The ripening time of potatoes depends on many factors. Potatoes planted at the end of April and May holidays, you can usually dig up in mid-August or early September. If you choose the right variety and planting period, you can get the first young tubers as early as July.

Everything depends on weather conditions, the condition and type of soil, the characteristics of the variety, the presence of pests. When you need to start digging potatoes and how to properly prepare them for the winter - read in the material OBOZREVATEL.

Even at the stage of planting potatoes experienced gardeners advise to remember, and better to write down, the varieties of what maturity date and where you plant. Early varieties can be dug up about a month earlier than medium-mature varieties.

How to check the ripeness of potatoes

Choose a bush close to the edge of the planting, dig it up, inspect the tubers and their skin. If the potatoes can be easily separated from the bush and the peel is tight enough, you can start harvesting.

You should also check the haulm. First of all, dig out bushes, the haulm on which lodged and began to dry up.

For harvesting, it is better to choose a dry and warm day, preferably a few days before there was no rain.

Storage rules for winter

Potatoes should be divided after digging into approximately four batches:

• large tubers;
• medium - weighing an average of 80-90 g;
• smaller than average - weighing 40-50 g;
• small and damaged potatoes.

After harvesting, the potatoes need to be dried. To do this on a warm and windy day, the potatoes are poured out in an open and well-lit place. On average, drying takes from 4 to 6 hours.

In order to keep the potatoes in the cellar in winter, the temperature should be at plus +2+3 ℃, and the humidity should be at 85-90%.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL told how to increase the harvest of potatoes twice.

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