Step-by-step instructions: how to grow potatoes from seeds at home

Most gardeners grow potatoes from tubers year after year, buying planting material from the market or choosing from their own harvest. This method is simple and allows you to get a ready-to-harvest crop in a few months. However, he also has a drawback: after 5-7 years, the crop yield drops, and it often begins to hurt. This is due to the degeneration of the tubers after repeated planting.

The gardener has two ways out of this situation: buy tubers from the first harvest on the market or grow his own planting material from seeds. The second option is considered more reliable. How to grow potatoes from seeds at home - read on.

Advantages and disadvantages of growing potatoes from seed

Growing potatoes from seeds is a time-consuming and knowledge-intensive activity.... Indeed, in this case, the gardener will have to take care of young plants that are more capricious than, for example, tomatoes or peppers.

Despite this, some gardeners practice growing potatoes from seed. This method of cultivation has many advantages.:

1. Elite tubers are obtained from seeds. It is they who have the highest yield rates.
2. Growing potatoes from seeds is the most reliable way to get quality material for further cultivation.
3. Growing potatoes from seed is cheaper than buying elite tubers.
4. Not all varieties are marketed as tubers. If you take seeds from producers, you can grow absolutely any variety on your own.
5. Potatoes grown from seeds are highly resistant to diseases and are not afraid of late blight.
6. Seeds, unlike tubers, do not take up much space. They can be stored in any dry place in the apartment.

Attention! It is almost impossible to independently distinguish tubers from the first harvest. Unscrupulous sellers can sell 2-3 generation planting material at the price of elite tubers.

Many gardeners refuse to grow seed potatoes on their own. This is due to the disadvantages of this method.:

1. Potato seedlings are more difficult to care for than tomatoes or peppers. This culture is most susceptible to blackleg.
2. It will not be possible to get a large number of large tubers from seeds: vegetables are grown not for food, but planting material.
3. Potato seedlings are susceptible to disease, so they cannot be grown without the use of chemicals.
4. It is much easier to grow potatoes from tubers than from seeds.

Despite the presence of disadvantages, there are still more advantages. Indeed, a single cultivation of potatoes from seeds will provide the gardener with high-quality planting material for 4-6 years.

Rules for the collection and preparation of potato seeds

The easiest way to get quality potato tubers - buy seeds in a specialized store. Such planting material will definitely give strong and healthy plants that will delight you with a high yield. Manufacturers usually process their products in the factory, which makes it easier for gardeners. The package will contain all the information, as well as a photo and description of potato seeds.

Can use your own seeds for growing potatoes... To do this, choose the strongest plants in the garden that did not hurt during the summer season. At the end of summer, the berries formed on the bushes are collected. They choose the largest ones - they have the most planting material with good germination. Then they are folded into gauze bags and hung out in a warm, bright place for ripening.

When the berries brighten and become soft, seeds are extracted from them... The planting material is washed from the pulp and laid out in one layer to dry. Then it is folded into paper or cloth packaging. Potato seeds are stored for 2-4 years.

Advice!Potato seeds have low germination rate. Experienced summer residents harvest 2 times more planting material than they plan to get bushes.

Before sowing change must be prepared... This will accelerate their germination, increase germination and protect against infection.

Step by step instructions for preparing seeds:

1. Hardening... Dry planting material is stored at room temperature in the daytime. At night, it is removed to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. This procedure is carried out within 3 days.
2. Disinfection... The seeds are soaked for half an hour in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate or in hydrogen peroxide. After processing, washed.
3. Soak... The seeds are wrapped in cloth, placed in a deep container and poured with purified (or boiled water) at room temperature for 7 days. Some gardeners put seeds in a growth promoter on the last day of soaking.

Seedling method of growing potatoes

Young plants of seed-grown potatoes are sensitive to negative factors environment.

In most regions of Russia, sowing seeds directly into the ground is impossible. The seedling method is considered the most reliable.

Seeds for seedlings sown in the second half of March or early April... Experienced gardeners recommend that you familiarize yourself with the indicators of the lunar calendar before sowing seeds.

Potatoes are planted in light, nutritious, slightly acidic soil... A versatile seedling mix or tomato and pepper mix is ​​suitable.

Prepare the soil and independently:

1. Mix 2 parts of garden soil, 3 parts of peat, 1 part of sand and 1 part of humus.
2. A glass of ash is added to a bucket of such a mixture.
3. The resulting soil is disinfected by pouring a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate and "Fitosporin".

