Growing potatoes in the country is not an easy task, but useful. It’s not enough just to throw potatoes into the grooves, it is important to collect a good harvest from it. But it will be possible to get it only if you take the work with full responsibility.
Technologies for growing potatoes are very diverse. Some of them are lighter, others require some skill. Today we’ll talk about how to grow potatoes under a straw and in a barrel. Surely many people hear about these methods for the first time, because every year the cultivation of potatoes in the country takes place according to the classical method - planting tubers in the soil in the beds. Well, it's time to introduce new technologies at your site.
Growing potatoes under the straw
Thus, our ancestors were able to grow potatoes in this way 200 years ago. True, over time, most forgot about him. Perhaps, thanks to our individual citizens, we can again use this method.
So, how to grow potatoes under a straw. Allocate a landing site in the country. Digging it is not necessary, as well as making nutrient fertilizers. After that, at a distance of 30 cm spread the potato tubers, and on top cover them with a 30-40 centimeter layer of straw. This completes the landing. But all the care for it will come down to the fact that occasionally you will have to lay a new layer of straw and water it. By the way, if you do not have fresh straw, then you can completely replace it with dry grass. Also pay attention to the fact that it is not necessary to spud the grown potatoes.
And the last thing that is required of you is to harvest in the fall. Although, if you planted early potatoes in this way, you will be able to harvest the crop much earlier.
Growing Potatoes in a Barrel
This is another original way to grow potatoes in the country. Very many summer residents experience a lack of free space for planting this garden crop. That's just the same with the help of barrels and this problem can be solved.
- To get started, stock up on packaging. It’s not at all necessary that these are barrels; large plastic containers for garbage, or other large containers that you have in the country, will do. Treat the entire packaging with a mild bleach solution to prevent plant diseases.
- Growing potatoes in the country in this way implies good drainage, so be sure to make small (about 2 cm) holes at the bottom of the container. If you wish, you can even cut off the entire bottom if you plan to put the container on the soil of the site.
- After that, pour a drainage mixture 12-18 cm deep on the bottom of the container. For example, it may be a mixture of compost, moss and nutshells. Such a mixture will help maintain moisture for the root system of plants.
- Place the tubers on a layer of soil. Make sure that they are not very close to each other. After this, fill the potatoes with a layer of soil (12-14 cm) and water abundantly. It is important that the soil is moist all the time, but it is also not worth transfusing the plants.
- When the plants grow, it is necessary to make the first addition of soil with compost. Pour the soil as the potatoes grow further until the entire container is full.
That's all, it remains to wait until the potatoes grow and bloom, and after a few weeks to start harvesting. But seasoned summer residents say that growing potatoes in the country in this way allows you to collect a good harvest. And this despite the fact that care throughout the year was minimal and completely uncomplicated.
In this way, you can organize the cultivation of potatoes in the country. Now it becomes clear that this is much easier than preparing beds, hilling bushes, and making sure that the potatoes do not subsequently overgrow and are attacked by the Colorado potato beetle.