Alternative ways of planting and growing potatoes - reviews
Reviews about growing potatoes in straw, in bags and layer by layer
There are many ways of alternative planting potatoes. Last year I tried three of them. Here are my reviews and impressions about each ...
Used for planting srednerannie varieties Nevsky and Handsome, mid-season Slavyanka and late Lasunak. (The name of the Belarusian variety Lasunak is translated as “delicacy” or “sweetness”).
See also: Cultivation of potatoes: by science or under straw
TATER IN THE SALT
In the autumn she planned and loosened the shovel stripes to a depth of 10-15 cm, introduced manure into them, and in spring, slightly inflating the landing site, pressed the germinated tubers into the ground and sprinkled it a little with a mixture of ash and ground 1: 1. The landing was covered with a layer of straw (20-25 cm). When the tops grew, a little more straw stripped.
PROS
Straw, rotting, gives heat and fertilizer. The soil beneath it becomes soft as fluff.
Moisture is preserved, weeds do not grow.
When harvesting the bush simply pulled out of straw and plundered the tubers.
MINUSS
To get the necessary amount of straw, I had to travel a lot in the fields.
Mice are planted, so be sure to lay out the poisoned bait.
Not all varieties are suitable for this method. A good harvest was given by Nevsky and Krasivchik varieties - in a 5-liter bucket from the bush. And this is taking into account the fact that we began to eat it already at the end of June. It is convenient to extract individual tubers from under the straw without damaging the rest. But Slavyanka and Lasunak let us down: the tubers were small, and those that were larger were mostly bumpy.
By the way, an agronomist friend advised me not to collect straw for all the fields in the district next time, but to replace it with straw manure. He said that the result would be even better.
Reference by topic: Potatoes under the straw: 6 additions to this method of growing potatoes
GROWING TATER IN BAGS
Here the main thing is that the farm has the necessary amount of fabric bags (polyethylene or from sugar, too, fit, but there will be difficulties with watering). For the experiment, I only took two. Filled them with a mixture of earth, well reparted manure (you can use compost) with the addition of wood chips for greater looseness (the potato adores loose substrates).
The manure must be less than the land, otherwise it will go to the tops. The sawdust and the land took 1: 1. I filled the bags with this nutrient mix, tied it well, laid it horizontally on the ground, made two large cruciform incisions on top and planted one seeded tuber to the depth of 15-20. See. The seedlings should not be too large, otherwise they will break.
PROS
It is convenient to water.
No need to weed and hoe. You can arrange beds anywhere, just in a sunny place.
MINUSS
For planting 1 buckets of potatoes you need a lot of bags.
The harvest is not as good as they say. Nubies on the stools are tied up a lot for all varieties, but they are poured badly.
There were no large tubers at all, quite small ones, too. With a large chicken egg, a crop was obtained: with 2 tubers (bags), one and a half 10-liter buckets.
The bushes fall apart a lot, and one falls out of the bag at all.
With bags you can say goodbye.
See also: How to grow potatoes in straw
TATER POSTLOYNO (IN THE PIT)
The method is the most labor-intensive: a good harvest from the layered tubers will be obtained only with good agrotechnics. I strictly followed the instructions.
3 tubers need a pit of 80 × 80 cm with a depth of 50 cm (I only had enough for two).
In each poured out on 0,5 buckets of perepredshego manure, razrovnyala and covered the ground (15-20 cm).
I cooked a nutrient mixture from 2 buckets of the manure and put it out of the pit and poured it from above. The pit was half full. She laid 3 sprouted potatoes at the same distance from each other (35-40 cm) and covered them with another layer of soil mixture of thickness 10-15 cm.
As the tops of the tops were growing, I added nutrient mixture (6 times), irrigated and fertilized with bird droppings (diluting 0,5 l in 15 l of water). The height of the "kurganchik" turned out to be not less than 30 cm, and the bushes on them were a lovely sight. When the bloom began, in general, the eyes do not tear.
PROS
You do not need to process a large area of land.
