Mineral fertilizers in the fall in the potato garden. Fertilizer for potatoes in autumn

In almost every garden, a place of honor is reserved for planting potatoes, aptly nicknamed by the people as the second bread. Grow your own juicy tubers and provide them for your family winter period- the task is easy to accomplish, but subject to following all the recommendations of agricultural technicians. One of important points In the cultivation of nightshade root crops, it is necessary to fertilize the potatoes and fertilize the beds throughout the entire growing season. How to properly fertilize potato plantings to increase the tubers collected from your own plot?

Preparing the soil in autumn or spring

According to reviews from experienced vegetable growers, preparing and filling the plot allocated for potatoes in the fall on loam and sandy loam with mature compost or rotted manure (from one to four buckets, depending on the initial indicators of soil fertility) almost doubles the yield of tubers. In addition to organic matter, in the fall, when digging, phosphorus-potassium mineral compounds are embedded into the soil, for example, double superphosphate (25 g/sq. meter) and potassium chloride (15 g/sq. meter), as well as plant ash (200-300 g/sq. meter).

On sandy soils, fertilizers for potatoes are applied only during spring digging, and not in the fall, since all nutritional components are washed out over the winter with sediment and melt water.

Adding 2-3 buckets of compost or composted peat-manure mixture makes the soil more moisture-retentive and provides the tubers with all the necessary compounds. Additionally when pre-sowing preparation sandy soils need to be added:

ammonium nitrate (20 g/sq. meter);
double superphosphate (25 g square meter);
potassium magnesia (20 g/sq. meter).

It is contraindicated to apply fresh farm animal manure to any nightshade crops, including potatoes. The active components of undecomposed organic matter lead not only to a decrease in yield and crop diseases (scab, rot, black leg, late blight, cercospora blight, etc.), but also to a deterioration in the quality of root crops.

Feeding in the budding and flowering phase with organic and mineral compounds

Lands filled with organic matter and mineral fertilizers provide potatoes with all the necessary nutrients. However, fertilizing during the budding period can increase the crop yield by almost 25%. Preparation before loosening and hilling potato bushes: in the rows, retreating 6 cm from the stems, scatter a complex composition of superphosphate, potassium sulfate and urea (1:1:1), using 9 grams of fertilizer for each plant. It is also possible to fertilize with nitrophoska at the rate of (10 g/bush).

Gardeners who do not use mineral fertilizers on their land need high-quality humus for fertilizing at the rate of 2 full handfuls for each bush and plant ashes (pre-mix with fertile soil 1:1). Potatoes respond well to the application of dry bird droppings or granulated humus, which are currently not difficult to purchase in an online store or specialized garden market.

A second feeding of potatoes is necessary in cases of slow development of the above-ground parts. In this way, the plants signal to the gardener about the deficiency of potassium components in the soil. Preparation for flowering: during the beginning of flowering, plantings are fertilized with a solution of potassium sulfate (30 grams of composition per standard bucket of water), spending 1 liter per square meter. meter of beds. After watering with fertilizer, hill up the bushes. These actions are needed!

Remember that a lack of potassium during the formation of tubers leads to the fact that the pulp becomes dark and the quality of the crop deteriorates sharply.

Foliar feeding of potato plantings

After the first flowers appear on the potato beds, it is recommended to dust the plantings daily with sifted ash, after wetting the tops with moisture, and preferably early in the morning, while there is still dew on the leaves. Pollination with ash is not only biological foliar feeding and providing the above-ground parts of plants with additional portions of microelements, but also protection from the Colorado potato beetle.

Foliar feeding of potatoes, carried out in the budding and flowering phase of potato plantings, increases the crop yield due to the outflow of nutrients from the tops to the tubers. Single spraying nutrient solution(dilute 20 grams of superphosphate in 10 liters of warm water, let it brew for 48 hours, use a liter of the composition per 10 square meters of planting) will increase the harvested harvest to 11%, as well as increase the content of starchy substances in root crops to 1%.

Foliar feeding with ammonium nitrate or urea (20 grams of fertilizer per bucket of water) will help eliminate the deficiency of nitrogen compounds in the soil, which is manifested by yellowing of the tops and slower development of the above-ground parts of the bushes. It is better to spray potato bushes in the budding-flowering phase. In addition to nitrogen fertilizing, potatoes are responsive to foliar irrigation with a solution of microfertilizers with microelements.

Experienced gardeners recommend mowing the tops 8-9 days before harvesting potatoes. This simple agricultural technique allows you to increase the density of the skin of root crops and its resistance to damage, and also significantly reduces the risk of developing fungal diseases, especially late blight.

Happy potato harvest to you! It’s better to work hard during the growing season of the potato plantation so that you can enjoy it in winter delicious dishes from your favorite potatoes.

Organic fertilizers can increase potato yields several times (depending on the previous depletion of the soil).

Some gardeners reported that the application of well-rotted manure made it possible to obtain 10 buckets of harvest from one planted bucket. And this is in the same areas where for many years the yield did not exceed a ratio of 3:1. Fertilizers for potatoes must be applied in accordance with agrotechnical instructions, excerpts from which are given below.

