Hilling of potatoes - how and when to hoe

Summer comes - the time of the hardest work in the garden comes - weeding, hilling the potatoes. It seems to be nothing special... Armed with a chopper and forward - to fight for a good harvest! Ogorodniki know that this is quite hard work. So it is necessary or not necessary to plant potatoes, what are the terms, at what time should this be done? Why do we mow potatoes? How to do it correctly? What is the height of the ridge? Is it possible to do without this laborious work?

According to the experience of my parents, from my own experience, I can say that I can not tell the experience of others. Specialists also assure that without hilling it is possible to lose 25-30% of the possible yield, in addition, loosening enriches the soil, and, consequently, the plant itself with oxygen. This is an important part of the process of growing potatoes. By the way, the more loose the soil, the more friable, the more delicious will be the potato.

Firstly, when planting the tubers are buried at a depth of about 5 - 10 cm, so even a small hilling gives the stems the ability to build an additional floor of tubers.

In the Kuban the soil is chernozem, this is a heavy soil. And potatoes grow well in loose, semi-sandy, air-permeable soils. Therefore, hilling on our heavy soils is vital for potatoes. For normal development, the maximum yield should be produced at least two times, but it is possible more - it all depends on your patience, on your strength.

Of course, it would not be bad to spend hilling the potatoes on wet ground after rain or at least after irrigation, since after this more lateral shoots (stolons) will begin to grow more actively, on which the tubers. Raising dry land to the bushes can even damage the planting of potatoes. In this case, the area of ​​the land increases next to the bush of potatoes, and the evaporation of moisture, which is still preserved below, intensifies. The moisture goes away - the soil temperature rises accordingly. And, as is known, potatoes cease to grow at soil temperatures above 26 ° C.

As soon as the potato shoots have reached a height of 5-10 centimeters - spend the first hilling. If the weather is expected to freeze, then your potatoes should be "head-on that is, fill the whole plant with earth, well, and if no frost is expected, then throw the ground with young bushes not it is necessary. Otherwise, you just slow down their growth for a few days.