How often to water potatoes
The intensity of watering potatoes depends on the weather, growing season and crop variety. Before the buds appear, water at intervals of once every 7-10 days, water consumption is 10-15 liters per bush. In hot weather, watering needs to be more frequent.
During and after flowering - 2 times a week. Increase the volume of water to 20 liters for each plant. If signs of plant wilting appear, reduce watering to once every 10 days, using 3 liters of liquid for each plant. Read below about the features of watering early potatoes.
Watering mode
Do potatoes need to be watered? Yes, but there are certain rules for watering.
Potatoes are planted in May, when the soil is still sufficiently moist. Immediately after planting, the tubers form roots and the first shoots appear. Plantings begin to be watered when the stems grow to 5-10 cm.
Need to know. Early watering is harmful to potatoes, as it leads to the formation of a shallow root system.
The first time the crops are watered is about a month after planting . Water is poured into the middle. Water consumption is 3-4 liters per plant. Watering is carried out fractionally, waiting for each portion to be absorbed. The formation of puddles must not be allowed.
To moisten the soil, use settled water heated in the sun . Before buds form, potato plantings are watered approximately once every two weeks. If it is hot, the interval is shortened.
Advice. A simple method will help you determine whether it’s time to water. If the soil next to the bush is dry at a depth of 10 cm or lower, then it’s time.
When organizing the soil moisture regime, the following rules are followed::
- use warm, settled water - potato roots are small and tender, using cold water can cause rot;
- water in the morning or evening to avoid sunburn on the leaves;
- the frequency of watering depends on the structure of the soil - light soil is moistened more often, but in smaller doses, heavy soil - less often, but abundantly;
- the next day, the soil is loosened to saturate it with oxygen - this is done carefully, trying not to damage the roots and tubers;
- observe the norm of 3-4 liters per bush - excess moisture is just as harmful to potatoes as too little.
Loosening and hilling potatoes
Loosening, like hilling, saturates the plants with oxygen. It is also called dry irrigation. This is necessary for the development of the potato root system and the formation of a large number of tubers.
Loosen the crop 3-4 times per season. This is done after rain; it is not advisable to do this in the heat.
Carry out the first hilling when the sprouts have grown by 15 cm. The second, when the first flowers appear. The third time - at the moment of growth of the tops. If the bush falls apart, you can spud it again. You can learn even more about hilling from the article - When to hill potatoes.
Is it possible to water potatoes with cold water?
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Almost all plants need watering with settled water at room temperature. You can water potatoes from the tap, but only if you first let them stand for at least 12 hours. The containers can be left outside (if the temperature does not drop below +15 at night) or brought indoors, kept in room conditions.
If you simply water the potatoes with cold water from a well, the root system can be severely damaged. It is quite weak, and tender cuttings can rot due to temperature changes. As a result, part of the harvest will be lost, and the taste will deteriorate.
How to water potatoes by month
Watering potatoes after planting in May
In spring, the question arises: how to water early ripening potatoes, since they are ready for harvesting earlier. This is done 25 days after planting, when the sprouts have reached a height of at least 10 cm.
As a rule, only early potatoes are watered in spring.
Watering in June
From the beginning of June, all potato varieties are watered. This is done once a week in not hot weather, using 5 liters of liquid per bush. In hot conditions, water twice a week, the water consumption is the same.
Watering potatoes in July
In cool weather, water the crop 2 times a week, the volume of water is 10 liters per bush.
In hot weather, 3 times a week, the same volume of liquid is consumed.
Watering rules in August
In August, watering is minimal , use 3 liters of water per bush, once a week. If the tops are dry, stop irrigation.
Should I water potatoes in September?
Autumn watering of potatoes will depend on the region where the crop is cultivated. When the tops are green and vegetables are harvested in the fall, watering the crop is possible as in August.
When the tops dry out, watering stops.
Do I need to water?
All plant life processes are accelerated and take place only if there is enough water. And this rule applies to potatoes, because approximately 80% of the tubers consist of water.
If the roots cannot absorb enough moisture, the nutrients in the plant cells will not be dissolved, and the development of the root system and tops will be disrupted.
While proper watering at all stages of flora growth leads to:
- Accelerates the absorption of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds by 30%.
- Intensive growth of tops and the formation of immunity in the plant to the influence of pests.
- Increase in yield by an average of 45%.
- The weight of each tuber increases by approximately 65-75%.
- Bringing the appearance of the tuber closer to ideal.
- An increase in the number of above-ground shoots and stolons by at least 15%.
Before flowering
During the period when flowers are just beginning to appear on the potato, changes occur in its underground structure. The fact is that potato tubers are intensively forming, so they need not only the application of organic fertilizers, but also sufficient watering.
