Growing potatoes in the Northwest in paired rows - my advice and feedback
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CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN KOSTROMA REGION IN DOUBLE ROWS - LANDING, CARE AND RECOMMENDED VARIETIES
How much can you write about potatoes? I think a lot, endlessly - this topic is inexhaustible. I have three thick notebooks written about her. I write everything down: how people plant, how the soil is fertilized, which varieties do they like. In the offseason, there is nothing special to do, so I spend time with the benefit of myself. This winter I compiled a catalog of potato varieties. How many do you think there are today? I found almost 480, of which 147 are only names, without a description of the variety (for example, the popular name Toha-Tartokha). And I think this is not a complete list. Why did I do it? It is very convenient now to understand the varieties.
In the register of breeding achievements, our huge country is divided into 12 regions, and this is no coincidence. Each region has its own microclimate, its own soil and, accordingly, certain varieties of potatoes are preferred.
Our region number 2 is the North-West. Not every variety can grow well in our country, but it is a pity for the empty efforts of time and effort, and so every year it becomes less and less. Son-in-law Sasha says to me: "Mom, they brought seed potatoes to our store, these are the varieties there." I looked into my catalog and said: "No, I don't need such potatoes." And earlier I would have gone and bought
I will describe our climate a little. Firstly, it is humid, and not only rains, but also heavy fogs, abundant dew - not every potato can withstand this. Summer: little heat, cold feet, even if it is warm during the day. The soils are mostly acidic, dense and cold. This means that planting methods have been developed over the years, and planting in trenches without hilling is not suitable for us, as is planting under straw, since you cannot cover cold soil with straw.
Precisely because of the abundance of rains, especially in autumn, when it is simply impossible to dig the ground, I began to make stationary beds fenced with boards. I used all sorts of boards that came across, any rubbish, slabs, etc. First, I prepared beds for vegetables, and then, combining two beds into one, and for potatoes. And it turned out to be very convenient!
The edges of the beds do not crumble, it is easy to dig, the vacated beds can be sown with green manure, the passages are always clean.
By the way, all the aisles between the beds are made with a slope towards the lowering of the site, so that the water leaves faster during heavy showers.
Now I don't dig the beds at all, but only loosen them with a pitchfork - they are old, very light and sharp. In the garden, I do everything alone.
I write and think: maybe someone does not know what a croaker is? This is waste from wood processing. Our land is forest, therefore there are many enterprises that process timber. When cutting wood into planks or beams, curved edge cuts with bark remain - this is what the croaker is. It is inexpensive, many people buy it for firewood, but quite straight boards also come across, so I used them by removing the bark. Then I still did not have my dear, good assistant - Sasha's son-in-law, and my husband was already very sick. Now Sasha and I are gradually replacing all these fences with good boards.
GROWING POTATOES - NO HOLES!
But back to the topic. Most of all I like to plant potatoes in paired rows - beds. Much has been written about this method, so I'll add something. Since I plant everything in the garden alone (the plot is far from home, and Sasha works, and all men's affairs lie on it, so I don't even ask him to help me with the land yet, and my daughter has small children), I have to think through all my actions so as not to run in vain around the garden. You need to prepare all the tools at once, and of course the planting material.
The first thing I do is mark the beds on the double beds using any pegs: 50 cm for the beds, 75-80 cm for the space between them. It is into these passages that I throw any boards and walk only on them. I loosen the earth with a pitchfork, I try deeper, to the full depth of the teeth. Sometimes, under loosening, I scatter a little bit of borofosk or kalimagnesia, then I straighten the earth with a rake. All this takes me about 15 minutes, no more. Then I take a 6 rozdovik and, one might say, I make a groove 10 cm deep in one movement. After 30 cm I make another one, and that's it, the bed is ready, you can plant potatoes. Although no, there is more to come. I sprinkle the groove with ash and quickly put it into the soil with a pitchfork.
