Y. SHELAYEV.

“These are fairy tales,” a sensible gardener will think. “What can grow in undug soil is only weeds. And what if you don’t pull them out?..” Meanwhile, a simple way to develop land, even completely overgrown with weeds, exists. With its help, the author of the article, Yuri Sergeevich Shelaev, a chemical ecologist, grew last year in the Moscow region bountiful harvest many crops, including watermelons and melons. With minimal expenditure of effort and money. In a word, it really is a fairy tale. The method is new and not entirely familiar, but it’s worth a try because it promises to save time and effort during the hottest spring season.

Science and life // Illustrations

This is how planting holes are punched.

Seedling bush under double cover.

So, the place for the garden has been chosen. The main thing is that it is illuminated by the sun almost all day. Level out large holes and mounds, remove large stones. Scatter compostable organic materials over the soil surface: leaves, sawdust, straw, kitchen waste, any plant debris, finely chopped branches from tree and shrub trimmings. Two buckets of organic matter per 1 m 2 of land is quite enough. When the soil is poor, even if weeds do not grow on it, as well as when planting garden strawberries or perennial crops the organic layer should be increased to 10 cm thick.

Stepping back at least a meter from the side border of the site, stretch a white or bright colored cord along the future ridge, in its middle. Pull the next cord, stepping back a meter, parallel to the first. In the future, compact, low crops such as onions, lettuce, radishes, dill or parsley will grow well on these two ridges, each 50 cm wide. For planting rapidly growing vegetables - cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes - place the beds at a distance of 1.35 m from each other (the distance from the center of one bed to the center of another), and for planting pumpkins, sunflowers, corn - at a distance of 1.5 m.

Sprinkle evenly along the entire length of the beds in a narrow strip along the cord. mineral fertilizers. In my garden, I use fertilizer mixtures prepared according to the Mittlider method (see "Science and Life" No. 4, 1992; No. 6, 1993): for each linear meter of the bed I add 150 g of mixture No. 1 (dolomite flour or lime with the addition of 1% borax) and 50 g of mixture No. 2 (complex mineral fertilizer with microelements, with the obligatory presence of magnesium). Adherents of organics can add manure or, even better, compost to the soil along the cord.

Cover the entire area of ​​the garden with ordinary transparent plastic film - this is the novelty of the method and its amazing possibilities. The film used as a mulching material makes it possible to “tame” weeds without digging, weeding and herbicides. It is customary to use an opaque, most often black film or black non-woven material for this purpose. In contrast to black transparent film, creating weeds greenhouse conditions, turns them from enemies of the harvest into valuable green manure, which grows on its own, does not need to be sown and embedded in the soil. The rays of sunlight when using such a film are not wasted: those that do not fall on the leaves of planted crops go to the green carpet underneath them. The foliage of this carpet is always guaranteed carbon dioxide, which is formed in abundance during the decomposition of organic matter introduced under the film in the spring.

The advantages of transparent film coating do not end there. In warmth and with sufficient moisture, soil microflora actively multiplies on the organic material under the film, ensuring the absorption of nitrogen. The resulting weak solution of nitric acid leaches phosphorus, potassium and numerous trace elements from the mineral base of the soil. These elements are contained in the soil in large quantities, but in an insoluble form, therefore, inaccessible to plants. The soil solution enriched with leached elements is absorbed by the roots. cultivated plants, which helps to increase the yield, and the weed roots use it to increase their biomass. At high temperatures and air humidity, a significant part of the weed biomass is quickly composted and turns into humus, or black soil. Earthworms are bred in soil rich in organic matter; through their deep passages, air enters the lower layers of the soil and plant roots easily penetrate, and during the rainy season, excess moisture is removed.

On hot days, it is, of course, hot under the transparent film, but only the tops of the weeds dry out. The resulting “hay” protects the underlying layers from overheating. The soil in which the roots of plants are located does not dry out; at night, water vapor rising from its deep layers condenses on the film, the condensate moistens the top layer of soil, rich in organic matter, and the organic matter holds water like a sponge. In cool weather and at night, the soil heated under the film gives off heat to the plants on the film, and the covering material, like a blanket, retains it.

It is most convenient to use new polyethylene film as a “self-assembly”, but you can get by with used film that has not lost its strength. Overlap the panels over each other by 10-15 cm; available in old film cuts can be sealed with tape. Press the edges of the film to the ground with long, unplaned scraps of fresh lumber (slugs do not like to live under prickly boards).

Planting holes on the film are easy to mark with chalk or a felt-tip pen, and they can be easily made with a stake made of hardwood, such as birch, sharpened on one side like a pencil. With a sharp blow, use the sharp end of the stake to punch cone-shaped holes at the planting site, and with circular movements, expand them to sizes corresponding to the root ball of the seedling or the diameter, for example, of the future root crop. If the depth of the resulting hole is not sufficient, repeat the strike. On very heavy soil, it is more advisable to use a crowbar instead of a wooden stake.

To sow seeds, you can use a small planting peg with a diameter of about 2 cm and a length of up to 90 cm.

