Do you think potatoes are completely unpretentious and do not use fertilizers when planting? In vain! After all, thanks to properly applied fertilizers, the plants will be healthy, strong and will give an excellent harvest.
You need to prepare the garden for planting potatoes in advance. It is useful to add organic and/or mineral fertilizers to the beds in the fall. This will be the key to good plant development. If this procedure was not possible or the soil condition is still far from perfect, then you can add fertilizers for potatoes directly during planting.
However, before adding fertilizers directly to the hole or furrow, it is important to choose the right place for growing potatoes. Otherwise, no fertilizers will benefit the plants.
The main points that require attention:
- The planting site should be sunny, level, with a shallow groundwater table, on a small hill so that moisture does not stagnate in the beds;
- The best soil for planting is light loam, sandy loam or black soil, but you can plant potatoes on any other soil that is not too heavy and acidic;
- The beds should be well cleared of weeds;
- The soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm should be at least 10 ° C;
- The best predecessors for potatoes are beets, cabbage, cucumber, pumpkin, greens, legumes; the worst are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers;
- It is permissible to grow potatoes in one place for several years in a row with proper soil cultivation.
Potatoes do not like excess fertilizers, especially nitrogen ones. Also, you shouldn't get too carried away with organics, because they are only beneficial in the recommended dosage.
Organic fertilizers for feeding potatoes
What is the best fertilizer for potatoes? Each gardener finds the answer to this question independently within the framework of their plot. Organics remain the leader, which allows the bushes not only to grow good green mass, but also to form a large number of strong tubers.
Wood ash. This easily digestible organomineral fertilizer is very popular among gardeners. Indeed, the introduction of ash will allow potatoes to receive a complex of valuable substances: potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, sulfur, etc.
Also, ash when planting potatoes well deoxidizes the soil, making it looser. One of the most dangerous garden pests, the wireworm, is afraid of this fertilizer. The rate of ash application: 2-3 tablespoons per hole.
It is useful to mix wood ash, soil or sand and water together - and plant the tuber in this mixture. But it is not recommended to mix ash with mineral fertilizers, because this will cause nitrogen loss and the plants will be deprived of adequate nutrition.
Humus or compost. An excellent fertilizer for poor, depleted soil, and it can also be combined with mineral fertilizer. It is enough to put 100-300 g of fertilizer in one hole, depending on the size of the tuber. Additionally, wood ash can be added.
Eggshells. A folk remedy rich in calcium, which is so necessary for getting an excellent potato harvest. There are disputes about the effectiveness of the shell as a fertilizer, but crushed shells will also help fight wireworms and mole crickets. Therefore, if you have prepared a large amount of shells, you can pour a small handful of them into each planting hole.
Mineral fertilizers for feeding potatoes
Mineral fertilizers will help to supplement or replace organic matter. But before using specific substances, you should make sure that the soil lacks them. It is also worth remembering: mineral fertilizers "work" well only in soil rich in organic matter and populated by soil microorganisms. Therefore, if manure, compost, or biohumus have not been added to the beds for several years, then using "mineral fertilizers" will be ineffective.
Urea (carbamide) or ammonium nitrate. The presence of nitrogen guarantees a rich potato harvest. It is enough to add no more than 1 teaspoon of the substance to the hole.
Superphosphate. If there is enough nitrogen in the soil, but not enough phosphorus, then you can put 1-2 teaspoons of superphosphate in the potato hole. This is especially useful for annually used beds.
Potassium sulfate. Without potassium, a good potato harvest is also not guaranteed. The deficiency can be replenished immediately upon planting by adding 1-2 teaspoons of potassium sulfate to the hole.
But potassium chloride (potassium chloride) cannot be added: potatoes do not tolerate chlorine well. But if you applied fertilizer in the fall when digging the beds, it will be of great benefit to future potato plantings, because by spring the chlorine will go into the deep layers of the soil.
Dolomite flour. The fertilizer will saturate the soil with calcium and magnesium, at the same time deacidify it and prevent the development of click beetle larvae, wireworms, as well as Colorado beetles, and mole crickets. It is enough to put 50 g of dolomite in the hole. It is allowed to mix it with humus or compost.
Complex fertilizers (nitrophoska, nitroammophoska, borofoska, etc.). These are proven and effective means for feeding potatoes during planting. The rate of their application is about 1 teaspoon. It is important to mix the fertilizer well with the soil so that the tuber does not come into direct contact with it.
Choose the appropriate feeding option - and get a rich harvest of strong and tasty tubers!
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