Terms, methods and rates of application

Autumn feeding

You can fertilize the soil for future planting of potatoes both in the fall and in the spring. But the types of fertilizers applied in the fall differ from those in the spring. To apply organic fertilizers for potatoes in the fall, it is recommended to use rotted manure or compost.

Such advance introduction of organic matter has two advantages. Firstly, precious spring time is saved, when there is a lot to do. Secondly, over the winter the organic matter will rot even more, which will contribute to better absorption of nutrients by young tubers. Agronomists recommend adding organic matter in an amount of 5 - 10 kg per 1 sq.m. Manure is applied before plowing, spreading it evenly over the site. In autumn, potassium sulfate and double superphosphate can be applied:

Recommended rate of application of potassium sulfate for potatoes: 2 kg per hundred square meters (plot 10 m x 10 m). Recommended rate of application of double superphosphate for potatoes: 1 kg per hundred square meters (plot 10 m x 10 m).

Another method of increasing soil fertility in a potato plot is to sow green manure before winter, such as winter vetch. This type of green fertilizer accumulates both nitrogen and essential microelements in young shoots. Other types of sederats are peas, clover, annual lupine and sainfoin. Before planting potatoes, they are simply plowed into the soil.

Spring feeding

Fertilizing potatoes when planting with mineral fertilizers is carried out in compliance with the following proportions:

Fertilizing potatoes with potassium sulfate: 2 kg per sq.m. Fertilizing with double superphosphate: 1 kg per sq.m. Fertilizing the soil for potatoes with ammonium nitrate before planting: 1 kg per sq.m. Fertilizing the soil with ash: 5 kg per sq.m. Fertilizing the soil for potatoes with complex mineral fertilizer. It is recommended to apply complex fertilizers for potatoes in the following proportions. Nitrophoska: 5 kg per hundred square meters. Nitroammophoska: 3 kg per hundred square meters (approximately 1 teaspoon per hole).

Fertilizing potatoes when the tops reach a height of 10 - 12 cm can be done using liquid fertilizers. To prepare them, you need to dilute 30 g of potassium fertilizers, 30 g of nitrogen fertilizers and 60 g of phosphorus fertilizers in 1 bucket. Usually this feeding coincides with the first hilling. But you need to try to ensure that the solution does not get on the green tops.

Chicken manure - as fertilizer for potatoes

This type of organic fertilizer is famous for its concentration and rapid effect on potato growth. But in fresh it cannot be used. The plants will get severely burned. To prepare chicken manure for use, it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:15 and infused for several days in a warm place. When watering with this liquid, it is recommended to use 1 liter of infusion per bush.

Cautions

Don't overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers. Potatoes really need them during the growing season, but if you significantly increase the recommended rates, then all the growth energy will be transferred green leaves, and not root crops. If you exceed the norm several times, then instead of normal potato tops you will see tops the size of a sunflower.

How to fertilize the soil for potatoes

For a good potato harvest, good soil preparation is necessary, namely the addition of organic and mineral fertilizers.As soon as potato seedlings appear above the surface of the ground, they begin to absorb nutrients from the soil, as the supply of food in the tubers is running out. Half of the nutrients are consumed by potatoes during the flowering period, then consumption activity decreases. So what substances in the soil determine the potato yield.

Nitrogen and potassium affect the mass of tubers, and phosphoric acid is responsible for their quantity. That is, if there is a lack of the first substances, the potatoes will be medium-sized, and if there is a lack of phosphorus, the number of tubers will decrease, but the weight will remain the same.

That is why when growing seed potatoes reduce the dose of nitrogen fertilizers, and increase phosphorus ones. In addition to root nutrition, it is also important to feed carbon through the leaves of the plant (absorption carbon dioxide from the air). The increase in carbon dioxide in the ground layer of air is provided by microorganisms that decompose soil organic matter.

Therefore, the richer the soil is in humus, the more microorganisms there are in it and, accordingly, a greater amount of carbon dioxide is released and the more effective the carbon nutrition of the plant. Manure, humus, compost, and bird droppings play a big role in obtaining a high potato yield. They contain all the nutrients necessary for plant development: potassium, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and trace elements.

They enrich the soil with beneficial microorganisms that convert nutrients inaccessible to plants into a form that is digestible for them. With the systematic application of organic fertilizers to heavy soil, it becomes loose and structural from year to year, which facilitates better penetration of moisture and air to the roots of plants. Light soils, thanks to the enrichment of organic matter, better absorb and retain moisture. On 1 square meter area, on average 5-10 kg of organic fertilizers are applied.

If this is done in the fall, then you can add manure, humus, compost, etc. If you want to fertilize the soil in the spring, then you need to take manure that has already rotted; fresh is not suitable. If there is not much humus or rotted manure, then you can apply it directly to the holes right when planting potatoes.

150-200 g of rotted manure is placed at the bottom of the hole, then lightly sprinkled with earth and a tablespoon of ash is added there. If there is bird droppings, you can add 10 grams to the hole.