Punch holes along the entire length of the bed; The marking cord should be located in the middle. Make the outermost holes at the beginning and end of the ridge at a distance of at least 0.5 m from the edge of the film. Leave the intervals between holes depending on the crop: for beets, onions and other low crops (in two rows) - 5 cm, for cucumbers and tomatoes (in one row) - 20 cm, for corn, daikon, kohlrabi - 30 cm, for all types of cabbage (in a checkerboard pattern) - 35 cm, for zucchini, watermelons and melons (in one row) - 70 cm, pumpkin - 100 cm.

Sow cold-resistant crops first: all types of cabbage (for seedlings), watercress, radishes, parsley, dill, carrots, onions. A couple of weeks after the first sowings, the time comes for peas, beans, lettuce, and beets. At the beginning of May - cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, closer to June - watermelons and melons (for seedlings) and tomato seedlings.

In the prepared holes intended for sowing seeds, pour a small mound of moistened soil made from sawdust and compost (a bucket of sawdust, half a bucket of compost), or peat soil used for growing seedlings. Ordinary soil from the garden will not work: it may contain seeds, weed roots or pests.

Sow 10 to 20 seeds in large holes (for radishes and carrots - no more than 5 pieces, beets - 1 piece), in small holes - 1-2 seeds. Level the mound of earth by pressing it lightly with your palm. When planting seedlings, moisten the root ball well in advance and lower it into the holes on the torn edges of the film. The edges buried in the holes will not allow weed roots to grow inside the holes and will protect the plantings from insect pests living under the film and in the very top layer of soil. If a mole cricket has settled in your garden or the area is clogged with creeping wheatgrass, I recommend placing covers made of non-woven material (spunbond) or simply flaps of this material rolled into bags directly into the holes. The roots of the seedlings will easily grow through them into the ground, and for pests such a cone is an insurmountable barrier.

After planting, water the plants generously, cover with loose and moistened soil, which was mentioned above, and cover the entire area of ​​the garden with a thin (17 or 30 g/m2) covering non-woven material. Press the edges to the ground, just like the film, or better yet, together with it. Lay the panels loosely so as not to interfere with the plants growing underneath them. In the future, you won’t need to water the garden frequently: the double cover will prevent the aimless evaporation of moisture, and prolonged rains will not turn it into a swamp. In the same places where puddles form on the film, make punctures with a thin needle, and the water will drain away. To avoid bending over, the needle can be secured to a long stick.

From fast-growing crops such as corn, sunflower, climbing beans, the covering material will need to be removed soon. Do this after the end of frost and place supports under the plants. Bee-pollinated cucumbers and zucchini should be opened slightly after flowering for pollination by insects. Cruciferous crops (cabbage, turnips, radishes, radishes), on the contrary, must be constantly closed; open them only at harvest. Peppers and tomatoes can be grown under covering material without supports. Plant varieties that do not require pinching and do not worry about them until the first fruits ripen.

At the end of the season, remove all plant debris from the area and remove the film. Let the weeds grow a little and add organic matter, including the tops of grown vegetables.

In October, plant winter onions, garlic and bulbs (tulips, daffodils), if you did not have time to do so earlier. Cover plantings instead of covering material collected leaves, and in the spring leave it in the garden for the entire next season.

Using new method, you can grow perennial vegetables, flowers, garden strawberries and shrubs. When planting bushes with a large lump of earth, holes required sizes It is more convenient to dig with a shovel. Make cross-shaped cuts in the film according to the size of the hole, dig it, plant bushes, cover with the removed soil, water and cover with the corners of the film. It is better to seal the cuts on the film with tape.

When planting strawberry bushes intended for several years, add long-decomposing organic fertilizers: sawdust, shavings, spruce and pine needles, chopped branches. It’s good to add AVA or Kemira universal fertilizer, as well as dolomite flour. You can replant strawberry plantings at any time and in any weather. Make holes in the places where new plants are needed and plant the tendrils in them without tearing them away from the mother plant. It is not necessary to water and sprinkle with special soil; 100% survival rate is guaranteed. No weeding or labor-intensive trimming of the mustache is required. All mustaches that do not find soil under them will wither on their own.

The method is new and, naturally, has not been tested on all crops. For example, what is the best way to grow carrots? Should I sow many seeds in a large hole or one seed at a time in frequently made small holes? It has

Is there any point in growing potatoes in a new way, because when harvesting, the tubers will have to be dug out from the tangle of weed roots? Will the tubers turn out green? Is this method suitable for large areas? In the southern regions, the new method is suitable for heat-loving crops with widely growing leaves (pumpkins, cucumbers) and melons, but other crops will have to be protected in summer months from overheating of the roots by scattering, for example, straw over the film. But the vegetable season will become almost year-round. Residents of the northern regions, the Urals and Siberia will surely like this method.

Today, many gardeners use the usual method of planting potatoes: they plow the ground, make holes, apply fertilizers and tubers, and throughout the season they hill up and weed the root crop. But sometimes even such care does not bring the expected harvest. If you approach growing potatoes wisely, you can do it without weeding, hilling and unnecessary hassle. This is the most effective and very simple method for obtaining a potato harvest.

This method was actively used by our ancestors. Its essence lies in the use of straw. Not only will you receive wonderful harvest, but you will also forget about hilling and Colorado potato beetles forever.

