How to get a rich harvest of early potatoes - the best varieties, the nuances of growing

Early potatoes! Who does not attract it in the market at the end of May - the beginning of June? Very expensive, but you need to take a few tubers in order to at least partially quench your thirst for this seductive gourmet.

Early potatoes today are loved by many gardeners. And their choice is completely justified, because young tubers are a real delicacy, in which the content of vitamins is 3 times higher than in old potatoes. And although it is rather troublesome to grow such a product, but as they say, the end justifies the means.

Features of early ripening potatoes

Early potato varieties are distinguished by their short growing season, which is 40-50 days. Early potatoes begin their active growth as soon as the ground temperature reaches 10 ° C. And after flowering, the harvest is ready for assembly.

Top Grades

1. Alyona - table potato variety, having a yield of 170 to 190 kg per one hundred square meters of land. Tubers of an oval form, light red color. Their weight is about 80-150 grams.
2. Luck - valued for its good keeping quality.She has a relatively high yield, about 1.5 kg from one bush. Nodules of an oval form, light yellow color, their weight is from 125 to 250 grams.
3. Karatop - high-yielding variety of early potatoes, from one weave can be collected up to 500 kg. The shape of yellow tubers is oblong-oval, weight about 130 grams. Resistant to diseases: late blight, cancer.
4. Kamensky - high yield, about 180 kg per hundred. Its red, elongated tubers are small, not more than 100 grams. Not afraid of viral diseases and the Colorado potato beetle.
5. Romano - unpretentious to the soil variety, hardy to drought. High yield - up to 430 kg per hundred. Tubers are oval, reddish, weighing 80-100 grams.
6. Gala - has a very high yield, up to 600 kg per hundred. The variety is well grown in many regions of Russia, unpretentious and resistant to diseases. Yellow, round tubers weighing from 70 to 120 grams.
7. Nevsky - the most popular variety of early potatoes. Productivity from 370 to 500 kg. Resistant to disease. It grows well in all conditions. It has very beautiful, round and smooth fruits of yellow color.
8. Red scarlett - high-yielding (up to 600 kg per hundred) grade. Suitable for almost all regions of Russia. Large fruits of red color with yellow flesh. A mass of potatoes from 80 to 110 grams.

The necessary conditions

For planting early potatoes and subsequent care they will need the following tools and materials:

• shovels;
• rake;
• hoe;
• sticks;
• string and marking line;
• polyethylene film;
• agrofibre.

1. To begin with, the soil must be carefully dug 20-25 cm deep.
2. After that, fertilize. Many gardeners prefer to use fresh manure, which over the winter pereperet and give the earth all the nutrients.
3. In mid-March, it is necessary to germinate the tubers of the early potato, selected for planting. To do this, they are placed in wooden boxes in a warm room with a temperature of +20 to 25 ° C.

   Planting can begin after the appearance of the first shoots on the tubers. As a rule, this occurs one month after the start of germination.

How to grow?

Early potatoes are grown in two ways: under plastic wrap and agrofibre. Cultivation methods are very similar to each other and differ only in some nuances. Consider step by step the main technologies of cultivation.

Under the agrofiber

1. Using a rake or hoes, carefully loosen the beds. The soil should be soft and loose, without lumps.
2. On one side of the garden, insert 2 sticks connected by string. On the other side also stick 2 sticks with twine of the same length. In this way, you can mark the boundaries of planting potatoes. Then rope all 4 sticks together to make a clear rectangle.
3. Create in the ground with a hoe several parallel furrows for planting, 10-15 cm deep. In order for the plants to further develop properly, the distance between the furrows should be about 30 cm.
4. Pour evenly a small amount of ash into each groove, which will protect plants from pests and diseases.
5. Plant sprouted potatoes at a distance of 10 cm from each other.
6. Mix the humus with the soil and sprinkle them on top of the grooves with the planted potatoes. The soil should not be tamped in order not to damage the plants.
7. After all these procedures, ready-made beds are covered with agrofibre. This should be done carefully, without pressing the material strongly to the ground, otherwise the bushes will not be able to fully grow. At the edges of the beds, agrofibre can be fixed with bricks, but not very tightly.
8. It will be possible to remove the shelter in 1.5 months, during this time the potato will germinate and will rest against the material with its young twigs.

Under the film

The step-by-step scheme for preparing the beds and planting potatoes is the same as that described above with agrofibre. There are only small nuances.

1. The polyethylene film will protect planted tubers from cooling or sudden frosts. But it also should not be too tight, so that the sprouting potato seedlings are not broken.
2. As long as the potatoes do not ascend, she does not need ventilation. But the sprouts need fresh air intake, which cannot penetrate under the dense plastic film. Therefore, the shelter must be periodically removed for ventilation of seedlings. And when young bushes grow to 10-15 cm in height, it will be necessary to make small holes in the film for ventilation.

Care instructions

Soil loosening

The first loosening should be done with a hoe or an iron rake to a depth of only 2-3 cm. It is necessary to carry out this procedure after each watering, this will help the seedlings to receive the required amount of oxygen and accordingly develop faster. Loosening destroys weeds.

Hilling

When young plants are strong enough and their height reaches 15-18 cm, you can begin a deeper loosening and hilling of the beds. With the help of the hoe, you need to pull up the ground on all sides to each potato bush in order to get a small mound.

remember, that in hot and arid weather, loosening and hilling of potatoes should not be carried outBecause the soil will lose a lot of moisture because of this and it will dry out. In this weather, you can only slightly loosen the beds between the rows to a depth of no more than 5-6 cm.

But after a good rain, earthing up should be carried out regularly, so that the soil does not stand and breathe.

Watering

Watering early potatoes is necessary in the evening. If you water manually, then 1 watering can with water should be enough for 2-3 bush.

Temperature

For the correct development of tubers, the average temperature should be 18-22 ° C. At lower temperatures, tuberization slows down, and at higher temperatures, development can stop altogether.

Feedings

Feeding up young early potatoes should be started during the growing season. To accelerate the growth and development of foliage under each bush potato poured half a teaspoon of urea and 200 grams of humus.