Potato is considered the most popular vegetable, many of us love it very much. Not a single summer resident passes by this culture and tries to grow a rich harvest on its site. But often this is not so easy. Many methods of growing such a vegetable have been tried, but not many people know how to plant potatoes under a straw. Consider this method in more detail. But first, it’s worth a little mention about what you need to prepare before planting potatoes.
First preparation
Before we begin to understand with you how to plant potatoes correctly under straw, it is worth mentioning the procedure for preparing the main link of this chain: the earth. Before starting work, they dig it up. For the best growth of such a crop, it is necessary to introduce complex fertilizers and minerals that will give the soil the necessary trace elements and at the same time help to disinfect it. They may include:
- Humus. It is better if it is not fresh, but one that has lain for 2-3 winters.
- Compost from plant waste. This includes the remnants of moldy bread, potato peelings and other table wastes. Before use, they are mixed and poured with water. The resulting mixture is evenly distributed on the ground.
- Crushed eggshell. It has a good disinfecting effect.
- Ash. It must be woody. With it, you can prevent the appearance of wireworms.
- Onion peel. Previously, it is thoroughly dried, ground and simply sprinkled on the ground.
- Dried and chopped peels of orange and lemon. Their aroma will scare away rodents.
Having made all the necessary fertilizers, it is worth loosening the earth with a rake. Remove after digging all the big lumps. Now we pass to landing. And here you need to pay special attention to the seed.
What to plant and how to choose
To know how to grow potatoes under a straw, you need to choose it correctly and buy in a store. Planting is recommended only good potato seeds. If you buy them, then try to do this with trusted people, and it is best to make such purchases in specialized stores.
It is worth looking at the appearance of potato tubers. They must be intact, without cuts or dents. Good seed potatoes are about the size of a chicken egg. If you notice signs of disease on the tubers, then it is better to refuse to buy such seed. Also determine the
type of potato. Today there are many of them, so everyone decides whether he will grow early ripe potatoes for food or later, which can be stored. Having chosen seed potatoes, we proceed to its planting. Here, too, have their own nuances.
Potato planting methods
Planting potatoes under straw is one of the most interesting and new species. Using this method, you can forget about what it is to dig up endless plots of land, weeding and hilling a culture. But in order to plant potatoes under the straw successfully, and you get a good harvest, you should follow some rules and tips.
Preparing the ridge for landing
If you wondered how to plant potatoes under a straw, then start preparing the place on time. In autumn, the selected area should be cleared of weeds. Simply trim the entire grass with a trimmer. On the edges of the ridge, you need to install stakes and pull the rope to mark the ridges. Before laying straw, spread fertilizers, such as peat and humus, on the ground. Then begin to form beds of straw. Each should turn out to be about 30–40 cm high. We leave everything to winter in this form.
The time has come
In the spring, when you again wondered how to plant potatoes under the straw, you should adhere to the following algorithm of actions:
- We take an ordinary small stick, seed and go to our garden.
- We pierce the straw with a stick.
- In the resulting hole we put one tuber.
- Close the hole with straw.
They decided to simplify their task in planting this difficult crop, choose a method such as potatoes under straw. How to plant - experienced gardeners, those who constantly practice this method, share with you. They all do a little different:
- After the land has been cleared of weed, you need to well loosen it to a depth of about 10 cm. You can do this using a conventional plane cutter. It will greatly facilitate your work.
- Mix peat with loose earth.
- Then we lay potato tubers directly on the ground and sprinkle them a little on the ground.
- From above, to a height of up to 20 cm, we throw everything well with straw.
Experienced summer residents believe that you should not throw tubers at once with all the straw. It is worth doing it as needed. As soon as the potatoes have grown to a length of about 10 cm, add another straw about 20 cm high from above. Thus, the soil will have time to warm up well, and the potatoes will rise much faster. Also, the many years of experience of some summer residents shows that you should not very often water potatoes. Enough for this and rain. Straw holds moisture well for a long time. Otherwise, the whole potato will simply rot from excessive moisture. How to plant, we are sorted out. It remains only to wait for the result. It should be noted immediately that the seedlings will be much later than with a standard planting, so do not panic, but patiently wait and take care of the crop. The described method is convenient in that if you want to feast on young potatoes, you do not need to dig out the whole bush. Simply spread the hay and choose large tubers for food. All small ones remain in their place until the right time. Straw promotes good moisture penetration. According to some reports, many gardeners grow up to 600 kg of potatoes in a similar way for a season on their site. Experienced gardeners also replace part of the straw with fallen leaves, chopped reeds, hay or stalks of sunflower. All of them will fruitfully influence your future potato harvest.
Potato care under the straw
Now you know how to plant potatoes under the straw. Next, what you need to remember is about caring for her. It, in fact, is no different from caring for a traditionally planted potato, namely:
- Potatoes love watering, especially in dry summers. This should be done about once a week. It is better if you water with special diffusers. So the water will be evenly distributed throughout the territory, while the tubers will not be flooded by it.
- Before planting, potatoes can be treated with a special solution from various parasites. It can be purchased at hardware or specialty stores. In the future, they are absolutely harmless to humans and seeds.
- If the straw is blown away by a strong wind, urgently need to cover the potatoes again.
Potatoes under the straw no longer require any maintenance. How to plant and care, we have examined. It remains to analyze all the pros and cons of this method of landing.
All for
Many people know how to plant potatoes under the straw, but they also know all the advantages of this method:
- Unlike a standard landing, this one does not take much time and effort.
- The crop productivity increases several times.
- Tubers are much less susceptible to attack by the Colorado potato beetle.
- No need to weed and spud. Weed grass simply does not grow under the pressure of straw.
- No need to dig land to plant potatoes. It is enough just to plow to a shallow depth.
- If the summer is with moderate rains, you can not water the potatoes at all. Straw holds moisture well.
But along with all the advantages, this method has opponents. And here is what they say.
Cons votes
There will always be people who are happy with everything, but there is also a flip side to the coin. Many summer residents know how to plant potatoes under a straw, but not everyone considers it appropriate to do so. And they have a number of reasons for this:
- Where to get straw? If you do not have your own field or meadow, then you must decide where to find the straw and how to deliver it. Harvesting straw yourself is also a troublesome business.
- Mice and various pathogenic bacteria and insects can easily be found in straw. From this, the crop can suffer greatly.
- If you save and poorly cover the potatoes, then it will just turn green and the whole will become worthless. It can no longer be stored and eaten.
As you can see, there are fewer minuses than pluses. Therefore, it is up to you to decide whether to learn how to plant potatoes under the straw or not. Scientists also spoke about such a method of growing a beloved vegetable.
Scientific approach
Scientists, having conducted research, proved that in such an environment that straw forms, plants are not affected by such misfortunes as: wireworm, late blight and the well-known Colorado potato beetle. This is achieved due to a special medium that originates in the straw mulch. It is inhabited by insects that prevent grass parasites from multiplying. The natural and balanced microclimate that forms under the straw heals the cottage soil and makes it more fruitful and fertile for further crops.
Finally
Summing up, we can safely say that theoretically we have learned how to grow potatoes under a straw. The matter is yours: whether to apply your knowledge in practice or not. If the first time something went wrong, do not give up. Try it next year. For the first time, you can try to plant only part of the land in this way. Then you simply evaluate your work and result, and draw conclusions whether you will plant potatoes under the straw or not.