

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

In order for working with a motor cultivator when digging potatoes to be a pleasure, and not 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 nodes should be adjusted so that they select the tubers, but do not throw them out with force to the surface.

From my own experience, I can say that when digging potatoes with a motor cultivator, you should not dig row after row, it is better to dig potatoes through one row, otherwise one wheel will always move on the plowed land, and the other on the compacted one, it’s 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 incomparably speeds it up. A couple of people behind the cultivator can also go and sort the tubers or do it later, when the work of the motor cultivator is completed, as we mentioned above.

Digging potatoes with a pitchfork. © Steve

Drying and storing potatoes

After harvesting all the potatoes, they must be dried before storage. For this, it is necessary to choose a sunny and preferably windy day, but you can’t pour out potatoes in an open and well-lit place: it can accumulate, albeit a little, the poison of solanine. The best option is a canopy located on the south side.

Potatoes can be dried by fractions, since it takes only 4-6 hours to dry. Each fraction after drying in one layer, with a turn to another barrel after two hours, must be placed in the cellar. The usual standard cellar provides for a depth of 2-3 meters, four walls, whitewashed 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 beat against each other and fall from a height of more than 10 cm, this can lead to negative consequences, cause anything, up to rot.

It is necessary to sort each game, as we did on the field. It is desirable that there is access to all potato fractions to check what condition they are in.

For the normal maintenance of potatoes in storage, it is necessary that the temperature in it be at a level of plus 2-3 degrees Celsius, 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 weeds 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 tell about when and how to dig potatoes.