A small planting is easier to protect from the Colorado beetle without chemicals.
MINUSS
Labor intensity.
Some truck farmers managed to get a bag of selected potatoes from one pit. I'm not one of them: 2 buckets with one and 1,5 on the other. The tubers were large, but in small quantities.
Planting 6 potatoes took all day and care required a lot.
The neighbors are now laughing with a laugh: will I bury potatoes this year? And now you know - I will! Because it’s interesting what will come of it! Of course, recklessly believe everything that is written on the Internet, it is impossible.
In my case, only planting under the straw brought a more or less good result, but with the remaining methods it is still necessary to understand. After all, if someone has succeeded, it means that I have to. I just did something wrong.
On a note:
TWO PROBLEMS OF COLORFUL POTATOES
1. Growing a “trendy” potato with colored pulp was no more difficult than normal. However, problems began during the harvest: the color of the tubers perfectly matched the color of the surrounding soil, and they had to be literally searched by touch.
2. And the second problem crept up from an unexpected side: the husband and son, seeing the purple roast, unanimously refused to eat it. So I had to add this potato in small quantities to the regular one ... and I have it myself. Only in salads managed to disguise it. Raw purple potato tastes slightly different from our usual one. Unless boiled, it is more dense, viscous (apparently, a little starch).
I. LEVASHOVA Moscow Region.
You read and wonder: what our gardeners and gardeners are just not capable of! For example, potatoes under a hay-straw layer of up to 40 cm - this work can be done by a strong peasant, and not by older women like me. From ancient times, potatoes were planted in the ground, while the stolons grow very well in all directions, forming many (from 20-25 to 30) large tubers. In 2015, I planted Adretta, Karatop, and the Dutchwoman — a total of 5 buckets. Of course, green, bathed in a special solution: 1 tsp. boric acid, copper sulfate and manganese, 10 tablets of succinic acid in 10 liters of water. I stand in this solution for 30 minutes. after germination in the room, I lay out in a row under the bed, table (where possible).
And in April I land on the waning Moon in the sign of Capricorn (every year I plant all root crops in this sign and with the waning Moon).
After sprouting, it immediately spudded slightly, and a week later, when the tops of the leaves grew, spudded with its head and then repeated again. The tops are growing quickly, the bushes are very powerful, with plump stems. I loosen the row-spacings (70-75 cm) and podkuchivaet, while the tops allow, until it is completely closed, but then I try to loosen the row-spacings after watering - to give oxygen to the roots. Yes, at the beginning I missed that I cultivate land only in spring and without dump. Watering with sprinkling.
Planted two rows (30 pcs.) Red Scarlett - the most productive variety, but the Kolonradsky beetle loves him very much, I had to abandon it.
Total planted 5, and dug up 90 buckets of very large potatoes, even on seeds barely scored in size. Two weeks before the digging, she cut the tops, stopped watering a month before the digging, but did spraying the land in the evening, as the weather was very hot all August. And an absolutely amazing harvest was received, despite the fact that we had 4 June, when the potatoes were already powerful, a tornado with the strongest hail passed, the hurricane laid the entire tops and bared and peeled off the stems.
The whole garden suffered from this misfortune - all the tops of the peppers were cut off, the stalks were also peeled, the tomatoes in the same condition as all the vegetables were laid down, the stalks were beaten, the leaves were torn off ... I had to raise everything and hone it. After lifting the bare stems, I sprayed all the vegetables with urea (2 tbsp. Per 10 liters of water), and sprayed the potatoes again when I fought with the Colorado potato beetle, and added 2 tbsp. To the preparation. l urea.
The potato began to grow rapidly immediately after the first spraying, and the colorado just flew into the young shoots. But thanks to the urea, the bushes became powerful, and the tops were powerful, plump, generally stood a wall - closed at a height of about a meter.
Urea very well contributes to the death of red larvae of the Colorado potato beetle and laid eggs on the back of the leaf.
© Author: Z. Alekminskaya Volgograd region.