Therefore, it is simply necessary to water the potatoes when the first flowers appear. Otherwise, the fruits will not reach a sufficient level of quality.
After flowering
The plant experiences the greatest need for moisture during budding and after flowering. But even after this, the growth of secondary tubers and new stolons does not stop.
So it is necessary to water the soil where potatoes grow. But over time, the amount of incoming water should be reduced: its excess can harm the fruits.
The water should be only a few degrees warmer than the soil temperature on the site, and this parameter must be monitored.
Before cleaning
Each potato variety has its own harvesting period, which is also influenced by climate, planting time and the quality of plant care during the most active growing season.
Watering is almost not carried out, only if the green part of the bush begins to dry before the ninetieth day. And even in this case, watering should occur strictly in the evening. But it is best to avoid it altogether immediately before harvesting, so as not to damage the tubers.
In August
It is important to provide the plant with abundant watering in the first ten days of August. During this period, potato tubers gain mass most intensively, future taste qualities are formed, and their shape also changes.
As mentioned earlier, more than 80% of the fruit consists of water, so even a small deficiency of liquid in August leads to a deterioration in the presentation and other characteristics of the vegetable as food.
In July
During the period of development and appearance of potato buds, it is necessary to provide it with sufficient moisture. The sun in July is considered “evil”, so the peculiarity of summer watering is that it must be done during the cool time of the day.
The best time is in the evening, when the sun begins to set, this will protect young green tops from “burning” under direct rays due to water evaporation.
In September
Watering rules in September correspond to the standards for early potatoes. The plant will need one and a half doses of dechlorinated water to finish forming full tubers.
But you need to stop watering in time, because violation of the watering schedule will lead to a decrease in yield, rotting of the roots and deterioration in the quality of the fruit. But, at the same time, if you interrupt watering ahead of schedule, the tubers will remain small and tasteless.
Methods of watering potatoes
If you don't know how to water potatoes, check out the different watering methods that apply to potatoes as well.
Drip irrigation
Drip irrigation occurs gradually; waterlogging of the soil is not possible. Plastic bottles with dropper tubes are used for this. Install them at each bush. But this option is suitable for small areas. Below are the prices and options for drip irrigation kits.
Structures made of pipes and special tapes are used for drip irrigation of large areas of potatoes. But the downside is that the cost of such structures is not small.
Grooves
The most optimal option for watering in furrows. To saturate the soil with moisture, you need to build an earthen side at the end of the furrow to retain water. Place the hose in the furrow and turn on the water. When the ground is sufficiently moist, transfer it to another furrow, etc.
Watering potatoes by sprinkling
For this method of watering, special sprinklers are used. Water is supplied using a pump. The intensity and frequency of moisturizing can be adjusted; raised areas do not create problems.
Dry watering
Dry watering refers to loosening and hilling potatoes, as well as mulching the soil. Mulch the soil after watering with humus, dry grass, green manure, rotted sawdust, and straw.
After harvesting, the mulch can be buried rather than removed. This will be additional feeding of the soil.
Signs of lack and excess of moisture
For potato plantings, not only a lack of moisture in the soil, but also its excess is detrimental . The frequency of watering is determined based on weather conditions and actual soil moisture at a depth of 10 cm.
Important. Drooping, lightened leaves, withering tops, unopened buds, and drying stems are signs of a lack of moisture.
With a lack of moisture, potato tubers stop gaining weight and seem to freeze. In this case, with further precipitation or watering, the potatoes grow, acquiring an irregular shape.
It also happens the other way around - there is too much moisture in the soil. It also harms plants. An excess of water in the ground is indicated by dark watery drooping leaves , the appearance of weeping spots and plaque in the lower part of the stems, the development of fungal diseases, and rotting of roots and tubers.
To promptly identify signs of a lack or excess of moisture, plantings are periodically inspected.
During periods of prolonged rain, it is good to make drainage channels or furrows between the rows to drain excess water.
How to feed potatoes before flowering
Micro and macroelements are especially necessary for potatoes during the formation of tubers. At the stage of preparation for flowering, the plant has already absorbed more than half of the volume of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen that is necessary for the entire life cycle. Therefore, it is advisable to fertilize when the first ovaries appear.
Feeding potatoes before flowering with superphosphate
To prepare a complex mineral supplement, mix 2 grams. ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride, 20 g. superphosphate and 0.1 g. copper sulfate. All components are mixed, poured with warm rainwater and left for 3-4 hours. Then the solution must be filtered, diluted with plain water one to one, after which the liquid can be poured into a sprayer. This composition improves plant photosynthesis, accelerates biological processes and increases resistance to diseases.