I plant a separate variety on each bed, and if I'm testing novelties, then one row - one variety, the second row - another, but always early with early, mid-season with mid-season. I write everything down in detail in a notebook in order to closely track the features of new varieties.
I don't make holes: the soil in the groove is soft, I just slightly press the tubers into the soil in a checkerboard pattern, and between the tubers I scatter onion peels and azophoska (about 1 tsp each).
That's it, you can fill up the tubers. I fill them with compost, prepared in autumn, with the addition of superphosphate and ash. In the spring I loosen the compost with a pitchfork and put it in buckets in advance. I do not regret the compost, I sprinkle at least a shovel. Then I take a rake and shovel the potatoes with loose soil: low ridges are obtained - as we say, boletus. Well, the bed is ready.
HOW TO NOT "RINSE"
The potatoes are sprouted, already with small roots, planted in loose soil, low huddled - boletus warms up faster. In the middle of the bed, a groove is made between the two ridges: in dry weather, you can water a little, the beds are small. If it's cold, you can cover.
It's a pleasure to plant in this way, especially one: I don't get tired at all. I planted a bed, moved to another.
I'm not digging or loosening the passages yet: this can be done later, when all the potatoes have been planted. So far, she doesn't need land in the aisles, and then I loosen the aisles too. Well, if the soil is compacted somewhere under the board, then I will turn it over and loosen it with a pitchfork like a rake. As a result, my land is soft, like a feather bed, which is what potatoes need.
Rains, of course, compact the earth, you have to loosen it more often. I try not to plant potatoes in cold soil, otherwise it will get sick, "farrowing", that is. grows overgrown with small nodules without seedlings. I select the varieties carefully and do not want to lose them because of haste.
But there are years, that no matter how much heat you wait, but it still is not. And time is running out. It is then that it helps that my beds are small: you can cut the grooves in advance and cover the ground with a film - any, even the oldest and unnecessary.
I select varieties that are multifruit, tasty and disease resistant. And it is also very important to know how potatoes grow - randomly or their nest is compact. Here, too, my catalog helps me.
I also plant potatoes on ordinary beds - it's also convenient, you can cover it in arcs with a non-woven from the cold. On regular ones, I plant early and late potatoes. Late potatoes are well stored, tasty, it's a pity, in our conditions it does not always have time to ripen in autumn, so I cover it.
I have a lot of varieties, I don't even know all the names, and in this case I give them my name. This is for a safety net to always be with the harvest. Before planting, I soak the tubers in a humate solution or spray it with a growth stimulator - always a good result.
And I never treat with drugs for diseases and pests!
The Colorado potato beetle has not come to us for five years - it has disappeared somewhere, although there used to be a lot. Well, thank God that he doesn't like it with us. Probably flew away to warm lands. I got rid of the wireworm almost completely, it is very rare, and even then one or two things at a time.
See also: Ciderates in the aisles of the potato and double rows
IS CHEMISTRY DANGEROUS?
My potatoes always grow clean and tasty. Here are some who write that the Nevsky variety is not tasty, but I would not say that. Yes, for mashed potatoes, of course, it is not suitable - not boiled, but the taste is good!
In general, the taste of potatoes largely depends on the potassium content in the soil. And since our soils are acidic, we have to sprinkle ashes not only during planting, but also under each hilling, plus I also sprinkle the bushes with ashes when the rains begin, - it helps the phytophthora to restrain. It is very convenient to sprinkle with sifted ash from a glass jar with a screw-on lid perforated with a nail. I go and, as it were, salt from a salt shaker, shake the ash on the damp bushes. Maybe this makes the potatoes tastier, and they are stored well.
And I also noticed: even if the tops have suffered from phytophthora, there are no sick tubers. And late blight does not bypass us, we need preventive treatments, but I really don't want to use chemistry! A biological product
you are ineffective in cool weather. If the summer is not too rainy and the tops are already beginning to fall, which indicates the ripening of the tubers, I sometimes resort to a method known as "chasing", i.e. I cut off the lower leaves, like those of tomatoes.