Potato breaks traditions
Last season I planted several rows of potatoes in wayswhich did not apply before. Immediately make a reservation: I thought of something myself, borrowed something from the advice of experienced gardeners.
Bark stimulator
My cottage is located near the forest. From there, I procured a large amount of bark from old dried trees and dragged it to my site. Part of this raw material I used in the form of mulch for decorative host. And from the remnants, which I carefully crushed, it turned out a high-quality stimulator for potatoes.
I divided the plot into two equal beds. On one of them, when planting tubers, humus was added to the wells, and on the other, only a handful of wood powder. And what?
Where the bark was sprinkled, the harvest was much larger. The tubers here were clean, large, even. In addition, I noticed that the plants in this garden were not damaged at all by the Colorado potato beetle.
Warm garden bricks
I found application also for an old red brick, from which I laid out a box measuring 2 × 5 m high about half a meter. Here I grew early potatoes. I used hay and all plant wastes as biofuel: weeds (without seeds and roots), tops and peels of vegetables, leaves of sunflowers. In autumn, she laid all these components with a layer of 15-20 cm, covered with rotted dry manure mixed with garden soil (1: 2). In March, it “warmed up” the soil in the box and at the same time disinfected it by spilling it with Fi-tosporin-M water (as instructed, and covering it with plastic film). And in mid-April, planted the grown tubers in the holes, slightly sprinkling them with ash.
In the daytime, in warm weather, the film rolled up, and after the end of the frost, removed it completely. This method allowed us to speed up the production of tubers for the summer table. At the end of June, fresh potatoes were a tasty treat for my family. This method is laborious, but the harvest is so impressive that everything pays off with interest.
Potato grows in the grid
Late potatoes were grown in nets that sell packaged fruits and vegetables. All winter I did not throw them away, collected them - and now they came in handy in the garden. I planted the potato like this: poured ash into the hole, a little onion peel, covered it all with soil, and then laid out the net. In each spread sprouted potatoes. The tubers of the new crop grew right in the grid. I didn’t even have to dig them out: I simply pulled the ends left outside!
Between the holes with the potatoes sowed beans, beans, dill. It gave a double crop, and besides, protected the potato from the wireworm, the Colorado potato beetle and the mole.
Tips
- If there is a shortage of planting potatoes or it is large, then you can cut the tubers. After each potato knife should be dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate, so as not to transfer the infection. You can not cut the tubers immediately before planting, on the cut surface should have time to form a protective crust. A potato planted in rainy and cold weather, cut into pieces, will rot rather than sprout.
- Plants-seals on potato plants should be sown earlier, so that before planting the tubers, they ascend and go together to grow. Only in this case they will scare insidious pests.
Note
If there are round holes on the tubers, then the wire has left them. If the furrows filled with earth are visible, the larvae of the May beetle have eaten potatoes. Generally, any wound on the skin of the potato means that it can be infected with bacteria or viruses. It is better not to leave such tubers on seeds.
© Author: Elena I. AKULICH, Grodno
POTATO: A NEW APPROACH - IN ANOTHER
Potatoes were always grown, as my father taught: the tubers were planted at a distance of a foot, they left 30 cm between the rows.But by the end of the season, when the tops were growing, even after the summer hilling, some of the tubers appeared on the surface and turned green. In addition, no matter how hard they tried, the potatoes grew small. This year the approach to growing has changed. And not in vain!
On a plot of one hundred square meters, only seven rows of potatoes were planted to a depth of 10-12 cm with a distance between tubers of 30 cm, and between rows - 60 cm.
As soon as shoots appeared, the site was buried. When the plants reached 10 cm, they spud the first time. When they grew up to 30 cm, they spud a second time.
Three times a season, according to the instructions, the bushes were treated with tank mixtures for diseases and pests: Orvego - for late blight, Alverde - for Colorado beetles. Weed as needed. If they noticed that the ground somewhere sank heavily from the rain, they spud such plants again.