Green tincture for potatoes
Before flowering, it is useful to feed potato bushes with nettle infusion. Nettle stems along with green mass are poured with water in a barrel or other container, left in a warm place until the fermentation process begins, then filtered, diluted with rainwater 3-4 times and treated with it on the plants. This fertilizing contains nitrogen, iron, calcium and can be repeated several times, maintaining an interval of 10-15 days.
Signs of incorrect actions
Attention! The harvest is negatively affected by both excess and lack of moisture. In order to prevent the death of the plant or deterioration in yield, it is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of the tops. Signs of lack of moisture:
Signs of lack of moisture:
- The leaves look drooping and light.
- Small stems begin to die.
- The growth of the plant stops, the buds cannot bloom.
Signs of excess moisture:
- The leaves droop, darken and become watery.
- Weeping spots form at the bottom of the stem, sometimes with a gray or white coating.
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There are no clear instructions on when and how much to water potatoes; it all depends on a number of factors: the climatic conditions of a particular region, the composition and density of the soil, whether the summer was rainy or dry. One thing is certain - if you carefully monitor the needs of your plants and follow simple instructions, you will enjoy a bumper harvest in the fall.
Basic rules of watering
It doesn’t matter which method of delivering water to the site you choose.
There are basic rules for saturating potatoes with moisture:
- Watering is carried out only with warm and well-settled water so that the roots do not rot.
- The procedure is carried out not in the heat, but in the evening, so that the daytime sun does not nullify your work, and drops of water do not act like lenses, burning the surface of the leaves.
- The intensity depends on the type of soil: light soil is watered a little, but often; heavy ones are watered less frequently, but with gradual absorption of water.
- After the irrigation procedure or after rain, the soil around the bushes must be carefully loosened, saturating it with oxygen.
If all conditions are met, then you are watering the beds correctly.
Types of irrigation
You can moisten crops in different ways. Water at the roots or furrows, irrigate the beds. Dry watering, loosening the soil or mulching with organic and inorganic materials will help preserve moisture in difficult conditions. You need to choose a method based on the amount of precipitation, the size of the garden and the possibilities for watering. If you often leave and cannot regularly check the condition of the soil, mulch it or install an automatic system.
Root
A classic method suitable for small planting areas. Its main advantage: it is completely manual and individual, so you can personally control the amount of liquid for each plant, assessing its condition. In large areas this approach is practically not used. Try not to flood the stem and leaves, moistening only the soil. There is no need to water potatoes often: it can only do harm.
Grooves
In large areas, households often use the furrow method. Water is poured into deep channels between the beds, blocking the outlet so that the liquid does not spill throughout the garden. After a couple of days, the soil is loosened in washed-out areas. Water consumption is high, but you don’t have to worry about watering for a long time: the soil will be moistened gradually. Watering potatoes in this way is well suited for the middle phase of growth, until the plant has finished forming fruits. Further excess moisture will harm.
Spraying and drops
To save water, methods that simulate rain are used. The stream is made very weak, and a nozzle is often used that disperses water in the manner of a shower. This method is gentle on the root system and does not wash away the soil. It is important to loosen the soil regularly, otherwise the layer will become too dense. You can easily overdo it with the amount of water, which will lead to the development of fungus and infections. And do not water potatoes with cold water: this will reduce their resistance to diseases.
Automated drip irrigation is economical and practical. The irrigation system allows you to keep the soil moisture level normal, but the installations are expensive, so they are often used only on large farms. Watering potatoes by sprinkling is the closest to natural method. You can use it after flowering to maintain humidity at the desired level.
Important!
Using salt water you can fight insect pests in the garden. The main thing is not to overdo it with the amount: a large amount of salt draws out the liquid.
Dry watering
This method consists of loosening and hilling. This improves soil aeration and saturates the soil with air. Regular loosening is beneficial for the root system, which ultimately leads to an improvement in the condition of the entire plant. To get the effect, you need to follow several rules:
- Hill up the beds immediately after the first moistening.
- Cover the regrown part of the potato completely with soil.
- You need to do this three times before the flowers appear.
- After flowering, be sure to loosen the space between the rows without damaging the growing tubers.
Dry watering is more of an addition to care. To grow a good harvest, water your potatoes properly at least several times after you plant them.
Mulching
If you rarely appear at the dacha and cannot water the plants regularly, mulch the soil. This will help keep the soil moist. Organic matter is good for covering crops. Straw or sawdust will have the desired effect. When rotted, such mulch becomes humus, additionally moistening the soil. The straw can be easily moved aside to check the condition of the soil. If you notice that it is losing moisture, water the beds.
