Interesting Ways To Grow Potatoes

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

As observations show, despite the abundance of a variety of vegetables in stores, potatoes clearly dominate in the plots among the crops grown and in the diet of summer residents and gardeners: some grow it to pamper themselves and loved ones with young tubers early, others - to have a second bread at hand the whole season, and still others - to stock up on "earthy apples" for future use.

Unfortunately, the special literature on potato agricultural technology usually recommends one method of growing it - the bed method - and does not pay attention to the obvious finds in this area, found by summer residents and gardeners on their plots. The first two finds, practiced most often in plots with a very small area, consist, respectively, of growing potatoes in pits and bags.

According to the experience of some gardeners, the pit is made at least 0.5 m deep and 0.7x0.7 m in size, fertile soil is poured onto the bottom, a germinated tuber is planted in it, and as the tops appear, soil is periodically added until the pit is above the pit. a hill up to half a meter above ground level will not be created. In this case, the tubers are planted in pits in April - under the film. Due to the formation of additional stepchildren and stolons, the potato yield increases sharply and reaches up to a bucket from the bush, reducing the planting area by 2-3 times.

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Other gardeners grow bagged potatoes. They make them from old plastic wrap. Then these bags are filled with fertile soil mixture. Then, diamond-shaped cuts are made on the sides of them, into which sprouted tubers are planted. Bags with sprouted potatoes in the form of pedestals are then placed in rows along the edges of the plot, along ditches or between fruit trees. As experience shows, in comparison with conventional ridge plantings, the yield from 1 m of area in this case increases almost twice.

The third method of growing potatoes can be called wall-mounted, since its implementation requires a garden bed (see Fig. 1), adjacent from the south to any wall (utility block, garage, fence, etc.). To do this, a layer of compost is poured on the ground along the wall, and seed elite tubers are planted in it. Each time the seedlings reach a height of 15 cm, they are covered with fertile soil. Once again they will stretch 15 cm - again pour in a new portion of soil. And this is done until the planting of potatoes takes the form of a convex surface 0.6-0.8 m high, running down to the edge of the bed. Between the two rows of planting tubers are placed pipes driven into the ground, which have holes and are used for watering and feeding the roots, stolons and stems. Since such a bed is perfectly heated by the sun, a multi-tiered system of stolons is created in a highly nutritious environment, which allows you to get a crop from 1 m2exceeding the usual ridge by 2-2.5 times.

The fourth method of growing potatoes, which I use on my site, is based on the double row method according to the experience of gardeners N. Surtanov and Yu. Petrov. However, I grow potatoes in a garden bed that has a width of 150 cm instead of the 210 cm required by the method, and with a modified version of the formation of ridges and moisture supply for roots and stolons.

Unlike the known method, I first make a pile of soil along a cord in the middle of the bed (see Fig. 2 A), and at its bottom there are two slightly inclined planes for double rows of tubers planted in holes made in these planes in a checkerboard pattern with a step of 30 cm, and between the rows - 25 cm. At the same time, before planting a tuber, I add a complex mixture consisting of compost in a volume of up to 0.6 l and coniferous needles or chopped cones and ash in a volume of 0.4 l to each hole, as well as 1.5-2 tablespoons of ammophos. I cover all the potato stalks that appear later with soil from the pile, and until, in place of the latter, a groove with a bottom at the level of the roots is formed, and the double rows acquire the same shape as in Fig. 2 B. Part of the soil for filling in the outer rows is taken from the aisles between the beds.

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The main feature of a potato bed, in contrast to the known ones, is to ensure regulation of moisture in the root zone. It is carried out both by closing or opening special earthen beads made at the ends of the furrow, and by small grooves in the middle of the ridges, created with a lack of moisture and eliminated with an excess. In the absence of rain, water is supplied to the main furrow from a hose, and to the small grooves from a watering can.

As a result of all the above, it was possible to carry out hilling continuously, significantly increase the volume of ridges and provide the soil in the zone of roots and stolons with a stable moisture content. Compared to the previous method of growing potatoes, which allows you to have only 2 combs in the garden, there are 4 of them, and the potato yield increased almost 1.8 times and reached 7-8 kg instead of 3.5-4.5 kg from 1 m2. At the same time, the tubers were clean and had good taste. Based on the foregoing, any site owner who is thinking about the problem of increasing the yield of potatoes has the opportunity to choose a method of growing it that is more profitable than the usual ridge one, is simple and meets the characteristics of the site well.