As a result, 12 sacks of potatoes were harvested from one hundred square meters, which previously contained 7 rows, but now only 12, 5 bags of potatoes were collected, and earlier - no more than 300. Moreover, the potatoes are selected, with an average weight of 350-800 g, and some tubers even up to XNUMX g.
Not the least role was played by the fact that this year the planting material was completely changed. We bought Jelly and Rumba potatoes. Although the neighbors used the same varieties, they planted and grew in the old fashioned way. Their harvest was also good, but the tubers grew much smaller.
TIP: So that the plants do not need fertilizing in the summer, we fill the soil well in the spring. When the soil thaws, scatter semi-rotten cow or horse manure over the area. Two weeks before planting, sprinkle superphosphate (a handful per 1 square meter), embed it in the ground with a cultivator. It is best if you manage to do it after the rain.
© Author: Alexander DUKHANOV, Moscow. Photo by the author
© Author: N. TRUNOVA Belgorod
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Planting potatoes - three ways and my reviews about them (Karelia)
- Potato cultivation in the Khabarovsk Territory - planting and care
- Technology of growing elite seed potatoes
- Growing potatoes on swampy soil in high beds (Moscow region)
- The scheme of planting potatoes under the straw - reviews and conclusions
- How to grow potatoes in Crimea
- Rejuvenation and healing of potato varieties
- New phytophthora-resistant potato varieties - my testimonials
- Potato variety testing - agronomist reviews of varieties
- The Dutch method of growing potatoes with a Russian bias - a detailed description
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I read that it is good to plant potatoes under sphagnum moss, but for some reason I realized that it should be placed in a hole. I did some digging on the Internet, and it says that both potatoes are planted under hay and under sphagnum moss, i.e. cover the tubers on top, rather than putting moss in the hole. Trifle? But everyone can understand their own mind, but then what? Lots of negative reviews like bad advice, doesn't work. .. But it turns out that it was simply written inaccurately, and everyone came up with their own idea, because there are gardeners with twenty years of experience, and there are still completely green ones.
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What kind of application summer residents do not find for old car tires. Someone makes of them a support for a crumbling slope, someone arranges a fence or a flower bed. We also found a use for tires, of which we have accumulated a lot.
We moved the tires to the dacha, and I decided to grow potatoes in them as an experiment. I dug up the ground, planted the tubers and put a tire on each nest. As soon as the sprouts appeared, I immediately covered them with a mixture of fertile soil with compost in a 1: 1 ratio and put them on the second tire. As the potatoes grew, I poured the soil several more times and stacked the tires in a pile. Since the ground got hotter and dried out faster, the potatoes had to be constantly watered.
Of course, there was a lot of trouble, but I harvested several times more than with a normal planting. Next year I plan to grow all potatoes this way.
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The author writes that she first poured humus into the holes, then lowered the tubers, and then covered them with sawdust from above, which she added several times as the potatoes grew. Judging by the fact that the tops were high (about a meter) and powerful, we can conclude that the sawdust was well rotted - that is, dear Vera Anatolevna planted potatoes, in fact, in heaps of humus! And its smell (plus the "aroma" of manure introduced in spring) is very attractive for May beetles. So they fly to this treat, then laying eggs in the humus and dung.
The conclusion is one: it is better to make all such organic matter in the open ground in the autumn when the siderates are planted so that the smell disappears during the winter.
Still, it is better to plant potatoes under the straw. In my opinion this is the most convenient and practical way. I also wanted to do the same thing this year and left a few sheaves of oat straw in advance. But the winter began early, and the snow fell rapidly, and only after that the frost began, so I used half of the straw to cover the strawberries and mink, in which the hedgehog wintered. I thought that the rest would be enough, but in the spring it turned out that the mice had eaten it.
You'll have to plant potatoes this year in the old-fashioned way. But I also learned the lesson: I'm going to hang straw sheaves in the autumn under a roof in a greenhouse so that rodents do not reach it.