To get enough seedlings, sow a large number of seeds (not all of them will sprout). To do this, use wooden boxes or wide, but shallow plastic trays. Later, the seedlings are dived into individual peat or plastic pots with a volume of 300-500 ml. The containers must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water.

Important! To avoid stagnant water, make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of the pots. It is recommended to fill the bottom of the containers with a layer of disinfected drainage (crushed stone, shell rock, chipped ceramics).

How to sow seeds correctly:

• grooves 3 cm deep are made in the soil in rows at a distance of 7 cm from each other;
• seeds are laid out in the grooves with an interval of 3 cm;
• from above, the planting material is covered with sand;
• the soil is moistened from a spray bottle with water at room temperature;
• containers are covered with foil and placed in a warm, bright place.

The first shoots of potatoes appear after 9-14 days after landing.

Growing in peat tablets

The easiest way to grow potato seedlings is by sowing seeds in peat tablets... The substrate in them is nutritious in itself and does not require additional enrichment. Disinfection of such soil is also optional.

The main advantage of peat tablets is that you don't have to make a pick in the future.... When planting plants in a permanent place, seedlings do not have to be removed from containers:

1. Peat tablets are placed in deep containers with the opening down. After that, they are poured with boiling water.
2. When the liquid is absorbed, add some more boiling water.
3. Swollen blanks are turned upside down and placed in a deep container.
4. In each bag of peat, three 3-cm depressions are made. 1 seed is placed in them and covered with soil.
5. If several seeds germinate in one tablet, then one stronger plant is left. The stems of the remaining seedlings are pinched.

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Seedling care

To get healthy and strong seedlings, you need to properly care for them. Here are the basic rules:

1. The film is removed after emergence of seedlings. Seeds that have not sprouted 2 weeks after sowing the seeds will not sprout.
2. The soil is moisturized as it dries... The plants should be watered lightly so that water does not fall on the leaves. It is recommended to water young seedlings from a spray bottle or through a pallet.
3. Seedlings need 12 hours of daylight... If natural light is not enough, phytolamps are used. Such devices allow you to get unstretched strong seedlings.
4. When the seedlings are formed 2 real leaves, they dive (if the seeds were sown in boxes, and not in peat tablets). Plants are carefully removed from the ground using a conventional fork, taking care not to damage the roots, and transferred to individual containers. After that, the soil is moistened. The next watering is possible in 7 days.
5. When the first shoots appeared, seedlings are fertilized for the first time. It is watered with a product prepared from 5 liters of water and 5 g of ammonium nitrate. The second feeding is done with the same solution a week after the pick.
6. 2 weeks before disembarkation in open ground, seedlings begin to harden. By this time, the temperature outside should reach + 10-12 ° C. They are taken out onto the balcony or street, gradually increasing the time they spend in the fresh air.

Disembarkation to a permanent place

Depending on the region, seedlings are planted in a permanent place in early or mid-May. In the greenhouse, the pick is carried out 2 weeks earlier.:

1. The holes are dug in a checkerboard pattern. The distance between the rows is 70 cm, and between the holes is 20 cm.
2. A glass of humus, ash or long-acting granular fertilizers is poured into each hole.
3. Seedlings are planted in the recesses. It is buried in such a way that only 2 leaves remain on the surface.
4. The holes are covered with soil, which is compacted a little around the plants.
5. The soil is moistened with water at room temperature.

Until the seedlings get stronger, they cover it with a film at night.... This will reduce the risk of her death due to night frosts.

Advice! With the use of phytolamps, seed planting potatoes can be grown all year round (even in winter) in bags at home or in a heated greenhouse.

A seedless way to grow potatoes from seed

In the south of Russia, they practice sowing seeds directly into open ground. This method is considered less reliable, since not all planting material often germinates.

For potatoes choose the most illuminated area of ​​the garden... Groundwater in this place should not run near the surface.

The soil for planting is prepared from the end of summer.... It is dug up and cleaned of plant residues. To enrich the soil composition, green manure plants (lupine, rye, beans) are sown on the beds or 6 kg of humus are added for each 1 m². If the acidity of the soil is increased, additionally add 2 tbsp. ash for every 1 m².

Advice! Some summer residents bury the tops (without signs of disease) of last year's cultivated plants and weeds. This "trick" allows you to get rich soil without any extra effort.

