Potato Planting Techniques and Management Methods: Timely Topdressing and Pest and Disease Control

AbstractCutting and sprouting: sprout in early March, and after cutting, carry out sterilization and disinfection. Land preparation and trenching: generally double-trench planting is used, with trenching using 50 cm for wide rows and 40 cm for narrow rows. Checking seedlings and filling gaps: after the potatoes emerge completely, check the seedlings promptly, and fill gaps promptly where seedlings are missing. Cultivation and hilling: make the soil of the tuber-setting layer loose and well aerated, which is beneficial to root growth, stolon elongation and tuber enlargement. Timely topdressing: after emergence, apply sprout seedling fertilizer, and at the bud stage apply tuber-setting fertilizer. Pest and disease control: actively prevent and control common pests and diseases.

The potato planting industry in our country has gone through a very long period of development. As people's fondness for potatoes has increased, the number of potatoes planted as well as the supply volume and sales volume of potatoes on the market have all shown an upward trend. Growing potatoes is still an industry very much worth investing in. Below, let us learn about potato planting techniques together.

Potato Planting Techniques

1. Cutting and sprouting. About 20 days before preparing to sow potatoes, that is, around early March each year, we need to begin sprouting. When cutting seed potatoes into pieces, each seed piece should have at least one eye. After cutting, mix with dry wood ash or use carbendazim powder diluted with water at 1:200 for seed soaking to sterilize and disinfect. After the seed pieces are air-dried, seedbed sprouting can begin. There are mainly two methods:

① In a room-temperature environment above 15°C, sprout with sand in a corner of the room, one layer of sand and one layer of seed pieces.

② Outdoors in a ventilated, sunny place, dig a pit in an east-west direction for sprouting, with a pit depth of about 25 cm, one layer of sand and one layer of seed pieces, preferably 3 layers, then cover with an arched shed film, and add straw curtains at night for insulation.

During the sprouting period, the above two methods require sprinkling water 1-2 times to prevent drying out. When potato sprouts grow to 0.5-1 cm in length, sowing can begin.

2. Land preparation and trenching. Before planting, be sure to check the soil moisture. If the moisture is poor, consider irrigating the trenches to create moisture. It is best to create moisture about 7-10 days before planting. Potato planting generally uses double-trench planting, and when trenching, 50 cm for wide rows and 40 cm for narrow rows can be used.

Potato Management Methods

1. Checking seedlings and filling gaps: after the potatoes emerge completely, be sure to check the seedlings promptly. Where seedlings are missing, fill the gaps promptly to ensure a full stand. When sowing, densely plant surplus tubers at the edges of the field for use in filling gaps. When filling gaps, if there are diseased and rotting tubers in the missing hills, first dig out the diseased tubers and the surrounding soil before filling the gaps. When the soil is dry, dig holes, water them, and combine with applying a small amount of fertilizer before transplanting seedlings, so as to reduce the time for the seedlings to recover and resume growth as quickly as possible.

2. Cultivation and hilling: the whole process generally involves 3 rounds of cultivation and loosening of the soil, mainly to make the soil of the tuber-setting layer looser and better aerated, and more favorable for root growth, stolon elongation and tuber enlargement. If the soil surface crusts before the potatoes emerge, loosen the soil to facilitate emergence. After complete emergence, carry out the first cultivation promptly, with a depth of about 8-10 cm, and combine it with weeding. 10-15 days after the first cultivation, carry out the second cultivation, which should be slightly shallower. At the bud stage, carry out the third cultivation, which should be shallower than the second.

3. Timely topdressing: potatoes take a relatively long time from sowing to emergence, so after emergence, apply sprout seedling fertilizer early with clear manure water plus a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer to promote rapid growth of the seedlings. At the bud stage, combine with hilling to apply a tuber-setting fertilizer once, mainly potassium fertilizer, together with nitrogen fertilizer. The amount applied depends on the plant's growth vigor and appearance. After potatoes flower, generally no more fertilizer is applied. If later stages show premature aging due to fertilizer deficiency, phosphorus and potassium or combined trace elements can be sprayed on the leaves.

4. Pest and disease control: common potato diseases include ring rot, viral disease, late blight, scab, bacterial wilt and cancer disease. For late blight, attention should be paid to early control with Bordeaux mixture or ridomil, while bacterial wilt is mainly controlled through measures such as reasonable crop rotation, selecting disease-resistant varieties and using small whole tubers as seed. Common pests mainly include mole crickets, ladybugs, aphids, white grubs and cutworms, which can be controlled with chemicals or by manual capture.

Where Is the Potato Native To

The potato is native to the Andean mountain region of South America, and the history of artificial cultivation of potatoes can be traced back as early as 8000 BC to 5000 BC in southern Peru. The Lake Titicaca area above 3800 m in altitude in the Andes may be the place where potatoes were first cultivated. About 7000 years ago, a tribe of Native Americans migrated from the east to the frigid high Andes, camped near the Lake Titicaca area, and lived by hunting and gathering, thus discovering and eating wild potatoes, and this was recorded as the earliest discovery of potatoes.

Harvesting Potatoes

When potato growth stops and most of the stems and leaves have withered and yellowed, the potato tubers are easily separated from the stolons, the periderm hardens, the specific gravity increases, and the dry matter content reaches its maximum limit. This is the most suitable harvest period for edible potato tubers. For tubers used as seed, harvest should be 5 days earlier to minimize the adverse effects of high temperatures in the later growth period and improve seed quality.

The potato itself is not a native vegetable of our country, but at present our country's potato planting volume already ranks among the top. Potato cultivation has also entered a new stage. Therefore, in the new period, growing potatoes requires not only a deep understanding of potatoes, but also dedication to every process and step of potato cultivation.