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The lack of land in the country prompted me to grow potatoes in a collapsible box. The idea is to get plants with long stems and tubers along almost the entire length of the stems. To make a box, I prepared 4 pieces of fittings and a plank. From a part of the planks I made a bottom with gaps - for entering the air box and draining excess water. The rest went to collapsible walls.
Under the future box, I prepared a base of bricks, again, for better ventilation, I drive in rebar from all sides. Then he installed the 1st floor of the planks and covered him with humus-soiled soil. On the one hand, each plank is held by soil, on the other - reinforcement. Already sprouted tubers planted in the ground. When the tops grew, I set the 2nd floor of the planks and covered it with soil, etc. He built up walls until buds appeared on plants. As a result, the box turned out to be about 1 m high. When the box grew up to 0,5 m, it stuck a pipe with drilled holes and a bottom plug in the middle. I watered potatoes through it, carried out liquid top dressing.
To harvest, just dismantled the box. All its parts were cleared from the ground and folded into the shed until next season. The harvest was excellent!
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Potato - in tiers
I learned about this method of growing potatoes from Voronezh gardener Valentin Shramkov, for which many thanks to him. I hope his method will be of interest to readers / We are talking about multi-tiered cultivation of potatoes. I have been using it for 15 years. Germinated tubers are planted without cutting furrows. The depth of planting potatoes is 2-3 cm. After emergence, sprinkle them with a layer of soil 3-4 cm.
I proceed to the second processing in 6-8 days. I increase the height of the ridge to 16-18, see the third processing I spend another 5-6 days. The height of the ridge should already be 22-25 cm.
With intensive build-up of the height of the crest, rapid growth of the tops weeds are not terrible. And due to the sprinkling of leaves, additional roots are formed, as a result, the number of tubers also increases. Potatoes are not deep in the soil, due to the difference between night and day temperatures, it is hardened, it becomes more resistant to diseases and pests.
Potatoes grown by this technology always yield a good harvest, even under adverse weather conditions.
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many advise Colorado potato beetles to spray the tops with urea (100 g per bucket of water). I tried (processed, by the way, after flowering) - no sense. So what? Consider myself cheated?
Yes, not at all! It means that such stable beetles have caught me, I will look for other ways to deal with them.
I tried to plant potatoes with seedlings in dairy bags: at the initial stage, everything is good and convenient, but at the end - nonsense. Seedlings grew large, humus in packages it was not enough, the plants eventually came out weak, the crop was bad. Probably, it was necessary to carefully care for the seedlings, but after all, the attempt was not torture, it was interesting.
She tried to plant in sugar bags. The potatoes there grew medium in size, but strong. My conclusion is this: if anyone has little space in the garden, then it can be planted. You just need to keep in mind that over the summer such bags can easily rot (I, at least, happened), so it’s better to take large plastic bags. She planted it in barrels, or rather, even in three: in one she grew up a trifle, in the other - of normal size, in the third - large and quite a lot.
Bottom line: also a good way, especially if there are problems with the size of the site. Tested and landing in tires. It turned out pretty well - under each bush there are 12 large tubers. True, I later thought that some of these tires could get dirt and illness into the ground, and removed them. And left the potatoes grown there for seeds.
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in turn, advice I want to share. It is for those who have little space in the garden. This year I planted potatoes both in the ground and in bags. As she put in sacks, I will explain. I poured earth from the compost heap a little more than half a bag, put three potatoes on each side and sprinkled earth on top.
Leaving - only watering.
The beetle was not on the potatoes, but in the soil in the garden they did not have time to splash. Because of impatience, I tried the harvest early in one of the sacks. And the result is excellent. The earth is loose, the upper layer is removed by hand. And here it is, potatoes without any chemistry! I will be happy if someone takes advantage of my advice.
