New ways of planting potatoes and care features
Potatoes are an unpretentious crop that grows on all types of soil. In order to get the maximum yield of a vegetable from a small area under different agroclimatic conditions, various options for its cultivation were created. In the article we will tell you in what ways potatoes are sown.
The content of the article
How to grow a large crop of potatoes
Potato yield depends on:
- quality of planting material;
- soil fertility;
- location beds;
- landing method;
- leaving;
- disease prevention and pest control.
Preparing potatoes for planting
Preparing potatoes for planting includes treatment with disinfectants and growth stimulants, and germination of tubers... Seed material is disinfected to prevent disease and pest damage. Processing is carried out by soaking tubers in purchased disinfectant solutions according to the instructions. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, they resort to growth stimulants, watering the sprouted tubers with them 2 days before planting in open ground.
Attention! If the potatoes were purchased from an unknown manufacturer or received during the rainy season, disinfection with fungicides is recommended.
For germination, the tubers are placed in the light, sprinkling with water every day and turning over once every 3 days. With the wet method, the potatoes are placed in boxes, sprinkled with peat or perlite, and taken out to a cool place. Regularly moisturizing the substrate, they achieve the appearance of shoots and roots.
The combined method includes the previous two. First, the planting material is kept for several weeks in the light at a temperature of + 10 ° C, subject to daily turning and spraying. After the first shoots appear, the potatoes are transferred to a humid environment for 3 weeks to form roots.
Traditional planting methods
Traditional planting methods include smooth, ridged and trenching ways.
Basic landing patterns
The distance between the tubers depends on the potato variety. Scheme for early varieties: distance between rows - 60 cm, between tubers - 30 cm. When late varieties are planted, the indicators increase by 10 cm. The planting depth ranges from 4-5 cm on clay soils to 10-12 cm on sandy soils.
Shovel landing
On loose and moisture-consuming soil, potatoes are planted under shovel... In the designated rows, small holes are made into which the tubers are laid. Each planting is covered with earth from a hole in a parallel row.
Landing in ridges
Ridges are narrow strips of excavated earth. They can be either single or double. In the latter case, the landing holes are staggered. The interval between the ridges is 25-30 cm.This arrangement helps to increase the number of tubers and their mass, and also helps to avoid infestation of potatoes with late blight.
In the trenches
The trench planting method has proven itself well with insufficient moisture. Sprouted tubers are laid in deep (up to 0.5 m) trenches filled with plant residues and soil mixed with wood ash. The planting material is sprinkled with a peat mixture and covered with a film. After the emergence of seedlings, the film is removed, and the sprouts are sprinkled with compost mass and again covered. After the second germination, the procedure is repeated, after which holes are cut in the film for young plants.
Reference. The film suppresses the growth of weeds, and also eliminates the need for hilling and loosening the soil.
Into the ridges
It is used in areas with a close occurrence of groundwater and on heavy soils. The potatoes are planted in ridges 15 cm high, spaced 70 cm apart. The embedding depth is from 6 to 8 cm. Holes are dug at a distance of 25-30 cm from the edge of the embankment.
Deep landing
The American method involves planting tubers according to the 22 × 22 cm scheme at the same depth. Suitable for late planting, when the soil warms up to a great depth, as well as for light soils that quickly lose moisture.
New planting methods
When there is not enough space to get a large harvest, they resort to new methods of sowing potatoes - in containers.
In bags
Growing in bags is like this:
- The bottom of the container is filled with a layer of humus (up to 30 cm).
- Sprouted tubers are spread at a distance of 25 cm from each other.
- Sprinkle potatoes with a mixture of earth and humus (layer 8-10 cm).
- Water immediately after planting and as needed.
- Pour in the nutrient mixture as the shoots grow, every 5-6 cm in an amount twice the height of the plant.
- Harvest after the tops have dried.
Into barrels
The barrel cultivation scheme is similar to bagging. The difference lies in the features of the container: the bottoms of wooden barrels are removed before planting, and drainage holes are made in the plastic containers on the walls and bottom.
In boxes
In addition to barrels and bags, the use of other handy containers is practiced: wooden and plastic boxes, various containers. The cultivation technology remains the same as in the case of barrels and sacks.
Important! The main requirement for growing potatoes in containers is good drainage.
Unconventional methods
New methods of planting and caring for potatoes differ from traditional ones in that they do not involve digging the earth and hilling the beds.
Landing without digging
Digging and loosening the earth destroys its upper fertile layer, as a result of which the roots of plants feel a lack of necessary substances. The technology of growing potatoes without digging involves obtaining tubers on horizontal stolon shoots that grow from the base of the stem.
Planting in the grass
The area overgrown with grass is not dug up, and the beds are marked immediately on virgin soil at a distance of 50 cm from each other. Sprouted potatoes are laid out in 2-3 pieces in each planting nest with an interval of 25 cm and covered with a darkening airtight material (hay, dry leaves, dried compost). To protect from the wind, the garden bed is covered with lutrasil or burlap. Later, it is replaced with organic waste, regularly renewing the compost layer.
Into high beds
Planting in high beds (ridges) makes it easier to work the potato field. On the prepared site, rovts are made, delimiting the beds. Sprouted tubers are laid out in a row 25 cm apart, covered with earth with a hoe, forming a high bed.
Into sawdust
The method is well suited for growing early potato varieties.Sprouted planting material is spread over the surface of the earth, sprinkled with a layer of old sawdust mixed with rotted manure so that the tubers are completely covered. As the sawdust decomposes, their layer is renewed.