Growing potatoes wisely: the essence of the process

It is also important that there is no need to dig up the soil. Preparing potatoes for planting involves detailed selection and germination under the sun. The landing process is quite simple:

1. Tubers are placed in shallow holes.

Cover the area with straw at least 15 cm

After this, you can simply forget about the potato plot until the fall. Don't worry about bugs eating it or the tops drying out. Straw not only perfectly protects the root crop, but also creates shade. Other advantages of this method include:

• No watering. Potatoes do not need abundant watering. The soil will be slightly moist even in the most intense heat.

• When rotting, dry grass attracts beneficial microorganisms and insects. As a result, the plant receives everything it needs for full growth.
• No weeding or hilling required.

As for harvesting potatoes, for everyone who does not like to dig, this method will be a relief, because the finished crop will lie right on the surface, all that remains is to rake the straw. These potatoes have a wonderful aroma, excellent taste qualities and friability. Few people immediately trust this method, fearing its ineffectiveness, so they use straw only on part of the site. But the next year the whole area becomes covered with thatch.

It is possible to grow potatoes without weeding and hilling. To do this, it is only important to prepare the required amount of dry grass, bring it and scatter it on the site. We hope our tips will help you grow excellent potatoes in your dacha.

Video: Potatoes under the hay

A method for growing potatoes in straw from a Siberian agronomist Ivan Parfentievich Zamyatkin.

Ivan Parfentievich Zamyatkin, retired agronomist from the village of Shushenskoye, Krasnoyarsk Territory. As a result of ten years of experience, Ivan Parfentievich mastered his own version of organic farming, based on the active and varied use of “green manure” - green manure.

Its yields of potatoes and vegetables are 10 or more times higher than those obtained using traditional “official” technology.

The historical village of Shushenskoye - the bank of the Yenisei. The soil is poor sandy loam, in summer it can be above +35°, in winter up to −45°, there is little snow. Every second year there are severe droughts. Bread burns out in arable fields, potatoes don’t bear fruit—many people don’t even dig them. And at this time, Zamyatkin steadily and effortlessly collects fivefold harvests.

Zamyatkin’s site has not seen a shovel for about twenty years. According to him, in ten years the fertile layer has deepened to 30-40 cm. The soil has become so loose that there is no need to drive in pegs for tomatoes - they stick in easily. The potato harvest approached two tons per hundred square meters. Cabbage - heads of cabbage per pound - up to 1800 kg per hundred square meters. The yields of cabbage and carrots are three to five times higher than average, and the berry fields produce abundantly. Zamyatkin does not use manure, much less compost. From fertilizers - only ash. Now in his beds, as he puts it, there is truly fertile agrozem. This means that the maximum harvest is guaranteed in any year.

How does he do this?

Of course, a third of the increase comes from varietal agricultural technology: Zamyatkin selected the best varieties for himself and literally became close to them. But two-thirds of the success is the natural garden system: narrow beds, no plowing, sowing green manure, reasonable fruit replacement, mulching.

“The harvest is no longer a problem. I seem to have gotten over record mania. Now my goal is maximum natural fertility and sustainable agro-biocenosis.”

beds

Zamyatkin’s beds are stationary, 80 cm wide, with passages of at least a meter. This is how they are born. In the first half of June, the lush grass is trampled down. A half-thick layer of various plant organic matter is piled on top of it. And from above - two fingers of the earth. An ideal bed: it won’t let out the weeds, and it breathes so that it can quickly rot, and it’s a home for the worms. It stays like that until the end of summer.

In August, cold-resistant green manure is sown here: mustard, oilseed radish. And in the spring - peas, beans, beans: let them fertilize the soil additionally. Fruit production begins with them. And if the soil is good, you can plant watermelons and potatoes.

Only a flat cutter takes care of the beds, and only superficially. All summer - mulch, in spring and autumn - green manure. The weed problem disappeared along with the empty land. When there is always a dense crop, or mulch, or thick green manure in the garden bed, where can weeds live when their niche is occupied? And they exist quietly, without pretending to be massive and greyhound.

Diseases are also a thing of the past

Zamyatkin introduced into his practice the smartest technique - eliminating morning dew. Places simple film screens over the beds. Heat rays are reflected back onto the garden bed - that’s it, no dew! Only those things that are prone to getting sick are covered this way: onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes.

Mulch

Zamyatkin’s mulch is the same basis for soil maintenance as green manure.

He spends almost no time or effort on collecting organic matter. A thick layer of separately harvested “hay” is used only for special purposes: to create new beds, smother weeds, cover tree trunk circles seedlings. And on the beds all year round there is natural, “green manure mulch”.

The technology is simple. In August, some kind of cold-resistant green manure is sown under a rake, and before frost it produces a thick green mass. Without allowing it to set seeds, we cut it off with a sharp shovel. It turns out to be a layer of hay. In the spring it is three times thinner: it has become denser and partially melted. We rake clean furrows in it, sow and plant in them. The plants stood up, burst into bloom - all the soil was covered.

Winter rye usually does not freeze and begins to grow in the spring. This “mulch” has to be cut below the tillering node, otherwise it will grow back.

Option: the green manure is not cut, it freezes, and in April the bed is bristling with straw. Mulch is also effective - it will protect from wind and frost. We make holes directly in it or cut rows. Later we break it and put it on the garden bed.