Tatiana Vasilievna
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This year, I conducted an experiment: part of the potatoes planted as usual, sprouted tubers the size of a chicken egg, and a part also sprouted, but large, cutting each in half and slipping the slices in the ashes. After each tuber the knife "bathed" in a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
Planted in different places - and on the field, where potatoes grow annually, and in the beds in compliance with crop rotation. The usual care, instead of hilling, fell asleep planted with mowed grass. The results were unexpected. No, the fact that crop rotation has a positive effect on any crop, I knew before. But the fact that cut tubers everywhere will yield a crop larger and more plentiful than full-fledged was a surprise. In general, next year I will conduct an experiment again.
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I cultivate a variety of potatoes with red tubers for a long time. I like them for an even shape, a thin peel that is easy to clean. Here is the trinity of my favorite varieties.
Rosalind. The tubers of this variety have a red peel and yellowish flesh. The potatoes are delicious. I heard that culinary experts appreciate him and often buy restaurant establishments. The variety is unpretentious, even with minimal care gives good yields, and with good - up to 16 tubers ripen on the bush!
Red Scarpett. The variety is resistant to many potato diseases, including late blight. He also likes me for the beautiful name that I associate with my favorite work "Gone with the Wind". The Red Scarpett tubers are distinguished by their smooth, beautiful shape and excellent taste. Shrubs are usually not very high, but the potatoes grow large, up to 120.
Vellarose. The variety is high-yielding, well proven even in the dry year. Then I did not have the opportunity to water it in time, but Vellarosa did not fail and gave a wonderful harvest. I think that truck farmers who live in arid regions will appreciate this variety!
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Many gardeners have already lost all hope of coping with the Colorado potato beetle, and my garden is “closed” for him. The advice is this: to plant marigolds and calendula (marigolds). Some may object: we know, read and sow, and the beetle still hosts ... Yes, this can be, but only if you sow calendula at the same time as potatoes - in the spring. But it is necessary to act a little differently.
Even in the fall I determine where next year I will plant potatoes and other nightshade plants, and around these beds in rows I sow under the winter
seeds of marigold and marigold. When the time is right for planting potatoes, the flower sprouts are quite large, and by the time the potato shoots are completely above them, they are already in full bloom and smell, scaring off their pests with their smell.
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Potatoes in barrels
Tell me, what sorts of potatoes are suitable for growing in barrels or bags? Home-grown varieties (unfortunately, I do not know the names) we were not categorically approached - real peas grew.
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For growing potatoes using this method, early ripe varieties' Svitanok \ 'Slavyanka' are better suited. 'Bellarosa'. 'Shante', 'Reliable', 'Povin' and others. But the cause of failure can be not only an incorrectly selected variety. Growing potatoes in a small volume is a difficult process that requires compliance with a certain technology, in which all the details are important. The essence of the method is that in the uterine tubers planted on the bottom of the bag or barrel, the stems are repeatedly covered with a layer of soil as they grow, which allows the plant to increase the number of stolons formed on them and thus increase the yield of bushes (provided all the tubers that have matured are ripened) . For fast growth, plants need light, nutrition and good aeration, which is quite difficult to provide in a limited amount of soil. For planting, choose any woven bags that can pass air. There are also special bags resembling backpacks with fastened windows through which they harvest in the fall. So that water after irrigation does not stagnate, drainage should be considered at the bottom of the bag.
The tubers are planted in the spring, in late April - May. In the greenhouse or on a closed balcony you can plant potatoes in the middle of March. Soil should be moderately easy and fertile, for this purpose, in equal parts humus, sand and garden soil. adding ash and sawdust (if the mixture is not loose enough). Do not use soil that was previously grown potatoes or tomatoes. At the bottom of the bag, pour the drainage (expanded clay), and then the earth mixture, at least 10-15 cm. Then lay the sprouted potatoes and cover with a layer of earth. You can place two levels of tubers, stacking them in a checkerboard pattern. Falling asleep the top layer, planting water and expose to the light. Appearing seedlings again fall asleep with soil. Gradually lifting the edges of the bag, so it is filled with soil on 2 / 3 volume. Ready bags are placed in well-lit places: near the walls of the house, fences, along garden paths, etc.
