Do I need to pick flowers from potatoes

On the Internet, the question more and more often arises - is it necessary to pick flowers from potatoes? The question is quite controversial. Amateur gardeners and professional agronomists still cannot agree on this. Some advocate the timely removal of inflorescences. The main argument is that potatoes spend too much energy on color and seed formation, which is why the tubers do not have time to grow to their full size. Others believe that the flowering of potatoes should not be interrupted, since each plant has a certain development cycle.

If you plan to collect seeds from potatoes for further growing tubers, then pinching the tops of the plant, as well as picking off the inflorescences, is not worth it. In the event that potatoes are grown only for the purpose of obtaining a harvest for personal consumption, then flowers can be cut off at the very beginning of their ovary.

Science experiment

Not finding an answer to the question of whether to pick flowers from potatoes, representatives of the scientific community decided to conduct an experiment. For this, three beds of one variety of potatoes were planted. The first landing was left as it is. Flowers and buds were not cut off, allowing the potato to go through the entire cycle of full development. On the second bed, the tops of the plant were pinched a little, on the third all flowers and buds were completely removed.

At the end of the growing season of potatoes, when it was time to harvest, scientists received the following experimental results:

• In the first bed, where the potatoes had passed their full developmental stage, a small number of tubers were observed on the bushes. However, all of them had a clear shape as well as large size.
• In the bed, where the inflorescences were completely removed, a large number of potato tubers of small size were observed. Large tubers were found in isolated cases.

Upon completion of the experiment, agronomists came to logical conclusions:

1. The size and number of tubers directly depend on the removal of the inflorescences, as well as on the pinching of the tops.
2. Injury to potatoes, which is observed when the flowers are broken, increases the maturation of the tubers. This is due to the fact that the plant spends tremendous energy on the restoration of injured stems.
3. A potato that has its flowers cut off and the tops pinched is most susceptible to disease. The most dangerous disease is recognized late blight, which can ruin up to 70% of the entire crop.

Gardening tips

Before deciding whether to cut the potato flowers, there are a few basic guidelines to consider:

• First, special attention should be paid to the climatic conditions in which the plant develops. In dry and windy climates, most flowers are believed to be sterile. In other words, no seed formation occurs at the end of the potato growing season. Energy is not spent on maturation. Thus, injury to the plant in such a case would be an unjustified risk.
• Secondly, do not forget about plant safety and quarantine measures. Plucking potato flowers, a man walks between the rows. This becomes the reason for trampling the soil. Due to the large size of the bushes hilling beds is impossible. Hard breeds inhibit the development of tubers, which will affect the yield of potatoes.
• Thirdly, a person is a carrier of fungal and bacterial diseases. By removing the inflorescences, pathogens of the fungus, viruses and bacteria spread from bush to bush.Ultimately, this can lead to crop failure.

If the decision about whether to pick flowers from potatoes was positive, then it should be remembered that this process should be carried out before the buds pick up color. If time is missed, then the inflorescences must be left until the seeds ripen.

Is there really a relationship between yield and potato flowers?

In order to finally dot the i's, it is necessary to assess the relationship between seed formation and tuber ripening. Organic substances that are formed in the potato stem and leaves are redistributed in an appropriate proportion between all organs of the plant. Including most of the nutrients go to the inflorescences, where seeds are formed.

It is believed that about 25% goes to flowers, 24-25% to leaves and stem. The rest of the substances are sent to the tubers. In other words, when potatoes have flowers, much less organic matter is allocated for the development of tubers. The amount of starch is reduced. Tubers become small, take on bizarre shapes. If you use the tubers for planting next year, then the yield will drop by another half.

Thus, the yield of potatoes really depends on the presence of flowers in the plant. However, you should not decide to completely remove the potato flowers. After all, this is a double-edged sword, which was confirmed by a scientific experiment.

Video: "Do I need to remove flowers and buds from potatoes?"