In spring, the soil is dug up and cleaned of weeds... If siderates have been sown, they are buried in the ground and watered with a means that accelerates their decomposition ("Baikal").

For every 1 m² in spring, 25 g of superphosphate and 15 g of urea are added... The soil is watered with a hot solution of copper sulfate - 1 tbsp. l. on a bucket of water. Additionally, it is recommended to treat the soil with "Fitosporin" and "Trichodermin".This will reduce the likelihood of plant infections.

Note! The rules for choosing a garden site and preparing beds for potatoes also apply when picking seedlings into the ground.

The potato beds are formed in rows, keeping a distance of 70 cm between them... Seeds are sown at a distance of 20 cm from each other. Before planting, the soil is watered abundantly with warm water. Sowing is started when the liquid is completely absorbed.

The seeds are buried 1 cm... 3-4 seeds are sown for every 20 cm. After the emergence of 2 true leaves on the shoots, the excess plants are removed, leaving the strongest seedlings. Weak specimens do not pull out, but break off.

After sowing the seeds, the beds are covered film. It is harvested when shoots appear. Further, the plants are covered only with the threat of night frosts. Water them as the soil dries up. It is important to remove weeds around the seedlings.

Care for potatoes in the ground

Throughout the season culture needs to be looked after properly:

1. After the pick potatoes in the ground, it is gradually taught to abundant watering. The first 2-3 weeks, the soil is moistened in small portions every 2 days. Then make abundant watering once a week.
2. After every watering or precipitation, the soil is loosened and cleaned of weeds. This destroys the earth crust, which hinders air exchange and provokes root rot.
3. Until the potato bushes grow (before closing), it is recommended to mulch the beds with hay or humus.
4. For the entire summer season the potatoes are fed twice. The first time - 2 weeks after planting in open ground or the formation of 2 true leaves. To do this, use nitrophosphate (30 g per 1 bush), "Kemiru" (10 g for each bush) or silage (1 liter for each bush). The second time feeding is applied during the period of bud formation. Phosphate-potassium fertilizers are used.
5. Potatoes are spud 2 times... The first is when the plants reach a height of 15-20 cm. The second is after the formation of the first bud. The soil is raised 6 cm.
6. Colorado beetles and their larvae on the bushes are harvested by hand. Chemicals, for example, "Barrier", are also used to combat them.
7. During epidemics, as well as after prolonged precipitation, plants need preventive treatment. They are sprayed with antifungal drugs, for example, "Fitosporin".

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When to harvest

Harvest time varies by potato... Some varieties are ready for harvest in July, while others only in August or September.

Potatoes dig not with shovels, but with a pitchfork... This way the tubers will receive less damage. Harvesting is only possible in dry weather.

The harvested crop is sorted... All diseased and infected tubers are removed. Whole specimens are put in boxes and sent to the basement, previously fumigated with sulfur.

For reference. Tubers of potatoes grown from seeds in the first year are small (10-30 g). They are used as planting material for the next year, then the potatoes will turn out to be large, and the harvest is high.

Common mistakes and difficulties when growing

Growing potatoes from seeds, gardeners often face a number of difficulties. The list includes the main problems arising from the cultivation of this crop and ways to solve them:

1. Blackleg... This disease affects young plants. Often its appearance is associated with stagnant moisture. To prevent disease, containers with holes and a drainage layer at the bottom are used to grow seedlings.
2. Loss of turgor... The main reason is the hypothermia of the bushes. This happens in the case of watering plants with cold water or night frosts. Therefore, a liquid at room temperature is used to moisten the soil; at first, the bushes are covered with a film overnight.
3. Burns on the leaves... To reduce the risk of their occurrence, the beds are watered early in the morning or in the evening when the sun is inactive. The liquid is poured under the root, it should not get on the leaves.
4. Spreading tops and a small number of tubers. This is due to the introduction of a large amount of nitrogen fertilization. It is better not to use such fertilizers for potatoes. It is enough to add humus to the soil at the preparation stage.

Experienced farmers advise to increase the yield of seed potatoes it is useful to plant 2 plants in one hole at once.

Conclusion

Growing potatoes from seeds is a long and laborious process. Not every summer resident decides to spend his time on it. Therefore, purchased tubers are often used and they continue to be planted for ten years, despite a decrease in yield.

Meanwhile, following the advice and rules of care, even a novice summer resident can cope with growing their own elite tubers. The reward for the spent time will be large tubers with high immunity, which will give a rich harvest.