You can mulch with any organic matter, the main thing is that it is

Experiments have shown that excellent potatoes grow under a thick layer of plant dust and straw. In recent years, Zamyatkin has been growing it this way. I spread the “seeds” over the bed, covered them with loose organic matter, helped the sprouts emerge if necessary, and finally covered everything up. In August, I lifted the mulch - there were clean tubers underneath, even right into the pan.

And here’s what’s typical: wireworms, May beetle larvae and other beetles are not found in mulch. Apparently, they do not risk rising from the soil: too many here are not averse to feasting on them. One way or another, but for many years now under the straw all the tubers have been clean and without damage. And if you bury them in the soil, many will be chewed up.

Organic Mulch Rules

In the fall, cover the soil as early as possible - let it live longer and freeze later. In the spring, on the contrary, first rake the coarse mulch onto the paths: let the soil thaw and warm up.

What gardeners cover their seedlings with in order for them to take root! And it still dries. Zamyatkin, as always, took a closer look at nature - and everything there was already invented. The snow has melted - we sow phacelia. At the time of disembarkation - a covering carpet. We dig holes and plant. Quiet, partial shade - the seedlings are thriving. And if frost threatens, it’s easy to throw the film directly on the green manure. The seedlings began to grow, it became crowded - we cut off the green manure and put it as mulch.

Now everything is clear!

Mulch is a multi-layered and multifaceted concept. Speaking about protecting the soil and seedlings, it is difficult to draw a clear boundary between the layer of sawdust, dead turf, dry stem... dwarf cedar, shrubs, trees. Forests and steppes are the “mulch” of the planet. Woodlice and worms live and swarm in the forest floor and turf, and you and I live in the layer of forests, gardens and parks. But imagine that your garden and forest are uprooted. “One month the soil is bare - a month it dies,” says Zamyatkin.

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Vladimir Vysotsky

Collection of poetry

It’s hard to believe, but back in the middle of the 19th century, Vladimir Semyonovich could have paid with his life for such “rhyme-weaving” if he had fallen into the hands of a peasant from the Saratov or Kazan province.

The introduction of potato cultivation both in Rus' and in Europe met with resistance and was carried out using the “carrot and stick” method.

It is not known for certain who was the first to bring potato tubers from South America. Various sources V different hands give the palm. Surely it was not just one person.

The people, having chewed corned berries and crunched raw root vegetables, did not understand the pioneers.

So the English peasants had to be given gold medals for growing potatoes, and the Prussian peasants had to have their noses and ears cut off for not growing them.

The French cultivated potatoes as a flower. Ladies at the court of Louis XVI, at the suggestion of the first lady of the kingdom, Marie Antoinette, inserted a bouquet of blooming potatoes into their hair.

French women used to put these branches in their hair.

Compared to Europe, the vegetable arrived in Russia late. Turnips and rutabaga remained the staple food of the Russian peasantry for a long time.

Only after a series of “potato riots” in the 40s of the 19th century, brutally suppressed by the tsarist government, and after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, was culture given the green light.
Early 20th century vintage

So what kind of vegetable is this and what is it eaten with?

And potatoes are combined with meat, vegetable and butter, vegetables and herbs. Gourmets do not recommend using it with fish, excluding herring. But these are gourmets. The product is universal and is used in all cuisines of the world.

Benefits and Applications

By chemical composition Potatoes are close to bread: they contain proteins, fiber, glucose, sucrose, and a large amount of carbohydrates in the form of starch. The latter is absorbed slowly, so the feeling of fullness after eating dishes made from this vegetable lasts for a long time.

The plant has found application in folk medicine and cosmetic procedures:

1. Normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular system, treats headaches.
2. Used for inhalation for diseases of the upper respiratory tract.
3. Restores the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, treats hemorrhoids and heartburn.
4. Heals wounds and fights inflammation.
5. Fights the effects of burns, fungal diseases and erysipelas.
6. Has a rejuvenating effect.

Contraindications

Potato as a plant

Potatoes are a perennial herbaceous shrub consisting of several stems. Cultivated as an annual. Belongs to the nightshade family.

Propagated by seeds and vegetatively. TO vegetative propagation include:

• Propagation by tubers. The method is popular, but leads to degeneration of potatoes.
• By dividing the tuber. The method is simple, used when there is a lack of planting material, which also leads to degeneration.
• Reproduction by sprouts and layering. Sprouts and cuttings are twisted out of the sprouted fruit several times. The method allows you to increase the amount of planting material.
• Rooting the tops.

None of these propagation methods, with the exception of seed, guarantees healthy tubers.

Tubers are the thickened end of an underground shoot (stolon), transformed into a storage organ, on which there are several dormant points - ocelli. Each eye contains 3 dormant buds. The top ones usually germinate. If the sprouts are removed, the lower buds will also wake up, and sprouts will appear from the removed ones again.

The shape and color of the tubers are varied and depend on the variety. Just some kind of rainbow

Varieties

There are over 4 thousand varieties of this crop in the world, and in Russia, according to the latest data from the “State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use,” there are over 400. The tables given in the register contain basic information about the parameters of the plant:

1. Variety code and name.
2. Year of inclusion in the document (we learn about new products).
3. Tolerance region (where it is recommended to grow).
4. Originator (author) and patent holder.
5. Direction of use.
6. Maturing period.
7. Plant type - given important information about resistance to certain diseases.