The question of whether potatoes need to be watered is quite controversial. It all depends on the climate, region, soil temperature and its composition. In some regions, watering is required regularly; without it, potatoes simply will not germinate. And in others, dry watering or natural moisture from regular rains is sufficient. You can balance the amount of moisture by mulching. The protective layer will not only keep the soil moist for a long time, but will also increase the nutritional value of the soil. There is no need to water the potatoes after planting. It is optimal to do this several times a season, after the first leaves hatch.
Early potatoes
Early varieties require special conditions because they grow faster. Lack of moisture can be disastrous for them: the yield and size of the tubers are sharply reduced. Monitor the growing season and replenish the lack of substances on time. Then even the earliest potato varieties will grow without loss.
The frequency of watering for early-ripening potatoes will be higher, and the amount of liquid will be less. Do not allow the soil to become dry, otherwise the tubers may simply not have time to form. Bushes require the most moisture during flowering and fruit formation. Any watering method is suitable: from irrigation or automatic watering system to classic root irrigation. Early varieties are best grown in prepared soil. The lack of nutrients can be made up for with fertilizers and the plants can be sprayed with special solutions with added minerals.
Organization of watering
Watering potatoes is carried out in different ways. In small garden plots, irrigation work is most often carried out at the root, pouring the required amount of moisture under each plant. On farm plots, irrigation along dug furrows or mechanized methods of irrigating vegetable crops are used.
Drip method
For the drip method of irrigating potatoes, special equipment is purchased that supplies moisture in doses to the rhizomes of the bushes. This method is used on large areas with plantings, which greatly facilitates the care of vegetable crops.
Under the root
Gardeners and gardeners most often water potato bushes at the roots, pouring up to 5 liters of moisture under each plant.
For such watering, watering cans or buckets with warm, settled water are used.
Along the furrows
Watering potatoes by digging a furrow is most suitable for areas located on slopes. Long furrows are created along the vegetable beds, covering them with a mound of soil at the beginning and at the end. At the beginning of the bed, a hose is placed in the furrow, the water from which independently passes through all the plantings.
Dry watering
The method of dry watering of vegetable beds is used in regions with frequent rains and high air humidity. Also, this irrigation method allows you to retain moisture in the soil for a longer period.
Dry irrigation work includes thorough loosening and hilling of potato beds.
- The first hilling of plantings is carried out as soon as the bushes grow to the 10 centimeter mark. Plants are completely covered with soil.
- Before the flowering period begins, up to 4 dry watering events are carried out.
- After flowering ends, the soil around the bushes is also loosened.
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Stanislav Pavlovich
Gardener with 17 years of experience and our expert
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Important! For regions with a dry, hot climate, this irrigation method is not suitable.
Mulching
The mulching procedure helps to retain the necessary amount of moisture in the soil for the growth and development of root crops.
The event is carried out after watering and loosening the soil, laying dry grass, sawdust or compost on the beds with vegetable bushes.
Sprinkling
On large farm plots and vegetable gardens, irrigation is used in the form of sprinkling. To do this, install special equipment with small sprayers, the moisture from which is directed towards the vegetable crop.
Potato diseases and pests
Pest control
There are a considerable number of insects that harm growing potatoes with their vital activity. The fight against them is also complicated by the desire to grow an environmentally friendly crop, without chemicals. Therefore, in this article we will try to focus on the experience of gardeners - folk methods.
Experienced gardeners advise planting flowering crops with a spicy aroma: calendula and marigolds along the entire perimeter of the plantings. We described the beneficial properties of marigolds in this article.
- Wireworm. The larva of a click beetle is yellowish-brown. By making numerous passages in the tubers, they cause rot in them. A favorable environment is dry soil.
In the fight against wireworms, it is important to prevent the soil from drying out, collect the larvae for bait and burn them.
Prevention of wireworms - plant green manure - legumes and green manure - mustard (before planting potatoes); Place a handful of onion peels in each hole when planting.
- Colorado beetle. The main enemy of your potato plantings. Adult beetles pose a danger. so do their larvae, which eat the tops.
Control of the Colorado potato beetle - manual collection and destruction.
Prevention - scattering ash around the bushes in the initial stage of the growing season; pouring ash into holes during planting.
Carrying out chemical treatment against the Colorado potato beetle. Dilute preparations for the destruction of adults and larvae (for example, Confidor) twice as strong, but use correspondingly half the amount of the diluted preparation.
It is important to do the treatment in mid-June, which will affect the safety of the future harvest (2-3 months after treatment). If you use the usual recommended dose and timing, then when processing in July there is only a month and a half left before harvest, and there will be more chemical residues in the tubers.