The effect of manure as a fertilizer in the soil lasts for several years. If no organic matter was added during planting, you can fertilize the plant under the bush. Feeding is carried out, for example, with mullein diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, and a tablespoon of superphosphate is added per 10 liters.

Chicken manure is very rich in nitrogen; you can also feed it to potatoes. To do this, dilute it in a ratio of 1:20 and infuse for 24 hours. It is advisable to fertilize with nitrogen when the plant height is about 8-10 cm.

Fertilizing with potassium is carried out during the period from planting until the tops are closed. Some gardeners do not use any fertilizers at all, but grow green manure before potatoes. Take and sow plantings with potatoes with seeds, for example, white mustard or oats.

The crops sprout in a sort of even mat. And when the time comes for the first hilling of potatoes, they cut off the upper part of this “mat” with a hoe, leaving the roots underground. The roots, when overheated, provide food to the potato roots and looseness to the soil.

The general meaning is this. You can, of course, try it on a small plot, and what if the potatoes really turn out larger and tastier, as the pioneers of this method say. But until you check it yourself, you won’t believe it - we’ll try it. Do you fertilize the soil for potatoes?

Do you plant anything with the potatoes? Please share your experience in the comments.

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Fertilizers for potatoes when planting for growth

For the growth and proper development of potatoes, a lot of effort is required; it is known that this type of crop is very demanding. Potatoes require a fairly high amount of nutrients, and it is necessary to take into account the stages of plant development when it most needs one or another feeding.

You cannot apply fertilizer once and expect a good yield. It is important to know what kind of fertilizer to apply when planting potatoes, and what fertilizers are needed for potatoes after planting, and also whether to apply fertilizers for potatoes before planting. Any novice farmer sooner or later asks the questions, “Are any fertilizers needed before plowing the field and is there a need to use fertilizers for potatoes when planting in the country?” The best fertilizers for potatoes when planting. As before, they are rotted manure, ash, bone meal, peat manure compost, ammonium nitrate, urea (urea), granulated superphosphate and some complex mineral complex fertilizers, such as nitrophoska, potato kemira.

On acidic soil, it is recommended to add phosphate rock along with superphosphate. Fertilizer is applied when planting potatoes, locally, that is, directly into the holes and rows, strictly in the required proportion; the same rules apply to fertilizer for potatoes before planting. Ready-made mineral fertilizers for potatoes when planting must be balanced, it should be remembered that one-sided adding mineral fertilizer will not solve all problems, this especially applies to initial period cultural development.

For example, excess nitrogen prevents good tuber formation and potatoes “go” into the tops, so the balance of minerals and trace elements is very important. Organic fertilizers for potatoes during planting can improve the characteristics of the soil.

These include air, water and thermal properties of the soil, on which the development and growth processes of potatoes directly depend. Fertilizers for potatoes after planting. As a rule, after potatoes sprout, they need fertilizing.

In this regard, water-soluble nitrogen and potassium fertilizers are good. Potatoes will give excellent results if you fertilize them with fertilizers containing microelements and phosphorus fertilizers. If there is a deterioration in growth, it is recommended to water the potatoes with infusions of bird droppings or mullein.

Water the soil around the bushes with a liquid solution, but you need to make sure that the solution does not get on the tops. More “mature” potatoes, if there are no deviations in development, need feeding no more than twice a season. Fertilizers for potatoes for growth. If there is a lag in the growth of the plant, then it is lacking either nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus and sulfur.

Based on this, you should apply fertilizers for potatoes for growth with microminerals, as well as complex complex fertilizers that stimulate vegetation processes. The choice of fertilizer for potatoes when planting in the country is simple, it all depends on the condition and type of soil. To prepare the soil, the area is dug up in the fall, if the soil is acidic, lime is added. The site is left until the spring season; in the earliest period of spring, mineral and organic fertilizers and only then the plot is dug up again. Mineral and organic fertilizers are also used as fertilizer for potatoes before plowing the field, and in fairly high doses.

Video: growing potatoes - seminar " Good harvest at minimal cost"

One of the most important food crops in domestic agriculture is potatoes. It is grown in large quantities throughout the country. Land fertility and climate in different regions noticeably different.

Comfortable growing conditions are not available everywhere, but using potato fertilizers, you can achieve high yields in any area and on any soil. During the growing season, one plant consumes up to 100 g of potassium, 20 g of phosphorus and 50 g of nitrogen.

Fertilizers for potatoes must be applied in much larger volumes than they consume, since some useful substances does not reach the plant. Useful macro- and microelements are stolen by weeds, and some of them dissolve in the soil complex and are removed along with evaporating moisture.

Autumn preparation of a field for potatoes

Potatoes need fertilizers, which are applied both when preparing the soil for planting and throughout the growing season. Most often, fertilizers for potatoes are combined, combining organic matter and agrochemicals. General recommendations for autumn application are: per 1 sq.m. soil take 5-7 buckets of humus (or fresh manure, it will rot over the winter).

At the same time, mineral fertilizers are used. Superphosphate, which has a long period of transfer of useful substances into the soil complex, is traditionally applied in the fall, about 30 g per m2.