Reference. Use only old sawdust so as not to provoke potato rotting.
Square-nest method
With a square-nesting planting, the site is marked out so that the potato bushes are in the corners of imaginary squares. This reduces the competition of plants for sunlight, water and nutrients. An important condition for obtaining a good harvest is thorough hilling and watering of the crop.
Under the mulch
Potato maintenance is facilitated by covering with mulch. The protective layer relieves from weeding and hilling, and also significantly reduces the amount of watering. Hay or straw that condenses moisture is used as a mulching material.
Under the straw
Planting under straw used on virgin soil and heavy soils. When spreading potatoes on a flat surface or in shallow holes, they do not sprinkle with earth, but cover with a thick layer of straw, adding it as the shoots grow.
Cascade
When cultivating the land in hilly terrain, they use a cascade method, forming furrows and ridges across the slope. Potatoes are planted in depressions, covering them with soil from the ridges. The formed ditches trap water, which ensures the quality of the crop.
Under count
The stake is a bar with teeth for making holes evenly. The potato tubers are laid out in the holes obtained and sprinkled, pressing a little into the ground. The method allows you to reduce the time and effort required.
Into the mounds
The tubers are laid out in holes, made along the diameter of the marked circles every 25-40 cm, and sprinkled with earth. As the bushes grow, they huddle, forming a hill, in the middle of which there is a deep hole for watering.
Chinese way
Sprouted tubers are lowered into deep (at least 70 cm) and wide pits, covered with a mixture of earth with manure and superphosphate with a layer of no more than 10 cm. The rest of the pit is left empty. When the bush grows up, sprinkle it again, leaving no more than 5 cm of the plant above the surface. Repeating the procedure several times, a small hill is obtained around the bush.
Important! Potatoes do not need hilling and weeding.
Under cardboard
The surface of the site is moistened and covered with an overlap with sheets of thick cardboard, in which X-shaped cuts are made at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Sprouted tubers are placed there and the edges of the leaves are closed. As the shoots germinate, they mulch with straw, replenishing it if necessary.
Landing with a walk-behind tractor
In small areas, potatoes are planted using a walk-behind tractor with a hiller. The soil-lug wheels of the mechanism make even furrows into which the potatoes pouring out of the bunker are placed. Then, with the help of a hiller, the tubers are covered with earth, at the same time tamping it down.
Greenhouse planting
In heated greenhouses, potatoes are planted in late August and late February. Use only green sprouted tubers treated from pests. Planted in fertilized soil, the surface temperature of which is not less than + 5 ° С to a depth of 6-7 cm. In this case, the row spacing ranges from 60 to 65 cm, and the distance between the holes in a row is from 25 to 30 cm.
Attention! When planting potatoes in a greenhouse, the tubers must not be cut, as the smell of fresh juice will attract pests.
In unheated greenhouses, potatoes are planted only in spring under spunbond.
Planting under film and agrofibre
You can grow early potatoes without the risk of frost damage to it using film or agrofibre.
Features of growing under film
After planting, the potatoes are covered with a film, pressing it along the edges so as not to be blown away by the wind. After emergence, polyethylene is regularly removed for ventilation.When the ambient temperature rises, the seedlings are kept ajar to avoid overheating. They are completely covered at night.
Growing under agrofibre
Unlike film, agrofiber is moisture and air permeable, which makes it easier to care for the beds. If there is a threat of severe frost, the non-woven material is additionally insulated with a film.
Original methods
Unusual, but scientifically proven methods of growing potatoes, help to get a rich harvest with a minimum of labor.
Fokine's method
Fokin is the creator of the flat cutter, a device that facilitates the process of farming. When growing potatoes, it allows the formation of furrows and beds, as well as hilling.
Joint planting with legumes
Seeds of legumes are sown after potatoes in the same row, placing them between potato bushes. This neighborhood contributes to the compaction of plantings, enrichment of the soil with nitrogen compounds and protection from the Colorado potato beetle.
According to Meatlider
Method provides for the use of narrow ridges with wide passages between them. Potatoes are provided with access to nutrients while using water sparingly.
Gülich technology
The tubers are laid out in the nests laid with manure, formed in the center of squares with a side of 49 cm. Then the planting material is again covered with manure and covered with a mound of earth in the form of a pyramid. Care consists in removing weeds and adding pyramids.
Dutch technology
Potatoes are planted into long furrows into a small depth, which provides free penetration of air to the roots, good lighting and prevents the accumulation of excess moisture.
Balabanov's method
Tubers are planted in ridges, delimited by wide aisles (up to 120 cm). The earth is not dug up, but the planting material is lowered into small holes at the top of the ridge.
Folk method
The annular incision of tubers to a depth of 1 cm before planting promotes massive growth of the lower buds and an even distribution of nutrients.
Other
The flowering buds of potatoes are torn off and the stems are broken off to increase yields. However, this method is associated with damage to the plant and can backfire.
Tips & Tricks
Tips from experienced growers:
- Good lighting of the site.
- The wetter the soil, the shallower the tubers are embedded.
- The distance between the planting holes is at least 25 cm.
- The row spacing is from 50 cm.
- Potatoes are planted in warm soil.
- It is better not to huddle the bushes, but cover them with earth.
Conclusion
Growing potatoes using the traditional method takes a lot of time and effort. To simplify this process and get a rich harvest from a small area, the use of non-standard methods helps, for example, without hilling, digging the earth, using containers, etc.