Methods for planting potatoes and the rules for caring for them

A person is always looking not only for “where it is better”, but also for how it is better.

Therefore, summer residents, passionate about gardening, reinforce their interest with knowledge. And then: theory - practice.

There is no general pattern for growing a crop, even just planting potatoes.

Now at least 100 ways of planting potatoes are known. A lot, isn't it. Of course, I will not describe everything.

But we will consider a few basic methods for planting potatoes.

It is worth experimenting a bit to choose your own way of growing potatoes, which will give a good harvest in your area.

How to please potatoes

Culture is not local, it is ubiquitous. Therefore, to navigate: when to plant it and how best, you will have to look at the region.

Landing dates

There is a considerable variation in time for planting potatoes. The specific time is determined by the region, its climatic conditions.

In the North Caucasus, tubers are planted at the end of March, in a warm spring - even in the middle.

The Orthodox even have a belief: the first forty potatoes must be planted on forty saints (this is March 22), then the harvest is guaranteed.

This, of course, is a sign, but it orients in terms.

March planting - for early varieties. In order to get a harvest after them by autumn, other varieties are planted - medium-term ripening.

They are planted later - in April, its first decade. The main reference points are heat and moisture.

In the central regions, you cannot land at the same time as the southern ones.

The tubers should lie in a warm, suitable for their preservation and growth, the ground. It is not less than 8°.

Otherwise, the crop will decrease (at best) or the tubers will rot, get sick.

Therefore, the middle lane focuses on planting potatoes by the end of April.

And only closer to the northern border of the "potato area", and in Siberia, suitable conditions come in May, the first decade of the month.

All these terms can really be moved by a week and a half. That is to plant earlier.

The success of early planting of potatoes is facilitated by its germination. Reception known, almost all used.

If the land is "fed" with organic matter, the potatoes will also be full without additional feeding with fertilizers.

You can pour a handful of ash into the holes, but this is optional.

How to grow potatoes - the gardener decides for himself, there are many options.

Holes (pits). The holes are stuffed with a garden chopper (hand hoe), if the soil is good, light.

On heavier soils planted under a shovel. It will already be holes.

Both holes and pits are made with the expectation that the tuber will be at least 5 (preferably 10) centimeters deep.

Both are not enough for potatoes. Shallow embedment is compensated by hilling, after which the depth where the tuber settled becomes optimal.

When planting potatoes with a chopper, the potatoes laid out in the holes are raked in the selected soil.

Planting potatoes with a shovel is interesting: “under a shovel”.

The first row is dug up, tubers are laid. When digging holes in the second row, the earth from them is laid with a shovel on top of the tubers of the previous one.

This is how uniformity is achieved (the hole is opposite the hole) and two operations are performed in one movement: a place is prepared for the next tubers and the already laid out ones are covered with earth.

Furrows. Longitudinal furrows are formed with a walk-behind tractor with special nozzles, or manually, with a hoe.

To make the rows neat, parallel - in the second case, they pull the twine, preferably white, noticeable, between the pegs.

This is how a furrow is marked, according to this orientation, it is stuffed, then the pegs with twine are transferred to the distance between the rows. For potatoes, this is the standard 70 cm.

An amendment is possible - wider or narrower. It depends on the bushiness and growth of the planted potato variety.

The distance in a row for the full formation of a nest of tubers is 30 cm.

Lay out the planting material carefully, trying to preserve the sprouts. Then close up.

When closing, the methods differ. Planting potatoes for each grower contains its own nuances.

Some prefer a “smooth” landing - they close up flush with the rest of the surface, others form a ridge of fifteen centimeters above the furrow.

This is a preliminary hilling of potatoes, it is desirable, it increases the yield, speeds up its production, but is not applicable everywhere.

crests. They save time, reduce labor intensity by combining work.

It turns out at the same time landing and hilling. In parallel with the growth of the stem, stolons are laid.

On some soils (loose, sandy), little filled with organic matter, ridges are impractical. They crumble.

Therefore, the methods of planting potatoes are highly dependent on the type of land.

Planting potatoes on ridges is practiced when groundwater is close to the surface.

This saves from waterlogging (hence - potato diseases), while ensuring optimal soil moisture.

In a mechanically formed (motoblock) or manually, with a hoe, a comb, tubers are planted.

The height of the ridge is such that the tuber is at the usual depth for the culture (8-10 cm).

Correct the holes in the ridge, filling them in and leveling the row. The distance is the same as in the furrows - standard. This is 30 cm.

