Ways to germinate potatoes before planting

Germination

If many years ago the germination of potatoes was not considered a necessary measure for preparing a vegetable crop for planting, today the experience of many gardeners shows that it is extremely necessary. Since the planting material is not getting better, and you still want to get a high-quality and rich harvest. In order to germinate potatoes (this is now much more convenient than getting seedlings from seeds), it is necessary to select only large specimens from bushes that have given a good harvest this season. Germination should be started about 30 - 40 days before planting. Then you can see the first shoots 8 - 10 days earlier, and the first crop of your favorite root crop will be harvested a couple of weeks earlier than the generally accepted dates.

Video "How to prepare potatoes for planting"

In the light

In order to properly germinate your favorite root crop in the light, you will need it directly, high-quality soil, as well as oxygen and a temperature of about 10-15 degrees. The place should be well lit, in it the tubers must be laid out in one layer. It is permissible to place them in several rows, but in this case, when a couple of weeks have passed, the layers are advised to be reversed. Tubers that have been stacked in one row will also need to be turned over. The room should have a good air circulation system, and it is recommended to alternate the germination of the root crop in the light with darkening.

How many days will this method of germination help to win? It can speed up the emergence of seedlings by several days, and after a month you will see new shoots. Potatoes can be laid out both indoors and outdoors. The main thing is that the sun's rays do not fall directly on it. It takes about 12 - 16 days to germinate tubers in this way, while there is an excellent opportunity to reject diseased units, as well as weak ones with filamentous processes, in order to leave only the most viable ones.

In polyethylene

Another way to germinate planting material (again, more convenient than planting seeds and waiting for seedlings to appear, as it once was) is to place potatoes in ordinary transparent bags, which can be done even in an apartment. For this case, even T-shirt bags are suitable, in which it is imperative to make holes with a diameter of about 1.5 cm at a distance of about 10 cm from each other so that the planting material can breathe. Inside it is necessary to place about 8 potatoes, after which the bag is tied and hung in a dry and bright room. Thus, the greenhouse effect occurs, and the first shoots can appear on the tubers quite quickly.

The main thing to remember is that, as with germination in the light, in this case, you should also avoid direct sunlight on the packages. And also it is necessary to ensure good ventilation in the room where the potatoes in polyethylene will be hung.It is also recommended to periodically turn over the bags with planting material so that the lighting hits them equally. And be careful when you start removing the tubers from the bag into the ground - if you don't do it carefully, you can damage the fragile sprouts.

A more solid version of this method is germination in plastic bags. This method is often used by experienced summer residents; for this, tubers are placed in a bag with holes, a layer of compost or peat is poured. When all these manipulations are done, the bag is placed in a warm room. What should be the temperature in it? Experts say that it is about 14 - 20 degrees. The maturation of the planting material with this method is about 15 - 18 days.

You can also enrich the filler of a polyethylene bag with a complex feeding at the rate of 30 grams of ammonium nitrate, 60 grams of superphosphate and 30 grams of potassium salt per 10 liters. An insignificant disadvantage of this method is that if low-quality tubers are found in a bag, it is not so easy to remove them, therefore, most often this procedure is left on the day when the tubers are planted in the ground.

In boxes

Germination can also be carried out well and quickly in boxes. In this case, not only the room itself is used in the case, where they will be located, but it is also possible to avoid damage to new shoots when the boxes are transported to the landing site. Flat boxes are best for placing tubers. On their bottom, it will be necessary to place about 3-4 cm of wet peat, after which the potatoes should be laid in such a way that they are close to each other. It is best to lay it in one row, placing it up on the side on which you will see more eyes. It is permissible not to use peat; for this, the tubers must be laid out in flat boxes in several layers. In this case, the first layer of potatoes should be laid more densely, the second can be less, in order to provide the planting material with good light access.

When all this is done, the boxes can be stacked more compactly - on top of each other. Since all modern drawers have handles of about 10 - 12 cm, a certain amount of space will definitely remain between them. This is very good, since air can penetrate to the tubers. The boxes should be changed every five days to get evenly germinated tubers.

The same is done with tubers for which peat was not used, along the way selecting and removing sick and damaged specimens. Good, viable tubers should ideally have short and fairly thick sprouts. To achieve this, germination is carried out indoors at a temperature of about 12-15 degrees.

How long does it take to germinate potatoes using this method? Approximately 6 weeks, which is why tubers begin to be laid in boxes in late February - early March. A few days after the first roots are visible on the tubers, the box should be spilled with a mixture consisting of 10 g of ammonium nitrate of the same amount of potassium chloride, 50 g of superphosphate, and dilute all these components in a bucket of clean plain water. Instead of such feeding, it is permissible to use a glass of wood ash in a bucket of water. Experts advise, at the same time, to dissolve several grams of boron and copper in a given volume of water. Two days after the commission of such a manipulation, another one is carried out. But if for the first watering a bucket of mixture for 50 kg of tubers is used, then for the second - for 80 kg.

In pots

This method is not particularly popular, but it is also sometimes used by summer residents and experienced gardeners. A feature of this method is the germination period, which begins about a month before planting.If once seedlings from seeds were grown in pots and cups, modern gardeners rather successfully germinate potatoes in convenient containers instead of seeds. First, the tubers are placed in sawdust, which must be moist, and after 10 days - in a clay pot, which already contains a layer of humus, coupled with garden soil. Usually this method of germination is used in the first half of March.

Do not forget to add a special "vegetable mixture" to the soil, which is rich in many vitamins and minerals. The pots must be installed near the windows. The roots may appear somewhere in the middle of April, after which the planting material in pots should be hardened - during the day they need to be taken out into the air, and brought back into the room at night. But in cases where the outside temperature drops below +10, this is not recommended. With this method, you can get a good healthy planting material, from which you can get a high-quality harvest in the future.

Video "Light germination of potatoes before planting"

How to properly light germinate seed potatoes? Everything is very simply described in this video.