Key Points and Detailed Methods of Potato Sprout Planting Technology

Potato sprout planting is based on the characteristic that potatoes have multiple eyes, allowing each eye to sprout and be transplanted, achieving multiple propagation and rapid propagation, and ensuring the varietal characteristics of the cultivar. Propagation using sprout planting technology can effectively prevent the occurrence of potato ring rot, increase yield and starch content, bring earlier harvest to market, and save 1/2-1/3 of the seed potato usage.

1. Seed selection

Choose healthy, disease-free seed potatoes that have fully passed through the dormancy period as sprout cultivation material.

2. Site selection

Choose a plot that is sheltered from wind and facing the sun with good soil moisture. If cultivating in a greenhouse, indoor disinfection is required: spray the floor and walls with a 1000-fold dilution of 90% trichlorfon crystal, or use 200-300 g of chlorothalonil smoke agent per 667 sq m, divide it into 3-5 portions and place them evenly in the greenhouse, light one end with a smoldering flame, and after dense smoke is produced, fumigate the closed greenhouse for 12 hours, then ventilate the next morning.

3. Sprout cultivation technology

1. Sprout cultivation time

Generally, mid-April is the suitable time for sprout cultivation.

2. Sprout cultivation area

The trench length depends on the transplanting area, with a width of 1.5-2 m and a pit depth of 30-40 cm, and 10 cm of fully decomposed horse manure is applied, making it suitable as a seedbed. Then spread a 10 cm layer of field soil, place a layer of potatoes with a plant spacing of 3-6 cm and a row spacing of 8-10 cm, with the eyes facing up, then spread another 20 cm layer of field soil; raw soil should not be used as seedbed soil. If using a field plot for sprout cultivation, a 1 m low tunnel needs to be built, with the greenhouse temperature maintained at 25°C during the day and 7-8°C at night.

3. Seed quantity

Each 667 sq m requires 8-19 sq m of plot. For seed potatoes with many eyes, 70-80 kg of seed potatoes are needed per 667 sq m; for seed potatoes with few eyes, 80-90 kg of seed potatoes are needed per 667 sq m.

4. Transplanting technology

1. Sprout selection

Select young sprouts about 20 cm long, thick, complete and disease-free, with fibrous roots on the sprouts; discard thin, slender sprouts with discolored tips, dried-up sprouts, or sprouts that break easily.

2. Transplanting

The transplanting time is slightly later than ordinary cut-seed planting, about one week after the late frost period; generally, transplanting is carried out in mid-May in mountainous areas. Dip the roots of transplanting seedlings in a chemical agent. When transplanting, choose a sunny and windless day to plant the seedlings, with a row spacing of 69-70 cm and a plant spacing of 25-30 cm; open furrows and apply decomposed organic fertilizer and phosphorus-potassium fertilizer in the furrows. It is strictly forbidden to apply horse manure and excessive nitrogen fertilizer to avoid burning the sprouts. Plant the selected young sprouts in the field in the shortest possible time to avoid water loss, and water promptly. Water as appropriate according to the recovery of the seedlings.

3. Moving sprouts

One round of sprout cultivation can have sprouts moved 2 times, and the remaining seed potatoes can also be cut into pieces for planting.