Koptsy. The growing technique is not for the lazy. The labor costs are justified by the yield.

Use kopets to obtain a large number of tubers in one season. This is how rare varieties you like are propagated.

The technology is aimed at creating "royal" conditions for the tuber and subsequently for the bush.

• Autumn preparation is usual: plowing / digging, organic manure is introduced for this operation. Semi-rotted in the southern areas, rotted, ready - to the north. In the south, the heat will allow the fertilizer to "reach" the desired condition for planting potatoes. In cool climates, apply immediately ready.
• In spring, the soil is cultivated again (plowing or digging). The surface is leveled (mechanical or rake harrowing).
• Squares are cut with a side of about one and a half meters. It’s difficult to do it manually, it’s better with a walk-behind tractor hiller, where the distance is adjustable, you can increase the side of the square, or reduce it.
• Each square is a "living space" for a separate bush. Only one, but large, tuber is planted in the center of this area. The usual embedment depth is 10 cm. Then the future kopets (square area) around the hole is fertilized. This is organic matter (compost), and mineral nutrition - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. You should not get carried away with nitrogen fertilizers, because. there has already been filling the soil with organic matter since autumn, and compost is being introduced. Organics contain predominantly nitrogen. Dosage of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium per square in grams, respectively: 50; 50; 25. It's easier with compost - a bucket for a kopets.
• Termination by harrowing (rake), fertilizers should not remain on the surface. When harrowing, they are mixed with the ground, fertilizers wake up in the soil.
• After germination, the soil is periodically loosened around so that there is no crust and the fertile layer does not dry out.
• With a stem height of 20 cm, it is gently bent to the ground, with the top to the outside of the square allotted bushes. Sprinkle with soil, deepening by 10 cm, leaving only the tops. Since there are many stems, according to the number of awakened buds, they are directed in different directions, laid out evenly. It turns out a kind of fan.
• Special care will be required in subsequent loosening, weeding. It is necessary not to disturb the stems that are in the ground when weeding potatoes.
• From the sprinkled buds of the stem, new stems are being forced out. When they grow up, each row formed is spudded.

With proper care, such a square will produce an average of 70 new tubers from one.

By weight, this can be about 15 kg, or half the standard mesh bag in which potatoes are now sold.

Having planted four tubers (four in total!) The gardener will receive two bags of potatoes.

True, for a fabulous result you have to work hard.

Trapeze bed. The best growing method for potatoes.

Planting potatoes is carried out as on ridges or in furrows. But as it grows, not one, but two or three hillings are carried out.

As a result, a bed is formed, in the center of it is a row of potatoes. The height and width of this trapezoid bed is 30 cm.

Its base is almost twice as wide - up to half a meter.

Advantages of the method:

• Such an array of loose soil retains moisture in the heat;
• Excess moisture in the rains drains from the raised beds;
• It provides better than when deepening into a flat surface, warming up the soil - shoots grow earlier and faster, tubers form;
• The soil is not overcompacted - this contributes to tuberization;
• Productivity increases - knowledge of potato biology works. New tubers are formed no lower than the parent. Only near and above. A trapezium bed is an ideal solution for the formation of full-fledged young tubers. Here, the aeration is normal, and the humidity is optimal, and there is heat, and the substrate itself, in which they are comfortable;
• When weeding, the roots of the potato are minimally damaged or not damaged at all. They are in the bed, at the bottom of it, and the aisles and the surface of the bed are loosened, mainly during hilling.

Square-nested. This method is suitable for growing many crops that require a lot of light, space, nutrition.

The distance between tubers is equal to the row spacing. In the south, they take the larger side of the square - 70 cm, to the north it can be less, up to half a meter.

Landing is carried out "under the cord" to get even squares.

Bunk. The name itself is interesting. Method - for an amateur.

The gist is this:

• Fertilizer for digging - better organic, humus and ash.
• Breakdown of the plot into strips: narrow (30 cm) and wide - 70 cm alternate. Narrow - the area for landing, wide - aisles.
• Narrow strips are bordered by shallow - 10 cm - furrows.
• The tubers are laid out along the furrows, the distance is standard, the arrangement is “chessboard” - in a checkerboard pattern.
• Fill one furrow with earth, leave the second one open for orientation.
• The second tier - above the already planted potatoes - will be 10 cm higher. The tubers are laid out in the same way as they lie in the second furrow, then they will be optimally displaced and will not interfere with the bottom row.
• Fill the first tier of the second furrow, the height will be equal to the second.
• Arrange the tubers of the second tier in a checkerboard pattern, focusing on the other side.
• Sprinkle the entire strip shallowly, up to 5 cm. If you overdo it, the first tier will break through for a very long time, the sprouts will weaken.
• After a set of seedlings with a height of 15 cm - hilling. Seedlings fall asleep - completely. These are all planting procedures, watering and fertilizing remain.

