Planting potatoes in the Urals

Experienced gardeners repeatedly noticed that the bushes of the straw that were planted were

Experienced gardeners repeatedly noticed that the bushes of the straw that were planted were

.the most prolific. And all because it is in this part of the garden that the grass is weeded at the very beginning of the season. So she remains lying at the end of each potato row. Then this grass rottes, partially eaten by worms and insects, and as a result - an excellent potato bush, which gives a double crop. Summer residents living in the Urals have long been familiar with this method and have successfully applied it, and the yields of potatoes on their plots can only be envied.

Cultivation of potatoes "under the straw" in the Ural lands

You can get a great harvest, without putting a lot of effort and without spending money. The method is simple from the perspective of a practical implementation, but for its successful implementation it will be necessary to break a few well-established summer stereotypes. What specifically needs to be done to get a rich harvest?

If you have to attend to planting potatoes in the Urals, then, first of all, you should decide how much land will be allotted for this root crop. According to the rules of the method "under the straw" - putting on should take exactly half of the usual. That is, if the potato previously occupied 4 weave, now it is supposed to grow on two. And now the remaining half should be planted with cereals, which will act as straw in the next season. For these purposes, oats or rye are best suited, and in the absence of such, peas. The more plant residues it turns out in the fall - the greater the harvest of potatoes can be collected in the summer.

Do not dig or plow land intended for potatoes, not by hand, not by a walk-behind tractor.

And this is not at all because digging up a plot covered with straw is quite difficult, but simply because digging literally “kills” the ground in the plot. In a season, such a dress will be stone in the literal sense of the word.

You can not dig, because:

• Non-plowed soil will have a breathable structure. And when the time for planting potatoes comes, it can be deepened with little effort, thanks to the work of the worms, the rotting of the roots and aeration processes in the ground itself.
• The soil, which has retained its integrity, is more fertile, since the bacteria in it have isolated all the necessary organic matter in the layer, which the plant roots feed on.
• The land left under the “rest” is easily permeable to air, and therefore it is colder than the surrounding world, which allows it to condense in its depths a large amount of necessary moisture.

Weeds, which, at the time of planting, have occupied the potato half of the plot, also need to be dug out and spread out on top of the straw. They did not have time to write the seeds, therefore, the self-exclusion was excluded. From this topper and straw last year will come a wonderful mulch.

In order to prevent weeding of the potatoes between the rows, we must put a board that can be easily moved along with it. And at the end of the potato beds it would be good to drive in wooden stakes. Thus, the weeding process is greatly simplified.

Late planting and other nuances of potato cultivation in the Urals

In the Urals, frosts on the ground are very common, sometimes even in June. Therefore, tubers planted early can sprout just for the period of frost. With a late landing this will not happen. It is best to plant a root crop after June 10-12, when the danger has already passed.

When considering how to grow potatoes in the Ural zone, one should take into account the fact that late planting will insure it not only against sudden frosts, but also allow the bushes to grow under optimal temperature and humidity conditions. To plant potatoes in the heated land means to insure them against various diseases. In addition, in the heated soil, the processes of decomposition of nitrogen-containing substances are already running, before the state when plants can assimilate it. And straw, which lies on top of the earth, gives a lot of nitrogen, which is important for successful growth and tuberization. Bushes will be powerful, and the potato itself is very large. Especially this method of cultivation is suitable for early and medium varieties.

When growing it is necessary to abandon the use of poisons that poison the Colorado potato beetle. Since the late planting guarantees its absence on the potato plot. The beetle itself is small in the Urals, since its larvae do not survive in the harsh winter conditions. At the moment when the mass of the Colorado potato beetle begins, there is not even a seedling on the late planted plantation, which means that it will simply have no place to put offspring, and this particular disaster will not touch this particular potato planting.

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Properly growing potatoes, and videos on the Internet are full of good lessons in the cultivation of this vegetable in the Urals, you need to use only those tools that fully perform their task. Best for these purposes fit hoe, narrow rake and garden-type fork. Forks will be useful in the fall, for digging tubers, rakes - in the spring, when they are embedded in the soil. A planting, furrowing, sowing of cereals, hilling and weeding can be organized with the help of a hoe. Ploskorez Fokina when hilling potatoes is not suitable, because its blade is narrow and light.

The plot on which straw potatoes are planted needs to be changed every year. That is, in one year, the potato sits, for example, on the right half of the plot, and the oats are on the left, and the following year the location of these crops on the allotment must be changed. The classic rule that says that potatoes can be grown in one place only once every four years - it does not work here.

Immediately before hilling, all weeds grown on the plantation are excised with a hoe and remain on the garden bed itself. A mixture of this green mass and straw last year potatoes and spud. In this case, only a narrow layer of the earth itself is affected. It turns out that every bush is full of humus.

Potatoes under straw - video