Phosphorus from this fatty acid will have time to transform into a form accessible to plants by spring. Potassium sulfate is added along with phosphorus, at the rate of 15 g per 1 sq.m. For fertilizer, you can use only agrochemicals, without organic matter.

This is usually done on soils infected with pests or pathogenic microflora, for which manure is a favorable habitat. In the fall, in this case, you can use double superphosphate and potassium sulfate in a 1:2 ratio, since potatoes consume potassium fertilizers in a larger volume. After harvesting the tops, green manure can be planted on the potato field.

But not all. Lupine, for example, won’t even have time to ascend, and he won’t even want to, he’s not too fond of low temperatures. And growing white mustard is an ideal option. It will take three weeks to form a sufficient amount of vegetative mass.

With the onset of cold weather, green manure will fall down on its own, and in the spring they can be plowed together with the soil. When the site is prepared in autumn period, there is an opportunity to do a deep digging of the soil, it is still loose after harvesting the potatoes, it has not had time to compact. If the soil will be processed with a tractor, it must be plowed and cultivated.

When using a walk-behind tractor, the area is walked twice if the soil is clayey, and once if it is sandy. Manual digging is carried out to the full depth of the shovel bayonet.

There is no need to break up large clods - there is a greater chance that cold air will get to the roots of the weeds, and they will freeze. If the soil on the site is acidic, then in the fall you can begin to restore its normal balance. For this, dolomite flour, lime or ash is used.

Application rate – 200 g per 1 sq.m. You can tell that the pH has changed by the appearance of sorrel and moss in the beds, as well as by the color of the soil, which turns blue when it sours.

Spring feeding

Potatoes cannot stand stagnation melt water, and needs good drainage, so the first task that needs to be solved in the spring, when preparing a site for planting, is to ensure drainage excess moisture. For this purpose, drainage ditches are organized, and the site itself, if possible, is located on a hill.

If the groundwater level remains high, when planting potatoes, ridges or ridges are formed, on top of which they are planted. The most important element for spring plant nutrition is nitrogen.

It is found in manure in huge quantities, which makes this organic compound the best fertilizer for potatoes. But the greatest increase in yield is obtained with the combined use of organic and mineral fertilizers. There are many methods for their combined application, some of them are presented below. The dosage is calculated for 1 sq.m. soil:

1 bucket of humus, 1 glass of ash, 3 tbsp. nitrophoska; 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of potassium sulfate, add this mixture after plowing along with green manure; Peat manure (or compost), 20-30 g of nitrophoska plus inter-row fertilizing with ammonium nitrate (20 g) and potassium sulfate (20 g). 7-10 kg of humus mixed with ammonium nitrate (20 g), potassium sulfate (20 g), superphosphate 30-40 g, dolomite flour - 450 g. If there is no organic matter, you can use fertilizers without additional components, for example, nitrophoska - 5 kg per hundred square meters, or nitroammophoska - 3 kg per hundred square meters.

When using agrochemicals together with manure, it should be taken into account that for early potato varieties it is necessary to apply more fertilizer than for late ones. Varieties with a short growing season simply do not have time to take all the necessary substances from organic matter.

Then mineral fertilizers come to the rescue, they act much faster and give necessary nutrition in full. Microfertilizers, for example, molybdenum or copper, can be included in potato fertilizing, and boron fertilizers are used on soils containing lime. They help absorb essential nutrients and “polish” their effect on the plant’s body.

Fertilizer application during planting

It is believed that nested, targeted application of fertilizers when planting for each specific plant is much more useful and economical than scattering fertilizers across the field. Fertilizers can be applied directly into the hole. For example, if the choice fell on organic matter, then a 700 gram jar of dry humus and 5 tbsp are added to each well. ash (a handful that fits in the hand of an adult). And when using agrochemicals, you can follow the following scheme: put 1 tbsp in each hole. nitrophoska and 0.5 cups of bone meal. For local application when growing potatoes, you can use ready-made fertilizers, for example, Kemira. This mineral fertilizer is added to the holes during planting, in the quantities specified in the instructions for use.

Root feeding

This type of fertilizing is usually done before hilling the bushes, after light loosening, so that the components of the nutrient mixtures can more easily reach the roots of the plant. After applying fertilizers, you should always water the plantings abundantly.

Bird droppings. Despite the aggressiveness of this fertilizer, it can be used even fresh, diluted in a ratio of 1:10, and poured into the furrows between the rows of potatoes with this suspension. Urea. Dissolve a tablespoon of urea in 10 liters of water, and water the bushes at the root with this solution, after light loosening, but before the first hilling. The application rate for one plant is 0.5 l. Mullein. In a bucket of water (10 liters), dissolve a liter of fresh cow manure, ferment it, and pour it between the rows. Herbal infusion. Prepared from any type of weed growing on the site. Soak in a barrel of water, wait for the infusion to ferment, dilute until the color of weakly brewed tea is obtained, water the potatoes in the evening, along the perimeter of the hole. It is advisable not to touch the stem. It is best to carry out this fertilizing of potatoes in June, when the plant actively consumes nitrogen. Mineral fertilizers. For root feeding of potatoes, various agrochemicals are used, for example, a solution of ammonium nitrate (20 g per 10 liters of water). You can use a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in a 1:1:2 ratio, dissolving about 25 g of the mixture in 10 liters of water.