Further care consists in watering and under-feeding. Sacks can be immediately buried in the ground and, tying up, set horizontally, cutting through the knife crosswise holes with the knife, where the tubers are laid. The advantage of growing potatoes in bags is compact, which is important for a small area. Such planting does not require propolok, hilling and pest control, including with the Colorado beetle. They can be moved from place to place. But the need for frequent fertilizing and the organization of proper watering, which excludes waterlogging or drying out of the soil - the significant shortcomings of this technology. Adjust the irrigation system with drip irrigation. Some gardeners place in the middle of the bag a hose with perforation along the entire length, with a cap at the end through which watering is carried out. For better aeration, the pump is periodically pumped with air into the hose.
In a similar way, potatoes are grown in barrels. For greater effect, the bottom is cut out. This prevents water from stagnating, and earthworms can penetrate into the soil, which improves the air exchange of the soil.
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Potatoes in barrows
For several years now I have been growing potatoes in mounds (or in kopts), I am very pleased with this method - yields reach 1 ton per hundred square meters. Moreover, all tubers are large, even, as they receive a lot of moisture, nutrients and grow in loose soil.
The essence of the method is that on well-fertilized (according to 1 a bucket of humus, a handful of superphosphate and potassium salt at 1 sq. M.) And a dug site, we need to lay out circles with a radius of 40 cm from 8-10 (large, not medium, planting) of tubers each.
Top up the potato rings with soil 15-20 cm high to make mounds (mounds) with peaks in the form of funnels. They will also collect rainwater, and it is convenient to water the potatoes in them - it is enough to pour 1 bucket of water in the center of each mound. In the middle of the embankments, another 3 shovels of manure, 1 liter can of ash and a handful of nitrophoska should be planted. When potato shoots grow 20-25 cm high, you must carefully sprinkle (spud) them with earth from the center of the mound.
By the way, you can form barrows not only round, but also square. It's a matter of taste.
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I planted it in the first decade of May. On the garden did three rows, as planned. But the seeds were bigger, so I had to put them thicker. I treated it with a growth stimulant and covered it with straw. Rains have gone, practically per week poured without ceasing. Naturally, the straw was nailed, so much so that the sprouts broke down. Potatoes did not half ascend: could not break a layer of straw. So he lay until autumn with a big beard of roots, but for some reason he grew farther. And the one that coped with the damp straw, blossomed in July, but very modestly.
I did not have the heart to stir straw. I was very pleased that it was raining. Almost did not go to the bed, and under the straw last fall laid a layer of the manure. So he smelled his potatoes and almost all went into the ground. I got a plane cut.
I had to loosen all the soil, which I have not done all the past years. Before, potatoes always lay clean on straw, but this time they were all in the ground. But most importantly, gaps formed in the straw, so the potatoes grew and immediately turned green. So in the fall it didn’t even have to be greened for seeds.
Naturally, the crop was harvested by half less than last year. It is not in vain that they say: if you want a lot, you won’t get anything. And so it happened to me. Dreaming is not harmful. So I want to remind readers not to make such mistakes as myself.
But the seeds for the next year still collected ...
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My wife and I got a plot of 20 acres in the neighboring area. And that he was not empty, we decided this year to plant him with potatoes. Since the field is far away, we wanted to water it with anything from weeds, so as not to go to weed often. I know that there are special means on state farms. Can I buy them from the store?
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For summer residents there is a special selective herbicide Lazurite. It destroys weeds without damaging the potatoes, so it can be used after planting the tubers and even when seedlings appear. Getting into the soil, the preparation is absorbed mainly by roots and partly by leaves of weeds. This allows him to destroy not only visible weeds on the surface, but also to suppress growing in the soil, preventing the emergence of a second "wave" of weeds, even such malignant ones as starfish, quinoa, ragweed, maria, shirica, dandelion, chaff, etc. If the beds are heavily clogged, the treatment can be repeated after the growth of the tops, but at its height no more than 5 cm.