How to save potatoes in a rainy summer: growing and caring for a flooded garden

How to grow potatoes in a rainy summer and get a great harvest? What needs to be done to save plants and tubers? Potato lovers have been thinking about this for a long time. There are certain tips that will help in resolving these issues.

Moisture and potatoes

The plant itself is very moisture-loving. But excess moisture can lead to massive crop failure. Heavy rains harm potatoes to the same extent as drought. A summer resident should arm himself with knowledge on how to help plants, care for them and maintain productivity.

The first watering is carried out only after the seedlings appear above the ground, you should not do this before. The sprouts get everything they need from the tuber used in planting.

With a lack of moisture, the roots stop growing, the stems begin to dry. Therefore, watering should not be done according to a schedule, but based on weather conditions.

To determine if potatoes need watering at a given time, a simple check of soil moisture depth will help. If it is 6-7 cm, then the plants should be watered.

It makes no sense to water immediately after the last rains, it is not advisable. It is necessary to ensure an abundant supply of moisture during the setting of buds and the flowering period. It is necessary to maintain humidity even after the plant has faded. It should be remembered that the moisture drop has a detrimental effect on the roots of some varieties, they crack.

How to save the potato crop in a rainy summer

Preservation of crops during different growing seasons:

• How to grow tubers if the rain turned the garden into a continuous swamp? The root crops had not yet had time to sprout, and the site was flooded. What measures need to be taken? Most likely, most of the tubers rotted in the ground, the smell will attract pests, then everything else that could survive after flooding will be at risk. Rotten vegetables must be removed after the area dries out a little. New root crops are planted in place of the missing seed material.

Potatoes have a negative attitude towards the presence of a crust that forms after rain. Insufficient air supply to the tuber will lead to its decay and subsequent deterioration.

• Further care is to control moisture during growth. If it rains after the plant has faded (after 3-4 weeks), you can remove the tops.Many summer residents say that the skin of the fruit will not ripen and remain soft, and you can’t eat such fruits. This is a wrong judgment. This will not only not affect the plant and root crops, but will also help save the sprouts from the development of phytophthora after prolonged rains.

If the stems are left, they will certainly be affected by the disease and the rain will wash away all the zoospores into the garden, they will fall on the tubers. Such potatoes can no longer be called he althy. Mowed tops, during rain, will not allow the plant to become infected, and it can not be burned, but used for any purpose. For example, cover the plants left in the winter on the site. And the root crops themselves will grow a normal thick skin in the ground in 1-2 weeks and will be ready for harvesting.

• Storage. A vegetable harvested in rainy weather, this also applies to potatoes that were grown in a rainy summer, does not need to be immediately put into storage rooms. It should dry well for about a month.

It is possible to save the crop if a flood occurs, but it is a complex and difficult process. It all depends on the diligence and diligence of the summer resident.

Prevention measures

Summer residents have been struggling with this scourge for a long time. They came up with ways to plant potatoes that can reduce the impact of excess moisture:

1. Planting on high beds. Potatoes grown in such conditions do not get so wet. A drainage layer is applied to the base of the ridges, its composition is determined by the characteristics of the soil.
2. Potatoes are planted in double beds, which are very high up. At the same time, the planting depth is only 6-8 cm, the aisle is wide. Gradually, over the season, the beds are spudded, thereby allowing the tubers to develop normally. The potato itself remains above ground level, and excess moisture flows down.

Planting potatoes in the garden in these ways can improve the situation and save the harvest.

Advice from experienced summer residents on solving this issue

Gardeners recommend carrying out preventive work, because it is impossible to revive rotten fruits.

• Khimerka. When caring for potatoes, prevention is important. To get a big harvest, the following work is carried out. Rye has been sown in the area designated for cultivation since autumn. In the spring, everything is dug up. Seed material, also from autumn, is sorted out, carefully sorted, and reviewed several times during the winter. It will be better to plant tubers in a high bed. More air gets to the roots and the plant does not get sick.
• Catherine. They grew crops during the rainy period, everything was washed away and flooded, practically nothing was reanimated.Now I plant everything in high beds, it's more reliable. The harvested crop must be carefully sorted out, rejecting all suspicious vegetables. Before putting the tubers into storage, you can dust them with chalk or wood ash. Nothing will happen to the potatoes, this will prevent the development of rot and various pests. All root crops should be laid out in several boxes, otherwise all neighboring tubers will begin to rot, located next to the one that first deteriorates. During the winter, you can sort through the potatoes several times, just do it very carefully.
• Svetlana. Potato beds in a rainy summer should be looked after very carefully. It is necessary to ventilate the soil; for this, weeds are weeded, the earth is spud or simply loosened. Two weeks before the harvest, the tops are mowed, thereby drying the soil and directing all the forces to the tubers.

Care, prevention, caring for the summer resident of plants, this will help save the potato crop on rainy summer days.

Recommended