Foliar feeding

Throughout the growing season, potatoes need nutrients. Starter soil fertilization alone is not enough, since not all macro- and microelements reach the cultivated crop directly, a significant part of them is dispersed for various reasons. A good processing method that allows nutrition to be delivered directly to the plant itself is its foliar feeding.

It is best done after weeding the potatoes, in the evening, so as not to cause burns to the leaves. With this method of applying fertilizers, they enter the plant body much faster and activate metabolic processes in it, significantly stimulating its growth, development of the root system and, accordingly, significantly improving the quality and quantity of the crop. There are many types of potato feeding that have worked well. Below are some of them:

Urea

The following doses are recommended: water - 5 l, urea - 100 g, potassium monophosphate - 150 g, boric acid 5 g. Microelements can be included in the fertilizer - boron, copper, manganese, zinc and cobalt in minimal dosages, no more than 1 g per 10 l. The first fertilizing based on urea is carried out two weeks after the appearance of full shoots throughout the field. The working solution for it is diluted 2 times.

The following fertilizing is carried out with the same composition, but undiluted. Between them it is necessary to maintain an interval of two weeks. Treatment should be continued until the potatoes begin to flower.

Phosphorus

At the end of potato flowering, about a month before harvesting, foliar feeding (especially mid-season and late varieties) with superphosphate infusion (100 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of water - for spraying 10 square meters) gives good results. Phosphorus applied as a foliar fertilizer increases yield and at the same time increases the starchiness of potato tubers.

Humates

Plantings can begin to be treated from the appearance of the 4th leaf on the plant, with periods between treatments of 2 weeks. You can use, for example, Gumat+7, application rate - 3 liters per hundred square meters, working solution 2 g per 10 liters.

Nettle infusion

Potatoes need nitrogen, potassium, calcium, and iron, which are contained in this fertilizer. Preparing the infusion is very simple - the nettle stems along with the tops are filled with water and kept warm until completely fermented. After this, the working solution is filtered, diluted and treated with the potato field at intervals of 10 days.

Video: mineral nutrition of potatoes

Disease and pest control

In fact, this is far from the case. This plant has many diseases and pests. Potatoes need protection measures from various negative factors throughout the growing season.

Preventive measures

It is always better to prevent a problem than to heroically deal with its consequences later. Therefore, in the spring, special attention should be paid to protecting potatoes from common diseases and insect pests. The measures taken will greatly help preserve the harvest and improve its quality indicators.

various cases of potato scab and fungal diseases

Black holes appearing in potato tubers and growing in all directions are signs of dry rot. This is a fungal disease. Careful screening of suspicious seed material and its destruction helps stop its spread. The optimal temperature for storing potatoes is just above zero; by ensuring this regime, the development of most fungal diseases can be prevented.

Protection during the growing season

Nettle infusion helps against aphids and late blight. It is prepared in the same way as for foliar treatment of plantings. Foliar treatments of potatoes with nitrogen fertilizers, such as Kemira, nitrophoska, azofoska and others, in a low-concentration aqueous solution help fight nematodes. copper sulfate low concentration helps fight wireworms and late blight. Ground eggshells, flavored sunflower oil, helps fight such a malicious pest as the mole cricket. Also, this insect does not like many plant odors. You can plant chrysanthemums around the potato field and scatter pine needles between the rows. Getting rid of the Colorado potato beetle is not easy, but it is possible. To do this, spray the tops with an infusion of ash and wormwood. A glass of ash and 200 g of crushed wormwood are poured hot water and insist for several hours. This solution is used to treat plantations, the application rate is 10 kg of ash per hundred square meters.

You can also mulch potatoes using sawdust. Under them a favorable environment will be created for the breeding of insects that destroy Colorado potato beetles, for example, ladybugs.

Dealing with the consequences

Before harvesting potatoes, it is necessary to remove diseased bushes from the field and cut off the tops of healthy ones, otherwise fungal spores can fall from the stems onto the tubers, infecting them. Sick potatoes can be eaten by removing the affected areas. Seed material must be prepared for storage before harvesting. For a safe winter, potatoes need good drying in the sun and forced greening.

One of the most important food crops in domestic agriculture is potatoes. It is grown in large quantities throughout the country. Land fertility and climate differ markedly in different regions. Comfortable growing conditions are not available everywhere, but using potato fertilizers, you can achieve high yields in any area and on any soil.

During the growing season, one plant consumes up to 100 g of potassium, 20 g of phosphorus and 50 g of nitrogen. Fertilizers for potatoes must be applied in much larger volumes than they consume, since some of the nutrients do not reach the plant. Useful macro- and microelements are stolen by weeds, and some of them dissolve in the soil complex and are removed along with evaporating moisture.

Autumn preparation of a field for potatoes

Gardeners usually get the largest potato yields when they just start developing a plot, in the first years after its development. Virgin soil is rich in all the nutrients necessary for growing this root vegetable. But gradually the land is becoming poorer. Potatoes need fertilizing, which is applied both when preparing the soil for planting and throughout the growing season.