Based on this set of documents, you can decide on the choice of varieties for planting, consumption, and production.

Depending on the indicators and properties, the plant is classified:

1. By ripening period (early, middle, late).
2. By country of selection (Russia, Holland, Belarus).
3. According to the color of the peel and pulp (red, yellow, purple). In colored potatoes, the content of bioflavonoids is 2 times higher than in light potatoes, and the percentage of starch is lower, so they are used in the diet.
4. By reference to the region (Northern, Northwestern, Central, Central Black Earth, Volga-Vyatka, North Caucasus, Lower Volga and Middle Volga, Ural, West Siberian and East Siberian, Far Eastern).
5. According to the purpose of the variety.

According to their intended purpose, varieties are divided into 4 large groups:

• table - with tender pulp and starch content of 12–16%;
• technical - starch content over 18%, alcohol and starch are made from them;
• feed - with an increased amount of protein (2–3%);
• universal - determined by the average between table and technical varieties.

Each consumer eventually acquires a list the best varieties, which suit him for one reason or another.

Growing potatoes in seedlings

If you want to try young potatoes as early as possible, but are afraid to eat market potatoes, try growing them through seedlings.

Advantages

1. Getting an early harvest.
2. Rejection of low-quality material.
3. Better conditions are created for early plant development than when grown in soil.
4. In bad weather conditions (heavy rains, for example), the time for planting in the ground can be delayed.
5. The crop is not subject to return frosts.

Minuses

The disadvantages include the laboriousness of the method. The woman had no worries, the woman bought a piglet.

Three steps to growing seedlings

When growing potatoes seedling method We will go through 3 stages:

1. Preparing tubers.
2. Planting in pots.
3. Landing in the ground.

Step 1: prepare the tubers

The varieties are taken early and mid-early, shifting the growing season and “cheating” the heat, the Colorado potato beetle and late blight. When choosing a variety, focus on the region. Kuban tubers will not produce a good harvest in Siberia.

Healthy seed material, dry, with a strong skin, smooth, without cuts, cracks, stains and rot, weighing 50–80 g, is soaked for 10–15 minutes in a solution of Fundazol or for 30–40 minutes in 1% Bordeaux mixture. The liquid is allowed to drain and sent for 1.5–2 weeks for landscaping. The process occurs in the light at 12–15°.

Proponents of organic farming do not support this method, believing that solanine accumulated in the light is harmful even in seed tubers. What goes around comes around.

Then the tubers are germinated for another 1.5 weeks at a temperature of 18–20° without light. The emerging sprouts are periodically sprayed with water, preventing them from drying out.
Healthy planting material with beautiful sprouts

For better education Root sprouts are stimulated by making a ring cut that does not reach the middle and redirecting nutrients from the upper buds to the lower and lateral ones. The procedure is carried out a month and a half before the start of germination of root crops.
A transverse or longitudinal incision stimulates the awakening of dormant buds

Step 2: Planting in Pots

Take a container for planting with a volume of 250–300 ml and plant it in peat pots or boxes. The soil should be loose and rich in humus; soil from a greenhouse and peat without additives are suitable. Peat pot - universal container

The container is half filled with the substrate, the tuber is lowered and sprinkled with soil to a depth of 4–6 cm.

Choose a place that is warm (20°) and bright, however, shading will not cause harm.

One of the secrets of growing potatoes through seedlings is that from the moment the tubers are planted until the seedlings emerge, the soil is not watered. Potatoes respond negatively to waterlogging. After germination, water carefully.

Step 3: planting in the ground

When the plant reaches a height of 15–20 cm and the number of leaves is 8–13, the bush is transplanted into the ground. You should not overexpose, since the possibilities of development in containers small size limited.
A little more - and you can change your place of residence

The row spacing is made wider than with the usual planting method - from 80 cm.

The transplant time depends on local climate. It is desirable that the threat of return frosts pass. If you plant the plant horizontally rather than vertically, then lowering the temperature will not harm it. The tops covered with soil feel good and after 5–7 days they come to the surface.

Growing potatoes in seedlings from seeds

Potato super-elite will grow from these tiny grains

If previously this method was used only by breeders and rare amateur enthusiasts, now it is becoming more and more popular.

Advantages

1. Seeds are cheaper than elite and even ordinary tubers.
2. Seed storage does not imply special conditions: cellar, basement, etc.
3. The yield of a crop grown from seeds is higher than that grown from tubers.
4. Tubers grown from seeds are resistant to viral and bacterial diseases, as well as to adverse weather conditions.
5. For 5–7 years you will provide yourself with good planting material:

• I year - mini-tubers.
• Year 2 - super elite.
• III year - super elite.
• IV year - elite.
• Year V - the first reproduction of the elite.

Minuses

1. Seedlings are capricious and require additional care.
2. May get blackleg.
3. Two-year growing period.

The soil for sowing seeds is light, loose, breathable: 2 parts garden soil - 6 parts turf and 1 part sand. To prevent fungal diseases, the biological product trichodermin is added.

Before planting, seeds are treated with a solution of epin or root, germinate and planted in furrows 1.0–1.5 cm deep at a distance of 5 cm from each other. Sprinkle dry sand on top, moisten with a spray bottle, cover with film and send to a warm place.
Seedlings require very careful watering

They dive in the phase of 2 true leaves, deepening down to the cotyledon leaves. Water carefully and moderately, periodically spray with epin, and feed with complex fertilizer once a month.