The method is exotic, the plants of the first tier lose in strength of growth, sunlight.

Proponents of bunk planting claim to save time, reduce labor (doubtful), and compact plantings (sure).

The yield is unlikely to please, but the number of tubers (rather small ones) will certainly increase.

trenches. There is also something for those who like to experiment.

Although the technique is not new and environmentally friendly.

• Part of the work is shifted to autumn - digging trenches. If the soil is loose, trenches will have to be prepared in the spring. The trench itself is of the same depth and width: on the bayonet of a shovel. The earth from the trench is folded nearby, not to the edge, so as not to crumble.
• The area intended for potato trenches is prepared as follows - the whole, retreating between the trenches is standard 70 cm.
• Dried weeds, tops after harvesting vegetables are useful. Do not burn plant residues when clearing the garden, use for trenches. Line the bottom of the trench with them, add unnecessary paper, food leftovers. Anything that can rot, including small twigs from pruning currants or other shrubs. The rotted filling will serve as food for the potatoes next season. Make sure that there is no nightshade or vegetable tops of this family (pepper, tomato, potato) in the trench. They may contain microorganisms dangerous to potatoes - overwintering forms of common diseases or pests.
• Don't miss the fall: rake the leaves from the garden, fill the trenches with it, and cover them with soil. It is advisable not to have trenches close to the garden. In the foliage, something that is not good for the garden can overwinter, and the potatoes will not suffer.
• In the spring, add an additive to the soil that has settled in the trenches. For this, land remained in the aisles since autumn after digging trenches. Everything is ready for planting potatoes.
• It is advisable to give them top dressing when planting tubers: a handful of wood ash, a matchbox of bird droppings. Pour top dressing next to the tubers. Not on them and not under them. Bird droppings are concentrated nitrogen and can cause burns. Sprinkled with earth, it will come to the roots gradually, giving benefits.

The grown seedlings spud, the earth is selected between the rows.

After sampling the crop, there is already a reserve for new ridges. They are dug in the aisles of the site.

Rules for caring for planting potatoes

Potatoes are the hardest thing to plant. Caring for it is much easier.

Only hilling is load-bearing - there you have to apply more force, raking the ground to the bushes.

All other operations are not difficult, and do not have a strict periodicity.

Weeding- the need is determined visually. Weeds are growing, so it's time.

Subsequent ones will not grow immediately. For a week and a half, you can forget about weeding.

loosening. The earth itself will show when it needs it.

Covered with a crust, a network of cracks - you need to go with a hoe or a flat cutter, close the moisture.

Loosen the top layer, destroy the crust. You need to check after watering and (especially) heavy rain.

Wind and sun can form a crust very quickly.

Cracking, it damages the roots, moisture intensively evaporates through the cracks.

Eliminate the crust as quickly as possible.

Watering. If the season is not dry, the potatoes usually have enough moisture.

Demanding only when it blooms - you may need to water the potatoes.

Tubers form and grow simultaneously with flowering. The lack of moisture during this period is the shortage of crops.

top dressing. There is rarely a need. At the beginning of growth, the tuber itself feeds the plants, plus - planting in soil fertilized according to all canons.

Watch the color of the sheet. Healthy green (or salad color - according to the variety) "speaks" about the nutritional norm.

Pale - before flowering, a little mineral nitrogen will not hurt.

You can give a weak solution of phosphate fertilizer with watering when the potatoes bloom.

It is no longer possible to give nitrogen, it will “drive” the tops, worsen the formation of tubers, their taste and keeping quality, and increase the content of nitrates.

Whatever methods of growing potatoes we choose, we must be guided by the existing conditions:

• climatic;
• Soil type;
• Possibility of watering;
• The presence of organic fertilizers;
• Estimated costs (purchase of mineral fertilizers;
• Even the frequency of work, if the site is remote.

If the gardener has correctly oriented himself, has chosen the exact method of planting potatoes, then he will provide himself with a harvest.

Well, we planted potatoes, provided care. But the process of growing the second bread does not end there.

Ahead of us is still the fight against numerous pests and diseases of potatoes.

You also have to harvest the crop on time, store it correctly and try to save the grown potatoes without loss until the next season.

See you soon, dear readers!