Most often, fertilizers for potatoes are combined, combining organic matter and agrochemicals.

General recommendations for autumn application are: per 1 sq.m. soil take 5-7 buckets of humus (or fresh manure, it will rot over the winter). At the same time, mineral fertilizers are used. , which has a long period of transfer of useful substances into the soil complex, is traditionally applied in the fall, about 30 g per sq. m. Phosphorus from this fatty acid will have time to transform into a form accessible to plants by spring. Potassium sulfate is added along with phosphorus at the rate of 15 g per 1 sq.m.

For fertilizer, you can use only agrochemicals, without organic matter. This is usually done on soils infected with pests or pathogenic microflora, for which manure is a favorable habitat. In the fall, in this case, you can use double superphosphate and potassium sulfate in a 1:2 ratio, since potatoes consume a larger volume.

After harvesting the tops, green manure can be planted in the potato field. But not all. Lupine, for example, will not even have time to ascend, and will not want to; he does not particularly like low temperatures. And cultivation is an ideal option. It will take three weeks to form a sufficient amount of vegetative mass. With the onset of cold weather, green manure will fall down on its own, and in the spring it will be possible to plow it up along with the soil.

When the site is being prepared in the autumn, it is possible to do a deep digging of the soil; it is still loose after harvesting the potatoes and has not had time to compact. If the soil will be processed with a tractor, it must be plowed and cultivated. When using a walk-behind tractor, the area is walked twice if the soil is clayey, and once if it is sandy. Manual digging is carried out to the full depth of the shovel bayonet. There is no need to break up large clods - there is a greater chance that cold air will get to the roots of the weeds and they will freeze.

If the soil on the site is acidic, then in the fall you can begin to restore its normal balance. For this, dolomite flour, lime or. Application rate – 200 g per 1 sq.m. You can tell that the pH has changed by the appearance of sorrel and moss in the beds, as well as by the color of the soil, which turns blue when it sours.

Spring feeding

Potatoes cannot tolerate stagnant melt water and need good drainage, so the first task that needs to be solved in the spring, when preparing the site for planting, is to ensure the removal of excess moisture. For this purpose, drainage ditches are organized, and the site itself, if possible, is located on a hill. If the groundwater level remains high, when planting potatoes, ridges or ridges are formed, on top of which they are planted.

The most important element for spring plant nutrition is nitrogen. It is found in manure in huge quantities, which makes this organic compound the best fertilizer for potatoes. But the greatest increase in yield is obtained with the combined use of organic and mineral fertilizers. There are many methods for their combined application, some of them are presented below. The dosage is calculated for 1 sq.m. soil:

1 bucket of humus, 1 glass of ash, 3 tbsp. nitrophoska;
20 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of potassium sulfate, add this mixture after plowing along with green manure;
Peat manure (or compost), 20-30 g of nitrophoska plus inter-row fertilizing with ammonium nitrate (20 g) and potassium sulfate (20 g).
7-10 kg of humus mixed with ammonium nitrate (20 g), potassium sulfate (20 g), superphosphate 30-40 g, dolomite flour - 450 g.
If there is no organic matter, you can use fertilizers without additional components, for example, nitrophoska - 5 kg per hundred square meters, or - 3 kg per hundred square meters.

Microfertilizers, for example, molybdenum or copper, can be included in potato feeding, and boron fertilizers are used on soils containing lime. They help absorb essential nutrients and “polish” their effect on the plant’s body.

Fertilizer application during planting

It is believed that nested, targeted application of fertilizing when planting for each specific plant is much more useful and economical than scattering fertilizers across the field.

Fertilizers can be applied directly into the hole. For example, if the choice fell on organic matter, then a 700 gram jar of dry humus and 5 tbsp are added to each well. ash (a handful that fits in the hand of an adult).

And when using agrochemicals, you can adhere to the following scheme: place 1 tbsp in each well. nitrophoska and 0.5 cups of bone meal.

For local application when growing potatoes, you can use ready-made fertilizers, for example, Kemira. This mineral fertilizer is added to the holes during planting, in the quantities specified in the instructions for use.

Root feeding

. Despite the aggressiveness of this fertilizer, it can be used even fresh, diluted in a ratio of 1:10, and poured into the furrows between the rows of potatoes with this suspension.
. Dissolve a tablespoon of urea in 10 liters of water, and water the bushes at the root with this solution, after light loosening, but before the first hilling. The application rate for one plant is 0.5 l.
. In a bucket of water (10 liters), dissolve a liter of fresh cow manure, ferment it, and pour it between the rows.
Herbal infusion. Prepared from any type of weed growing on the site. Soak in a barrel of water, wait for the infusion to ferment, dilute until the color of weakly brewed tea is obtained, water the potatoes in the evening, along the perimeter of the hole. It is advisable not to touch the stem. It is best to carry out this fertilizing of potatoes in June, when the plant actively consumes nitrogen.
Mineral fertilizers. For root feeding of potatoes, various agrochemicals are used, for example, a solution of ammonium nitrate (20 g per 10 liters of water). You can use a mixture of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in a ratio of 1:1:2, dissolving about 25 g of the mixture in 10 liters of water.