Hardened seedlings are planted in well-heated soil at a distance of 40 cm from each other. Further care no different from normal plant care.

Growing without seedlings in open ground

Potatoes from planting to harvest

Most summer residents and gardeners use this method when planting potatoes, despite its disadvantages:

• high cost of planting material;
• rush hour and lack of time;
• The accumulation of bacterial and fungal diseases in the soil and tubers, even super-elite purchased on the market can be infected.

Landing

The soil for planting is prepared in the fall by adding necessary fertilizers. In the spring, ash is added or the tubers are dusted with it. To avoid fungal epidemics, it is recommended to do without fresh manure at this time.

The planting method is chosen depending on the soil and climate. The vegetable is planted in holes and trenches on light soils in areas with dry summers; ridges are cut on heavy, waterlogged soil.

Planting in rows under a shovel is the most popular method. The disadvantage of this method is that with heavy rainfall the tubers suffocate.
Late potato planting scheme

The trenches are prepared in the fall, filled with organic matter that settles during the winter. With this planting, soil fertility improves and you can do without chemical fertilizers. Labor intensity when constructing trenches and availability large quantity herbs for mulch are considered to be the disadvantages of this method.

In regions with large amounts of summer precipitation, ridges are used, in which the soil warms up faster, maintenance is easier, and with high hilling, many tubers develop. On sandy soil, ridges dry out quickly.
When groundwater is high, planting in ridges will help

General conditions for these methods:

• for uniform illumination, planting in the direction from north to south;
• maintaining distances between rows of 60–70 cm, between plants 25–30 if the potatoes are early and do not bush much, and 30–35 cm when planting late potatoes with thick tops.

Alternative planting methods

It cannot be said that these methods have become widespread, however, with their help a number of problems are solved:

• reduce physical stress on the body;
• reduce water consumption to a minimum;
• get rid of weeds without weeding and loosening.

These methods include the following plantings:

• for hay or straw;
• under black film or non-woven material;
• planting in boxes;
• planting in bags and barrels.

Design of a plot with a potato bush

I would like to talk about one more method. We are talking about winter planting. Before you reject this method, remember that once upon a time a categorical “no” was said to potatoes.

They are planted in the usual way, only the varieties chosen are not very early, but early and even mid-early, characterized by frost resistance: Nevsky, Lugovskoy. Mulch with a thick layer (15–20 cm) of straw or reeds, creating the effect of a thermos.

Tubers do not germinate.

Growing conditions and care

Potatoes are plants temperate climate, it needs a cool summer with daytime temperatures up to 25° and night temperatures not higher than 15°.

Caring for the crop involves:

• watering;
• loosening;
• weeding;
• hilling;
• feeding;
• pest and disease control.

Watering

The vegetable does not tolerate drought well, so watering is necessary in the hot summer. If the plant is not watered, late rains will cause the formation of ugly fruits.

A special need for watering arises:

• when the plant reaches a height of 5–10 cm (growth of the aboveground part is ensured);
• during budding (the number of tubers increases);
• when tubers gain weight.

The best time for watering is in the evening, but so that by night the bushes are dry and do not catch late blight. You can determine whether the plant is thirsty by dipping your fingers into the soil: if they remain dry, this is a sign of dehydration.

As the bush develops, the amount of water consumed also increases. When the tubers ripen, it reaches 20 liters.

Loosening, weeding, hilling

Loosening and weeding are carried out after rains, when the soil is compacted, or in the morning after evening watering.

Hilling (adding soil to the base of the bush) is necessary to form additional underground stems on which the crop is formed. Hill up at least 2 times per season: when the shoots reach 15 cm and before flowering. The procedure is performed on moist soil.

I would like to note that if you plant potatoes using an alternative method, then these three physically difficult components of plant care will not be required.

Top dressing

Potatoes are a big glutton. From one hundred square meters of land per season it consumes:

• nitrogen - up to 3 kg;
• potassium - 4.8 kg;
• phosphorus - 0.8 kg.

Even if the soil is well fertilized in the fall, summer plantings (root and foliar) cannot be avoided. Root feeding combined with irrigation.

1. After the first watering, add mullein (0.5 kg per 10 l warm water) at the rate of 0.5 liters for each bush.
2. The second watering is combined with the addition of potassium and phosphorus needed at the moment (15 g of potassium sulfate and 15 g of double superphosphate are dissolved in 10 liters of water).
3. The third time the crop is fertilized with manure (0.25 kg per 10 liters of water).

For foliar feeding take:

• urea (0.2 kg urea and 10 g boric acid per 10 liters of water) – 2 weeks after emergence;
• humates - when the 4th leaf appears and throughout the entire growing season;
• phosphorus is used to improve taste a month before harvest (0.1 kg per 10 l)

Followers natural farming mineral fertilizers are replaced with organic matter.

Pest and disease control

The Colorado potato beetle, wireworm, and potato nematode love root vegetables just as much as we do. They cope with them both with the help of chemistry and folk remedies.

Problems when growing potatoes

Mulching

Mulching is an agricultural technique that creates a protective layer on the soil by covering it with organic (hay, straw, peat, sawdust, humus) or artificial material(agrofibre), which retains moisture, prevents soil washout, accelerates crop development and prevents weed growth.

