There is no clear answer to the question of whether it is necessary to pick flowers from potatoes. Some believe that this will lead to disruption of plant development. The opinion of others is that the plant spends a lot of energy and nutrients on flowers. Therefore, they only interfere with the development of tubers. It is necessary to understand each of these opinions in detail.
Flowering period
Productivity of any kind potato is not associated with flowering. Breeders are developing new varieties that don't even bloom. In this case, there is no need to pick off the flowers from the potatoes. The plant does not waste energy on the formation of buds.Their tubers form even before flowering begins. This additionally reduces the risk of contracting common infections and avoids pest attacks.
Some potato varieties bloom quickly. The flowers are produced very small. Sometimes you can even overlook this period. There are potato varieties that may or may not bloom. So, in dry weather, potatoes do not bloom, but in rainy season they may appear.
The flowering period may not occur due to improper care of vegetable beds. Insufficient light penetration, overfeeding with fertilizers (especially nitrogen), too much watering, infertile soil. Pests can eat flower ovaries.
Is it worth picking off the flowers from potatoes? Many agronomists believe that it is not worth interfering with the flowering period. You can simply help potatoes develop by adding organic or mineral fertilizers to the soil. When the buds appear, it is useful to feed them with wood ash; when they bloom, chicken droppings are useful.
During the period of inflorescence formation, it is important to follow the watering regime. If there is no precipitation, then one bush should require at least three liters of water. It is better to water in the morning or evening. The next day you need to loosen and hill up the soil.
All these measures will be enough to save yourself from the painfully long procedure of cutting flowers. In pruned bushes, the risk of infection increases. An injured bush will either hurt or form even more buds. And the nutritional components for growth will again be spent on their development.
New inflorescences will not appear if already pollinated flowers are torn off.But in this case, the procedure will not make sense, since by this time they already have time to absorb the necessary nutritional components.
Should I pick flowers off potatoes?
Potato is a flowering type of vegetable crop. During the flowering period, active formation of tubers occurs. It is believed that if you pick off the flowers of a potato, the plant loses one of its development cycles. Next year the potatoes will be smaller and will soon completely degenerate.
Scientists conducted an experiment that involved monitoring the growth and development of a plant. For some of the potatoes, all the inflorescences were left unchanged, for the second group of vegetable crops under study, they were torn off, and for the third part, the entire top with flowers was cut off.
After the end of the growing season, a comparison of the harvested crop was carried out. Potatoes with flowers formed a small number of tubers, but they were all large. From the second part of the plants it was possible to collect a large harvest, but the tubers were of different sizes and mostly small. The third group of plants under study formed about 30 small potatoes.
In this case, the experiment showed that it is better not to make changes to the development. Potatoes do not need flowers, since they do not play a role in the formation of tubers. But injury occurs, and the plant devotes a lot of time and effort to recovery. If there is a need to remove flowers from potatoes, then it is better to pick only the buds. You should not cut off the shoots, otherwise the harvest will be numerous, but small.
It will depend on the variety whether the flowers can be picked. There are potato varieties that do not form inflorescences at all or form them in small quantities. In this case, it’s not worth touching them at all. The life cycle will be disrupted and the plant may die.In addition to the variety, the composition of the soil and weather conditions influence whether it is necessary to pick off flowers from potatoes during flowering.
In places where the climate is arid, the pollen is usually sterile, seeds are not formed, the ovaries form poorly and this does not in any way affect the development of underground shoots. Therefore, the process of plucking will lead to unnecessary damage to the bushes. Heavy rains provide sufficient nutrition to all parts of the potato bush. Therefore, in this case there is no significant benefit from such a procedure.
Why shouldn't such a procedure be carried out? Picking flowers has a bad effect on the development of the plant. After the procedure of picking off inflorescences, potato bushes spend energy on restoration, and not on the formation of tubers. The crop begins to ripen later and the risk of infection increases.
Picking flowers cannot be done without trampling the soil between the beds. The soil becomes dense and tuber development becomes slow. Hilling due to the large size of the bushes becomes impossible. Hilling up at earlier stages of plant development is carried out in order to remove excess moisture and better warm the soil.
Why do you need to pick off flowers from potatoes?
Whether you need to pick flowers or not depends on many factors. The decision is made by the vegetable grower himself, taking into account weather conditions, the variety of potatoes, and the purpose of the harvest.
The advantage of removing flowers is the formation of a large number of medium and small potatoes. But not all potato varieties respond to cutting buds and flowers with an increase in yield.
The further purpose of the tubers influences whether it is necessary to pick off the flowers of the potatoes.You cannot pick off the flowers of potatoes that are grown for planting vegetables for the next year. In the future, a worse harvest will be obtained, with small potatoes. Experts recommend planting potatoes separately for growing seed and separately for eating. The buds are cut off from that part of the vegetable crop that is grown for human consumption.
All beneficial substances entering the plant are evenly distributed throughout all its parts. During flowering, a lot of effort is spent on the development of inflorescences, in which the seeds will subsequently ripen. Vegetable growers do not see any benefit in them, since they take about 30% of all nutrients.
There are a number of reasons why some vegetable growers pluck buds and inflorescences:
- It is believed that this procedure has a good effect on the tubers. Potato inflorescences have long been cut off to increase yield, form large fruits and rapid growth of tubers.
- The effectiveness of picking buds and flowers largely depends on the planted variety.
- If the flowers are not cut off, then they, along with the buds and leaves, will take about 50% of the nutrients for their development. Because of this, the starch content in the tubers will decrease, and such potatoes will be of little use for further sowing.
- If the soil is poor and dense, it is still recommended to remove the flowers so that more nutrients penetrate into the underground part of the plant.
- If the potatoes were planted late, then it makes sense to trim the flowers. This will increase productivity.
As a result, if the potatoes being grown are intended to produce seeds, then you should not pick the flowers. If it is grown for the purpose of eating, then you need to pick off the flowers.
Rules for the procedure
After picking the flowers, you need to be prepared for the fact that side shoots will begin to actively form; the growing season will lengthen by about 14–15 days.
For those who decide to get rid of inflorescences to increase the yield, it is necessary to follow some recommendations:
- Be sure to take weather conditions into account. In hot and rainy weather it is better not to start the procedure.
- You only need to cut the buds with sterile garden tools. This will reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
- They move carefully between the rows so as not to trample the ground and damage the leaves.
- Flowers begin to be removed before the buds gain strength. It is necessary to tear off the ovaries (they are green). If you break off the inflorescences, the lower leaves may dry out and turn yellow, and then the yield will decrease.
- Advice: “Cut off brightly colored flowers that rise strongly above the entire bush.” In this case, the plant will not grow and form many shoots.
You can increase the yield by picking off fruits that have set or flowers that have already bloomed. Cutting flowering branches will only harm the plant. A bush cut in this way will bear small fruits.
It is very important to know when to start the cutting procedure. You need to cut off the buds before they begin to bloom. If you pick a flowering branch, it helps reduce immunity. The plant is often susceptible to viral and fungal diseases. If the moment was missed, then it is better to wait until the petals begin to fall on their own. In this case, you need to remove the formed berries.