Foliar feeding

A good treatment method that allows you to deliver nutrition directly to the plant itself is foliar feeding. It is best done after weeding the potatoes, in the evening, so as not to cause burns to the leaves. With this method of applying fertilizers, they enter the plant body much faster and activate metabolic processes in it, significantly stimulating its growth, development of the root system and, accordingly, significantly improving the quality and quantity of the crop. There are many types of potato feeding that have worked well. Below are some of them:

Urea

The first fertilizing based on urea is carried out two weeks after the appearance of full shoots throughout the field. The working solution for it is diluted 2 times. The following fertilizing is carried out with the same composition, but undiluted. Between them it is necessary to maintain an interval of two weeks. Treatment should be continued until the potatoes begin to flower.

Phosphorus

Humates

Nettle infusion

Potatoes need nitrogen, potassium, calcium, and iron, which are contained in this fertilizer. Preparing the infusion is very simple - add water along with the tops and keep warm until completely fermented. After this, the working solution is filtered, diluted and treated with the potato field at intervals of 10 days.

Video: mineral nutrition of potatoes

Disease and pest control

When growing potatoes, many gardeners traditionally limit themselves to fighting the Colorado potato beetle, and when they find spots, ulcers, or rot on root crops, they say that the potato is sick. Many people do not delve into the reasons for what is happening, believing that this is the influence of weather factors. In fact, this is far from the case. This plant has many diseases and pests. Potatoes need protection measures from various negative factors throughout the growing season.

Preventive measures

Protection during the growing season

You can also mulch potatoes using sawdust. Under them a favorable environment will be created for the breeding of insects that destroy Colorado potato beetles, for example, ladybugs.

Dealing with the consequences

Before harvesting potatoes, it is necessary to remove diseased bushes from the field and cut off the tops of healthy ones, otherwise fungal spores can get from the stems to the tubers, infecting them.
Diseased potatoes can be eaten by removing the affected areas.
Seed material must be prepared before harvesting for storage. For a safe winter, potatoes need good drying in the sun and forced greening.

Video: growing potatoes - seminar “Good harvest at minimal cost”

After purchasing a plot of fertile land, problems with the harvest can be avoided for the first couple of years, since virgin soil is very good for root crops. However, after a few years, the quality of the harvest will completely depend on correctly applied fertilizing. Fertilizing the soil in the fall for potatoes is one of the first points in preparing the land for the next season.

The best fertilizer for potatoes in the fall

In most cases, a combination of organics and agrochemicals is considered preferable. In autumn, the fertilizer application scheme is as follows for potatoes:

from organic matter, choose manure or humus and add five buckets per square (there is no fundamental difference here, because during the winter fresh manure will also rot);
in the fall, the second component will be mineral additives, and for potatoes, preference is given to superphosphates, the calculation of fertilizers is approximately 30 g for each square (of all mineral fertilizers, superphosphates are chosen for potatoes, since in the fall they become part of the soil for a long time and by planting phosphorus is transformed into a material suitable for plant shape).

Sometimes in the fall, the soil fertilization scheme excludes the introduction of the first component for potatoes. This is true for lands where infestation has been identified or pests have been detected. In such soils, double superphosphates are used. They are mixed with potassium sulfate, the amount of which is exactly twice as much.

Often, fertilizer for potatoes in the fall is combined with growing. It is most advisable to grow white mustard on the plot after potatoes. After planting, you won’t have to do anything, but in the spring you will have to dig up the soil right with the green manure. It’s a good idea after harvesting, while the soil is still very loose, to even out its acid balance. Dolomite flour or ash is added to each square in the amount of 200 g.

When we plant potatoes in an area where there was previously virgin soil, the harvest is excellent without any fertilizers. But if we inherit a dacha from our grandmother, where active gardening with digging, weeding and other delights has been going on for forty years, you can’t just grow good potatoes.

For all its apparent simplicity, potatoes annually consume huge amount minerals. One plant “pulls” 50 grams of nitrogen, 100 grams of potassium and 20 grams of phosphorus from the soil per season. So it is necessary to feed, especially on poor soils. How to fertilize potatoes? When is the best time to fertilize potatoes? Let's find out...

By and large, we all understand that areas intended for growing potatoes can be fertilized both in the spring before planting and in the fall after harvesting. As they say, fertilize when it suits you.

Fertilizers for spring plowing

Before digging up a potato plot in the spring, the greatest effect comes from the combined use of organic and mineral fertilizers. Combinations may be different:

Option 1. 10 kilograms of humus, 20 grams of ammonium nitrate, 20 grams of potassium sulfate, 40 grams of superphosphate, 450 grams of dolomite flour per 1 square meter.

Option 2. 7 kilograms of compost, 30 grams of nitrophoska, 20 grams of potassium sulfate, 20 grams of ammonium nitrate per 1 square meter.

Option 3. 1 bucket of humus, 3 tablespoons of nitrophoska, 1 glass of ash per 1 square meter.