Mulch allows you to save on watering and extend its duration.

Harvesting and storage

The timing of fruit ripening depends on the variety.

1. 45–60 days - ultra-early (Ariel, Caprice).
2. 60–70 days - early (Zhukovsky early, Bryansk early).
3. 70–80 days - medium early (Red Scarlett, Reserve).
4. 80–100 days - mid-season (Altair, Talisman).
5. 120 days - late ripening (Atlant, Temp).

The main sign of potato maturity is the drying and lodging of the tops, from which tubers with dense skins are easily separated.

They dig up the crop in dry weather, sort it out, removing cut and diseased tubers, and dry it in the shade.

Store in a cool, dry place in disinfected “breathable” containers (wooden and plastic boxes, cotton bags), which will prevent the appearance of rot in vegetables. For better preservation, the tubers are lined with garlic cloves, and the boxes with mint and horseradish.

Growing potatoes in a greenhouse in winter

The harvest is pleasing

Growing potatoes in a greenhouse will cost more than growing them in the ground. The advantage of this method is:

• cultivation during the period when open ground this is impossible, practically 8 months a year;
• getting an early harvest;
• small number of pests.

If the greenhouse is heated, tubers planted in August will produce a harvest by the New Year. The next planting takes place at the end of February. When planting in a greenhouse, the sprouted root crop must meet the following parameters:

• be larger than for planting in the ground (80–100 g);
• go through the landscaping process so as not to be of interest to rodents;
• be whole - cut vegetables attract pests.

The varieties are taken from very early and early varieties. Kharkov early and Priekulsky early are well adapted to growing in greenhouses.

Pre-planting soil preparation consists of adding peat, manure, ash, and digging.

Planting is carried out according to the following schemes:

1. The distance between bushes is 25–30 cm, between rows – 60–65 cm.
2. If provided drip irrigation, then staggered landing is preferable. A gap of 25–30 cm is left between bushes, 30 cm between double rows, and 80 cm between rows.

Planting depth is 6–7 cm. To create the desired microclimate, the bed is covered with film, which is removed after the first shoots.

At different stages of development, the room is maintained at a certain temperature:

• during the growth period - 18–20°;
• during budding and flowering - 22–23°;
• during tuber formation - 16–18°.

When the plants reach a height of 10 cm, water and fertilize with fermented mullein solution diluted 1:10. The next time these procedures are carried out before hilling and during flowering.

On sunny, non-frosting days, greenhouses are ventilated.

After harvesting, any vegetables that are not nightshades are planted.

Growing potatoes at home

This crop can also be grown on the balcony.

If you don’t have a greenhouse or a summer house, but you want to consume your own potatoes, grow them in pots and boxes on the balcony and enjoy creating and eating them.

Industrial cultivation

No end to the potato fields

At industrial cultivation plants, the profitability reaches 300%, but the investments are huge. Otherwise, profitability will be zero.

Common in Russia Dutch technology, which involves mechanized processes and the use of agrochemicals.

Features of growing potatoes in different regions

When growing potatoes in the regions, you need to focus on zoned varieties and suitable planting methods.

Moscow region

Popular superstitions say that if a birch tree has a leaf the size of a penny, then you can plant potatoes. The varieties chosen are mid-early: Tuleevsky, Synok, Chugunka. On chernozem they are planted in rows and ridges; on loam it is better to plant in straw.

Siberia

Due to the short summer, early varieties are chosen for planting so that they have time to ripen. Plant in rows and ridges. During the first hilling, the tops are completely covered with soil due to the threat of return frosts.

Ural

In the Urals, it is better not to rush into planting; frosts occur even in June. The varieties chosen are early and mid-early: Governor, Bullfinch, White Spring. They are planted in trenches, in ridges, and in straw.

Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region

Due to the arid climate in the southern regions, very unfavourable conditions for growing this crop. If early potatoes still manage to survive the heat, then late ones freeze in development, and after rains they grow again, as a result, the tubers crack. But southerners are not going to give up their favorite vegetable, so they attach great importance to choosing a variety adapted to local conditions and diseases.

And the choice is small:

• from early varieties- Early Zhukovsky (Russia), Cleopatra (Holland), Impala (Holland);
• from the middle early ones - Nevsky (Russia), Escort (Holland), Adretta (Germany);
• from the middle-late ones - Picasso (Holland).

Planting is done in trenches with a large amount of organic matter. Watering and mulching are necessary.

Vegetable garden without digging - high beds

Raised vegetable beds, a vegetable garden for the lazy. How to make an easy-to-maintain tall garden with your own hands

Previously, gardening literature recommended annual spring and autumn digging almost the entire area. Modern literature on organic farming recommends the exact opposite approach: dig as little as possible and only when absolutely necessary. And the simplest solution is to grow vegetables and fruits without digging at all, on high raised beds made with your own hands and filled with organic materials

Traditional vegetable garden: dig once

Digging performs one important function: it breaks up dense, stuck together and hardened clods, enriching the soil with air and. Along the way, digging brings with it whole line negative side effects: drying and weathering of the soil, destruction of the organic matter contained in it, destruction of some earthworms - faithful assistants gardener and increasing the number. The fact is that soil is a seed bank. Plant seeds can be stored in the depths of the soil for years and even decades, remaining dormant. By turning over clods of earth when digging, we deliver these seeds to the surface, where they begin to quickly germinate under the influence of light and heat, and then we spend time and effort repeatedly weeding the area. Therefore, a minimum of digging is one of the basic principles of organic gardening.

