Every gardener knows that growing any plant from seed is a time-consuming task. But how pleasant it is to watch this process from the very beginning, when the sprouted sprouts turn into full-fledged seedlings. If you want to get a new potato variety, why not try to seed it. There is a high probability of getting a new promising species, the tubers of which will have improved qualities. It will not be a pity to spend a lot of time on such an interesting lesson. Let's try to understand in more detail all the nuances of growing potatoes from seeds.
What does the reproduction of potatoes from seeds give?
Many may think: why complicate your life, if ready-made seedlings or samples of elite tubers are sold everywhere and they can be routinely used, as was done before. What are the benefits of working with seed?
- Cheapness. It is not difficult to guess that seeds will cost much less than elite mini-tubers or seedlings. Potatoes for planting good yielding varieties cannot be cheap, since their breeding is a rather lengthy process. In addition, not every gardener is so experienced in his business as to easily distinguish meristem tubers from ordinary ones by sight, and enterprising sellers skillfully use this. You can even come across completely low-quality planting material, several times higher than the multiplicity of its reproduction from the first elites.
- The seeds take up little space. Is there a difference where you can fold several bags of seeds or select a whole cool dark room for storing potato tubers? Moreover, the shelf life of seeds is quite long, which does not impair their germination in any way.
- Every gardener knows that plants grown from seeds are always more resistant to diseases and pests than those obtained from ready-made tubers.
- A potato bush grown from seed will yield a better crop than a similar potato bush grown from a tuber. The average weight of one such potato ranges from 80 to 100 grams, not to mention that it will already be an absolutely renewed variety.
- Having sown seeds once, you can get a good harvest of an elite variety for another 6 years, and select tubers for planting for planting in the usual way. For the first time, mini-tubers are obtained from seeds, the next year it is twice a super-elite, then a super-elite variety, in the fourth year it is simply an elite, and in subsequent years there are reproductions, the first of which still retain their best qualities.
Growing potato seeds and caring for seedlings
Growing potatoes from seeds means getting seedlings for it yourself. There are no fundamental differences from the germination of other plants, that is, you need to be patient, free up space on the windowsill, and prepare many plastic containers of different sizes for picking.
The start time for working with seeds is usually chosen at the end of February and beginning of March. First of all, you need to prepare the ground.It must contain a large supply of nutrients and at the same time be breathable and lightweight. You can mix it yourself by taking a share of ordinary land and four shares of peat. It will not be superfluous to cultivate the land for seedlings with some drug that destroys pest spores, for example, trichodermine or phytosporin. This measure is very relevant for potato seedlings, as it is very sensitive to the pathogens of the "black leg". There is a way to avoid diseases before picking, you can grow seedlings in wet sawdust. Moreover, this way it strengthens its roots faster.
It is best to keep the seeds themselves between two wet layers of gauze, which are in a closed container to prevent water evaporation, before pecking. If the fabric is constantly moistened, and the container is periodically ventilated, the sprouts of the seeds will hatch in 5-7 days. Further, the opened seeds must be evenly distributed over the surface of a little compacted and well-spilled soil and a centimeter layer of sand must be poured on top. A container with a closed lid should be placed in a warm, sunny place, abundantly moistened with a spray bottle and ventilated.
As soon as sprouts appear, their care must be very careful. It must be remembered that potato seedlings are one of the most capricious. It even surpasses tomato and eggplant sprouts in its exactingness. To prevent the stems from stretching too much, the illumination should be very good, it is even recommended to supplement the seedlings on rainy days. The root system of sprouts develops slowly, so the soil should be rich in nutrients, but at the same time, the soil should not be very compacted and waterlogged. It should be so loose as to allow the roots to breathe.
Thus, the growing seedlings should be watered very carefully, treated with "Epin", and fertilized monthly with complex mineral preparations. You can dive seedlings into separate containers to the depth of the first leaves 25 days after planting in the ground with a layer of sand. This period usually falls at the end of April, when the weather is already favorable, so the pots with seedlings can already be taken out to the balcony.
Planting seedlings in open ground and caring for the beds
It is recommended to grow seedlings from seeds in a greenhouse or greenhouse for the first year, and plant them in open ground only the next year, but not everyone has a covered area. In this case, it is quite possible to do with spunbond arcs. In the month of May, after the establishment of stable warm weather, in the evening or on a rainy day, you can start with preparing holes for seedlings. They should be deep enough, sprinkled with ash and humus, well moistened. It is better to make the distance between adjacent holes at least 40 centimeters, with the expectation of getting a good harvest from large potatoes.
Capricious seedlings from seeds must be planted at right angles and as deep as possible: only its upper leaves will remain on the surface. Then a warming layer of last year's foliage or straw is also applied to it and placed under arcs with a covering material. Such a mini-greenhouse can be removed only in the midst of June, so as not to expose the seedlings to temperature extremes once again.
After removing the shelter in the summer, you can take care of the beds with potatoes in the usual way, spud or mulch, water. Plant feeding can be limited to two times: two weeks after planting in the ground, still under cover, and before flowering itself.
How to grow potatoes from seeds without seedlings
This method of growing potatoes from seeds is suitable for the southern regions, where full summer weather already occurs in mid-May. The stage of caring for potato sprouts on the windowsill can be bypassed by planting sprouted seeds directly into the harvested holes.They are made at the same distance from each other, as for seedlings, a couple of hatched seeds are placed there and sprinkled with sand or coconut substrate with a layer of half a centimeter. The soil in the pits will need to be added depending on how the seedlings will grow. Otherwise, caring for them will be common in this culture. The seedless method usually does not give large yields, but the dug up tubers will be an excellent planting material for the next season of summer cottages.