Option 4. If they grow on the site, then along with planting the green mass it is enough to add 20 grams of ammonium nitrate, 20 grams of potassium sulfate per 1 square meter.

Option 5. If there is a deficiency of organic matter, complex fertilizers are applied: nitrophoska at the rate of 5 kilograms per hundred square meters or nitroammophoska (3 kilograms per hundred square meters).

You can include microelements in the fertilizer mixture, for example: copper (0.5 grams of copper sulfate per 1 square meter) and molybdenum (0.1 grams of ammonium molybdate per 1 square meter). They help absorb essential macronutrients.

All fertilizers are usually applied superficially. They are simply scattered over the surface of the soil, and then buried to a depth of 20-25 centimeters when plowing, digging or loosening with a flat cutter.

Applying fertilizers to the hole during planting

The second method of applying fertilizers in the spring is even simpler and even more effective - all fertilizers are applied directly into the hole along with planting the tuber. Fertilizers can be applied to the planting hole, both organic and mineral.

Organic option: Five tablespoons of ash and a 700 gram jar of dry humus in each hole.

Mineral option: 1 tablespoon of nitrophoska in each well or 15-20 grams complex fertilizer"Kemira Potato".

Potato feeding in summer

If in the spring you were late with fertilizers, did not have time, or appearance It is clear to the plants that they do not have enough nutrition; fertilizing helps out. You can feed potatoes until mid-July; you shouldn’t wait any longer, otherwise the plants will gain excess green mass and “forget” about the tubers. Any fertilizing is best done after watering or rain.

Potato root feeding

First feeding carried out at the beginning of tops growth. It is needed if the potato stalks are thin and pale green.
Usually it is applied immediately before the first hilling.

The first feeding option. 1 teaspoon of urea (or ammonium nitrate) + 1.5 cups of humus per 1 linear meter of potato strip.
Second feeding option. 3 grams of superphosphate, 3 grams of potassium chloride or sulfate, 2 grams of urea or ammonium nitrate for each bush.
The third feeding option. 10 grams of nitrophoska per plant.
The fourth feeding option. 10 grams of dry bird droppings for each bush or watering the furrows between potato rows with an infusion of chicken droppings in a ratio of 1:10.
Fifth feeding option. Two handfuls of humus per bush.
Sixth feeding option. 1 tablespoon of urea per 10 liters of water. The consumption rate for one plant is 0.5 liters.
Seventh feeding option.
Eighth feeding option. 20 grams of ammonium nitrate per 10 liters of water. The consumption rate for a bush is 0.5 liters.
Ninth feeding option. 1 liter of mullein per 10 liters of water. This solution is watered between the rows.

As you can see, there are plenty of variations of the first fertilizing so that everyone can choose the most suitable one for their garden.

The first feeding option. 1 teaspoon of potassium sulfate and 3 tablespoons of ash per 1 linear meter of potato strip.
Second feeding option. 30 grams of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water per 10 square meters.
The third feeding option. Two handfuls of ash are mixed with the same amount of soil and added under each bush.

Third feeding done during flowering to accelerate the formation of tubers. To do this, dissolve 2 tablespoons of superphosphate and 1 glass of mullein in 10 liters of water. Apply 0.5 liters of the resulting solution to each bush.

Foliar feeding of potatoes

Some people like to water, while others prefer to spray. If you belong to the second group, then it is undoubtedly better for you to pay attention to foliar feeding, which are sprayed directly onto the leaves of plants. Such fertilizing delivers nutrients “to the address” faster, activating the plant’s metabolic processes.

Nitrogen-potassium fertilizing. For 5 liters of water take 100 grams of urea, 150 grams of potassium monophosphate, 5 grams boric acid. You can also add microelements - boron, copper, manganese, zinc and cobalt in a dosage of no more than 0.5 grams per 5 liters.

This feeding is carried out two weeks after germination. If necessary, repeat again. Potatoes can be sprayed with this solution before flowering at two-week intervals.

Supporters organic farming Spray potato plots with fermented infusion of nettles or solutions of gummates.

Phosphorus fertilizing. At the very end of potato flowering, to increase the yield and starchiness of the tubers, potato bushes are sprayed with a superphosphate extract: 20 grams of fertilizer are poured into 10 liters of warm water and left for two days, stirring occasionally. The consumption rate for this infusion is 1 liter per hundred square meters.

Fertilizing potato beds in the fall

Those who value every minute in spring prefer to fertilize the soil for potatoes in the fall. This option has quite a few advantages: some phosphorus fertilizers (for example, superphosphate) do not immediately transform into forms that are easily digestible for plants, but by spring they are transformed. You can’t put fresh manure directly into the hole either, but when applied in the fall, it will just have time to rot.

If manure and humus are difficult to manage, green fertilizer called green manure helps out. After harvesting, all beds are sown with green manure plants; the ideal option for potatoes is oilseed radish and others. Before the onset of cold weather, green manure will have time to gain enough green mass, and by the next season it will already end up in the soil as useful organic matter. By the way, for those who use (or want to try) no-till technology for growing potatoes, rye is perfect as a green manure for potatoes.