If you have heavy soil in your garden, dig each area once, a few weeks before you plan to plant. Dig only when the weather and humidity conditions are right: the soil should come away easily from the shovel and breaking up clods should not be too difficult. Immediately when digging, add organic fertilizers and organic conditioners (substances that improve the structure of the soil): straw, algae, wood shavings, crushed bark, etc. Cover the treated area with dark garden material and leave it alone for a few weeks to allow the soil to settle. If you do not plan to use the land in the near future, then instead of shelter you can plant (clover, rye, alfalfa, comfrey, etc.). No further digging will be necessary unless the exposed soil is left uncovered for a long period of time.

Smart vegetable garden: raised raised beds

The method works especially effectively growing vegetables without digging on high beds. Method "no digging" means that the soil is disturbed only during planting and harvesting, do not dig or turn over clods, and try not to step on the ground at all. Improving the structure of the soil and enriching it with microorganisms is carried out through the regular addition of organic matter, and weeding is replaced by 99.9%.

Instead of the usual underground garden(when the soil is dug and useful substances are introduced into the SOIL) it turns out a tall vegetable garden built above the ground. Such raised beds created by laying layers of compost and organic mulch ON THE SURFACE OF THE SOIL (see details below). As organic matter decomposes, it provides growing vegetables with moisture, heat and nutrients. With such ideal conditions the number of microorganisms and earthworms in the soil increases significantly and the soil in the garden remains fertile and structural, retaining moisture and fertilizers well.

Raised beds for growing vegetables received from gardeners different names: compost beds, raised beds, warm beds, tall vegetable garden, layered vegetable garden and even... lasagna garden.

Advantages of a raised raised bed:

1. Created in a few hours on any suitable place
2. Does not require special soil preparation
3. Increased activity of microorganisms and enrichment of soil with organic matter
4. Preservation of moisture and heat
5. Minimum weeds
6. Significantly saves time and labor costs

How to make a raised bed with your own hands

1. Under new raised bed Choose a location that receives at least 5-6 hours of sun per day. You can make a high bed in virtually any place: on an unnecessary plot, a vacant lot overgrown with weeds, a trampled area of ​​soil that was previously actively walked on. This is one of the advantages of high ridges.
2. Clear the area of ​​inorganic debris and carefully remove perennial rhizomes. Grass and annual weeds can be left. If desired, dig up the area along with the grass once to improve water permeability.
3. Decide on the size high beds, install and secure fences around the perimeter of the future ridge. As a fence, you can use special plastic or wooden shields (they are sold in garden centers as kits for creating raised beds) or ordinary boards, unnecessary bricks and any other available material. The height of the bulk ridge is up to 25-30 cm.
4. Now you can lay layers of organic matter on high bed. First, at the very bottom, place about 10 cm of coarse permeable material (straw, seaweed, lightly chopped branches, tree bark, wood chips, shavings) or several materials. The next layer will be good fertilizer: garden compost, rotted manure or bird droppings with straw (for example, used). Repeat both layers sequentially 2 times or as needed (fillers on a high bed will settle under their own weight). You can add mineral fertilizers if you use them. No need to dig up anything or mix layers! Place about 10 cm of good garden soil in the topmost layer.
5. Water the bed thoroughly and leave it alone for several days so that the layers of organic matter in the bed are saturated with moisture and settle a little.
6. If you do not plan to plant in a few days, be sure to carefully cover the bed with black gardening material (you can use plastic film or permeable covering material) and secure it around the edges. So, the bed prepared in the fall is covered with material until spring. Black material provides better warming up the high beds.

Spring. Planting and mulching

After you have planted in the garden, be sure to water and mulch the plantings thoroughly. If you prefer black plastic film as mulch, first thoroughly wet the bed so that all layers are saturated with moisture, then cover the raised bed with film and secure it around the perimeter. Now make cross cuts in the film where the plants will be located. Place in the center of each cut young plant, and then return the film to its place, closing the cuts. Using this method, onions and other crops. "Under the film" method ensures the preservation of moisture and fertilizers in the soil, and also protects against weeds (see photo).

Autumn. Repairing the beds and preparing for the new season

At the end of the season, when the last crop is harvested, you will find that the beds are lower and new layers of organic matter need to be added. First, leave wilted greens in the beds vegetable crops, the harvest of which has already been harvested (except for sick or pest-affected plants). You don't even have to bother pulling them out of the ground! Secondly, do not dig up the beds, but simply fill them on top with new layers of organic materials and fertilizer, again completing the “lasagna” with a layer of good garden soil. Don't forget to cover the raised bed for the winter as mentioned above.

In the off-season, you can grow in high beds, as in regular ones. When the bed is needed for planting again, mow or water it green manure and leave it right there in the garden bed, covering it with a new layer of mulch or soil.

When growing vegetables in a raised garden, follow the recommendations for and. You can grow vegetables using the principle of raised beds.

Material and photo: Oksana Jeter, COUNTRY LIFE