Protection from diseases
Various fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases cause great damage to both plantings and harvested crops during storage. Therefore, the most important point in saving the crop is prevention and the fastest response to the manifestation of disease symptoms. The most important preventive measure is planting varieties that are resistant to identified diseases.
- Late blight is the most common disease, manifested by the appearance of brown spots on plant bushes. The disease enters tubers through contact with diseased tops.
Treatment is treatment of plantings with copper sulfate and Bordeaux mixture at the very initial stage of the disease.
Prevention - mowing and destroying tops before harvesting.
- Blackleg (rhizoctoniosis) is a disease that affects the entire plant. Tubers become covered with warts and weeping.
Prevention - high-quality planting material, potash fertilizers (increased doses), adherence to the principles of crop rotation, mowing and destruction of tops before harvesting.
- Common scab is a disease expressed in the appearance of ulcerative growths and formations on tubers.
Prevention – planting varieties resistant to the disease.
Potato disease carries the risk of partial and sometimes complete loss of the crop. Therefore, correct identification of the disease, its prevention and treatment is an important stage in growing potatoes. A more complete list of potato diseases and their treatment can be found here.
Watering during the period of tuber emergence and growth
It is extremely important to moisten the soil during the period of tuber formation, which corresponds to the period of time between the appearance of the first buds and the mass flowering of potatoes. You can’t wait for buds to appear en masse; even single flower stalks are a sign to start watering, which will immediately result in a 15–30% increase in yield.
Another critical period when watering potatoes after planting is extremely important is associated with tuber growth:
- The beginning of this period of time coincides with the end of flowering.
- The ripening of the future harvest ends with the death of the tops.
- During one watering, plants should receive about 20 liters of water; this is the amount that can completely wet the arable layer.
To avoid the development of late blight, potatoes should be watered so that by night, when the air temperature drops, the foliage is dry.
Weeding potatoes
There is quite a lot of controversy surrounding whether potatoes require weeding. But we can definitely say that the root system of potatoes is much weaker than that of many weed plants. And in order for the tubers to be large and healthy, the plant, and the roots, in particular, need aeration (achieved by loosening) and normal moisture.
Weeds grow especially on fertilized and fed soil. At the same time, they certainly take away many useful ingredients from the soil, thereby depleting the nutrition of the tubers. Wheatgrass is especially dangerous; because of it, young nodules begin to rot in the ground.
Weeding potatoes will allow you to:
- Remove weeds that interfere with the normal growth of the potato crop.
- Loosen the soil, ensuring rapid supply of air and moisture to the growing tubers.
When to weed
This is usually done twice during the entire season:
- Twenty to thirty days after planting, when young plants will stretch 3-5 cm.
- When the bushes reach a height of 25-30 cm, but before the bushes flower.
Usually weeding is combined with hilling.
Weeding tools
- Hand tools. Hoes, flat cutters, hoes.
If the potato plantings are small, then there is little point in spending money on purchasing motorized equipment. The most popular hand-held weeding tool is the Fokina flat cutter (it requires less effort and with it you don’t have to worry about cutting the potato root system)
A tool that looks like a poker with connected ends is also convenient for manual weeding.
- Cultivators. Manual and with a motor (electric or petrol). A necessary tool for those gardeners for whom physical effort is difficult, for example, people with sore joints or the elderly.
The “Hedgehog” type cultivator is very popular, which does an excellent job of weeding and hilling beds.
Hedgehogs for weeding potatoes are a structure of two fastened cones, each of which has rings. Sharp spikes are attached to metal rings by boiling. Two hedgehogs are put on the frame of the cultivator, and passes are made between the rows, during which the weeds are caught and the soil is raked up.
Hedgehog type attachments can be used in a cultivator with any control. But for heavy soils, a powerful engine is recommended.
With the right choice of weeding tools, labor costs are reduced, and the money spent on the purchase of equipment will be repaid with an excellent harvest.
- Motoblocks. It is advisable to use this equipment on farms.
Dry watering and mulch as an addition to watering potatoes
Dry watering, i.e. loosening the soil will help conserve moisture, enrich the soil with oxygen and increase productivity. You can start loosening only after potato sprouts appear on the surface of the ground.
You can reduce the amount of watering and retain moisture in the soil longer by mulching. Sawdust, green manure, hay and other organic substances are suitable for this. With the onset of heat, mulch will provide the potatoes with a comfortable coolness, condenses moisture from the air, and after rotting it will become a top dressing. It will also protect the soil from sunlight and weeds. This reduces the need for frequent feeding.
