What size of seed potato should I use and how do I treat it before planting?
How to select and treat seed potato (aloo) before planting?
BBaldev1yr ago · 389 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓1yr ago
Use certified, disease free seed potato; saved seed degenerates and carries viruses and rots that cut yield. Choose well sprouted tubers about 25 to 40 g (egg size) and plant whole where possible, as small whole tubers establish better than cut pieces. If you must cut larger tubers, cut so each piece has 2 to 3 healthy sprouts, let cut surfaces heal a day or two, and treat to prevent rot. Treat seed with a recommended fungicide dip or dust before planting to control seed borne and soil rots, and pre sprout in diffused light so emergence is fast and uniform. Avoid soft, shrivelled, blackened or thread sprouted tubers. Plant at the right depth and earth up later to prevent greening. Follow the label dose for any seed treatment chemical.
HHarbhajan1yr ago
Pre sprouting in diffused light before planting gave me much faster and more even emergence. The sprouts were short, green and tough, not the long white thread sprouts that break off, and the crop came up uniform.
KKarnail1yr ago
If you cut big tubers, let the cut faces dry and heal a day or two before planting. The time I planted fresh cut pieces straight into moist soil, a lot rotted before sprouting.
AAvtar12mo ago
Small whole egg size tubers worked better for me than cut pieces. Less rot, better stand. I now buy a seed lot graded to that size rather than cutting big ones.