Troubled? Yes, of course, but I don't have a hectare of potatoes, but only about a hundred square meters. In some years it is even less, since I change the beds. Well, if the rains have already charged, there is nothing left but to choose a "window" - a day without precipitation and reluctantly spray it with chemistry
But to begin with, only contact drugs that do not get inside the plant, but, as it were, envelop it with a protective film.
Honestly, I'm not afraid of chemistry: I figured it out, also in winter and also because of nothing to do. I studied all fertilizers and all available remedies. And this is what happens.
See, we are all afraid of nitrates. But after all, they can accumulate without the use of fertilizers, if the plants are planted in shaded places, on cold soil. The amount of nitrates is directly influenced only by nitrogen fertilizers, and then if they are given to plants in large quantities - for example, the same manure or frequent nitrogen fertilization.
Phosphorus fertilizers do not affect the accumulation of nitrates, and potash fertilizers even reduce its content, like humates! So that everything is good in moderation, but this is a separate topic. So I use borofosk in my garden, which contains calcium, which is so necessary for our soil, and thanks to it there is no scab at all on potatoes, as when using lime, moreover, it contains phosphorus, and potassium, and boron, and magnesium, so necessary for potatoes, and on top of that, it also strengthens the immunity of plants, especially in drought. Yes, drought sometimes happens in our country, not all the time it rains.
So there is no need to be afraid of chemistry, you just need to observe the measure in everything and, of course, add mineral water together with organic matter, even with the same compost.
Reference by topic: Planting potatoes in double rows and siderats - reviews (Tomsk region)
PLANTING POTATOES ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF ELENA MOLOKHOVETS
While looking for information about potatoes for my catalog, I found a very interesting note - an excerpt from the famous book by Elena Molokhovets "A Gift for Young Housewives", which contains not only culinary recipes, but also a variety of information on house and backyard management, including planting potatoes. And this is what was written there - I quote the text verbatim and ask you to take into account that it was written in the XNUMXth century.
“The most ripe, large potatoes should be planted, and the very large ones should be cut into parts - from 3 to 6 parts, if only there are 2 or 3 eyes for each part. It should not be damaged by frost and too long shoots should be cut off.
Potatoes are also bred with only eyes or glasses, which are cut out with a penknife the size of a fingernail and planted four at a time.
Diluted and peel. They peel off the entire skin as thick as the butt of a knife and, cutting it into pieces with glasses, plant it in furrows made in the ground, well-worked and loose. The stems that come out are weeded and dug in in the same way.
Planting potatoes with grass (sprouts). This is very useful, since the number of potatoes is three times or even four times more than usual. This planting is carried out as follows: when a potato planted in spring sprouts two vershoks from the ground - moreover, as usual, it sprouts from 3 to 4 sprouts, which are always with roots, then leaving one or two sprouts in place, cut the other sprouts, capturing their stems in the ground, one inch deep and plant on the ground usually prepared for planting potatoes, a little deeper than they were in the ground. When this seedling rises from the ground by 5 vershoks, it is necessary to rake the ground around the bushes once, and in dry weather up to three times. " (Top = 4 cm).
This is not the whole article, only the main one, and, I remind you, this is the XNUMXth century - this is how our ancestors planted potatoes. It is not for nothing that they say that everything new is well forgotten old. I also tried to plant this way, in all these ways, but at home and without potato plantings there is not enough space - I grow only a little for early planting. Although, probably, it was possible to do this in the country, but potato peels and eyes dry out quickly.
I wish everyone health, patience and good harvests!
Reference by topic: Planting potatoes in double rows and removing flowers (Samara region)
POTATOES IN DOUBLE ROWS - VIDEO EXPERIMENT AND REVIEWS
© Author: Sakharova Tatiana Georgievna. Kostroma
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