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Peat is used to improve the quality and quantity of potato and tomato crops, among other types of organic fertilizers. Peat is rotten and compressed remains of various plants and animals, from which a layer of biomass is formed. Every year new layers are added, and so it turns out peat.
Types of peat
Depending on the level at which the components decompose, peat is of three types:
- top - not yet decomposed layer, which includes plants like moss;
- lowland - completely decomposed remains of trees, shrubs, animals;
- transitional or intermediate - a layer of peat between the first two species.
Advantages and disadvantages of peat as fertilizer
The top layer peat is used only as mulch in combination with sawdust, manure, straw waste. As for the lowland and transitional layers, since they have a high acidity, they are used as fertilizer not in pure form, but in combination with other feedings.
The advantages of peat include features of its fibrous structure, which improves the condition of the soil. The land fertilized with peat becomes more water and breathable, which has a positive effect on the root system of plants.
Peat is used as fertilizer in the form of compost for growing potatoes and tomatoes on poor clay or sandy soils. This allows you to create more suitable conditions for the development of plants and significantly increase their yield.
Methods for creating peat compost
On the plot, you can create two types of compost using peat for potato fertilizer and tomato: focal and layered.
To create a focal compost on a special platform, you must lay a half-meter layer of peat. From above, a layer of not more than 80 cm is used to lay manure, if there is not enough of it, you can add slurry or arrange manure in separate hearths. In the process of stacking the pile, add potash mixtures and, if necessary, lime. Compost pile in the summer to water regularly.
When laying layer-by-layer compost layers of peat and manure should be alternated between each other. In order to prevent the slurry from entering the soil, the layer must be at least 50 cm thick. The last layer in the pile should be a layer of peat and cover it with soil from the garden. The total height of the heap is a maximum of one and a half meters. Layer compost also needs to be watered and shovel a couple of times so that the layers are mixed.
How and when to fertilize potatoes and tomatoes with peat
When using peat for potato fertilizer, a stronger effect will manifest itself in the second year. Peat manure can be applied in spring or autumn. Fertilizer is scattered evenly throughout the site at the rate of 30-40 kg per 1 sq. Km.m and dig. Lime is used to reduce acidity.
In the same way they fertilize tomatoes: per 1 sq. M.m of soil contribute 4 kg of compost and dig a tomato garden bed.
