Growing potatoes has long turned into a kind of hobby competition between gardeners, since buying any quantity of any kind of ware potatoes, if desired, has long been no problem. And for the money spent, it is available to almost everyone. But for any summer resident, and even more so for the owner of a village courtyard, potatoes are not just a vegetable, they are a kind of symbol of truck farming.
Ever since it appeared on the territory of Russia, not immediately, but gradually acquired the status of the second bread. Therefore, every gardener tries to come up with and test in practice any new methods of increasing yields and taste in growing potatoes. Sometimes well-forgotten old things come to mind, and sometimes the experience of other countries is used. This is how it turns out with the currently widespread method of cutting the tops of potatoes. Many have been successfully using this technique for several years and do not even remember how they lived without it.
Others are perplexed - why are these extra efforts needed, and even with an effect incomprehensible to many. Still others know and understand the importance of the technique, but their opinions on the timing of its use sometimes differ. Indeed, determining exactly when to mow the tops of potatoes is not entirely easy. Too much depends on the specific climatic and weather conditions and characteristics of the potato variety. So, you need to figure out why, when and how this procedure is carried out.
Reasons for pruning potato tops
From biology, everyone knows that the formation of stolons (underground shoots) and tubers in potatoes usually coincides with the budding and flowering phase of plants.
Later, starting from the moment of flowering and until the natural drying out of the aboveground part of the bushes, potato tubers grow and develop intensively, accumulating starch and other nutrients. Throughout this period, the tubers themselves are covered with a thin delicate skin, which is not at all intended for storage or protection from external influences, but is very tasty when cooked. It is not for nothing that young potatoes are very much appreciated by gourmets.
Interestingly, it is after the tops of the potatoes that the process of coarsening and the formation of a strong and dense protective skin begins, thanks to which the potatoes can be stored for a long time. It also, as a rule, protects tubers from damage during harvest and from various fungal infections during storage. Hence the conclusion - if the harvest time is already approaching, frosts come, and the potatoes continue to turn green as if nothing had happened, then they must necessarily mow the tops and leave for a week to complete all biological processes and form a protective peel. Only then can you start digging out the tubers.
It is also important to mow the tops of potatoes for the reason that the reviving and growing again potato stalks at the end of summer will draw out nutrients from new tubers for their development. That is why such potatoes are poorly stored.
Another common situation when mowing the tops of potatoes is a necessary procedure is the defeat of potato bushes by late blight.This disease is a common companion of potatoes, especially in wet and cool summers. She is able to destroy the entire crop of potatoes in a few weeks. Infection occurs through the aerial part of the plants and only after some time does the infection penetrate into the tubers. Therefore, if you notice that green leaves begin to become stained and turn black, then it is necessary to cut off the tops of the potatoes as soon as possible and burn them. This technique will help prevent the spread of the disease and save the crop. Often this procedure is carried out for preventive purposes in those regions and under such weather conditions when the likelihood of late blight spread is very high.
Thus, answering the question: "Why mow the tops of potatoes?", The following main reasons can be noted:
- For the formation of a hardened protective skin on the tubers;
- To accelerate the ripening of tubers and their better preservation;
- To reduce the likelihood of spoilage from diseases both during the growth of potatoes and during the further storage of tubers;
- For the convenience of harvesting (so as not to get confused in tall potato tops).
True, there are other reasons for mowing the tops of potatoes, which are much less common, but still have a right to exist, since they have been confirmed by practical experience.
Some gardeners, referring to foreign experience, have been mowing potato tops 10-12 days after flowering for several years already. Others recall the experience of their great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers, who at the beginning of the last century, a week or two after the flowering of potatoes, crushed all the potato tops with special heavy rollers. However, it is quite possible and just to stomp on the bushes with your feet if the areas with potatoes are small. In both cases, the increase in yield was from 10 to 15%. Moreover, the potato tubers became larger in size and were better preserved. Harvesting took place at the usual time, about one and a half to two months after flowering, depending on the variety of potatoes.
But that's not all. Back in the middle of the last century, agricultural scientists proved in practice that pruning potato stalks is an effective way to combat potato degeneration.
If you are growing potatoes for seeds, then the best time for such a procedure is the time when the bushes are just beginning to bloom, that is, the budding phase.
If you delay with pruning until the moment of full flowering, then you may not get such an effect. It is necessary to cut potato stalks at a height of about 15-20 cm for late varieties and about 10 cm for early varieties. The increase in yield can be up to 22 - 34%.
Timing of mowing
Perhaps the most controversial issue among experienced gardeners is when to cut the tops of potatoes. The standard accepted theory is that this should be done about a week or two before the expected harvest time in order to allow the tubers to build up a protective coat.
As you already understood, if there is a danger of phytophthora in your region, then it is quite acceptable to mow the tops earlier, especially when the first signs of the disease appear.
At the same time, the theory is gaining more and more popularity that if you mow the tops of potatoes 12-14 days after flowering, this will have a beneficial effect on the yield and size of the tubers, increase their safety and even improve the taste characteristics. Gardeners, who apply this theory in practice, note that tubers with mowed tops have a less watery, richer, starchy taste. Indeed, in this case, additional moisture from the stems no longer enters the formed tubers.On the other hand, the mowed tops do not absorb nutrients from the tubers.
By the way, when growing potatoes for seeds, pruning of stems and harvesting must be done at least a month earlier than the same procedures that are carried out for ware potatoes. Then they are less likely to pick up fungal and viral diseases and the next year they will give an excellent harvest.
In any case, whether it is necessary to cut the tops of potatoes or not, everyone decides for himself. But if in recent years you have had problems with growing potatoes, then, perhaps, it makes sense to start experimenting and try to prune potato bushes at different times in experimental plots. And when harvesting, compare the results. Perhaps such experiments will be able to acquaint you with many interesting facts from the life of the potato, which you still did not even know about. And the question - do potatoes need pruning - will disappear for you by itself.
If the yields and safety of your potatoes are completely satisfactory to you, then it may not be worth spending time experimenting.
