Potatoes - the second bread, that's how people say about this vegetable. There are many recipes for potato dishes: mashed potatoes, french fries, jacket potatoes, pies with potatoes ... All these dishes were among the favorite among Russians.
How to grow potatoes? In the warm conditions of the south, it grows very well. But what about, for example, the Urals?
In different regions, potatoes are planted at different times. In the Urals, it is planted in May. At this time, the temperature of the earth is already above four degrees, which is quite enough for landing. Potato seeds are best planted when they are already warmed up under the sun and sprouted. When landing, they do not always use a shovel. In the Urals, it is customary to use a chopper, since planting potatoes does not require a large depth.
Using a chopper, make shallow, 5-6 cm, furrows. The gaps between them can be made approximately one meter. Furrows should be made from north to south, so that there are no problems with light for growing potatoes.
When the time comes for planting potatoes, it is necessary to treat the tubers with wood ash to protect them from pests. Now you can put them in the furrows per meter about four tubers. Next, you need to fill them with humus or manure, and then with earth. Using a chopper to level the surface of the site is quite easy. Now the former furrows have turned into ridges, and with further hilling they will only increase. It is recommended to spud potatoes about three times during the summer season. So, to harvest potatoes, the comb can be up to thirty centimeters high.
Few people use potato leaf desiccation. The climatic features of the Urals do not allow the tops to die by the time of harvesting. For faster maturation of the tops, it is sprayed with a special solution. The ripened tops wither and cease to draw moisture from the tubers. This contributes to their growth and maximum preservation of nutrients.
In addition to the usual, potatoes are planted in the Urals under hay. The technology of such planting differs from the usual one only in that the planted potato is covered with hay or straw. This is not difficult to do, the main thing is to make sure that covering material remains in the fall. It is not necessary to cover with a too thick layer, just 15-20 cm is enough. Otherwise, this can interfere with the heating of the earth and shoot emergence. Hay can be planted in the process of growing, plant sprouts around when they reach ten centimeters in height. Planting potatoes under hay has many advantages. This is the absence of weeds (they sprout too poorly through hay) and the unnecessary watering, because the land under hay practically does not dry out. Many lovers of this type of planting claim that the Colorado potato beetle on such beds is much smaller.
So, planting potatoes in the Urals is a fairly simple matter, you just need to take into account the climatic features and be guided by them when caring for a growing crop. In addition, the Ural land is able to grow a large number of different varieties of potatoes. Local breeders number them about a hundred, and most were bred, just as planting potatoes in the Urals requires.