Since those very times when Tsar Peter 1 sent the first bag of potatoes from Holland to Russia and ordered him to be cultivated all over the country, a lot of time has passed. And during this time, people cultivating this crop, learned the features of this plant, and learned a lot of "tricks" of potato cultivation, including hilling.
Practically hilling is considered to be the main “trick”.This process is one of the most important conditions for to achieve the best and healthiest yield.
Hilling is the sprinkling of wet soil on the bottom of a plant, and is an environmentally friendly substitute for herbicides. Why and in what time frame to carry out this procedure and what purposes should it be described below.
The table of contentswe prevent the growth of weeds on potato plantings. And the emerged weeds will be much easier to pull out of loose soil than from solid and compacted soil.
After hilling, the potato bush begins to grow faster The better the bushes of a plant grow, the more leaves on them grow. The more leaves a plant contains, the more sunlight it hits. Due to this process, photosynthesis is more intense.
When and how many times you need to spud a bed of potatoes
The processing of potato beds is best done in the evening or from early morning , when there is no scorching sun. But it must be done on wet soil.
The first time a plant is needed is to pile when it grew more than 5 centimeters .The procedure will help to save it at an early stage from the influence of external factors.
There is a planting method in which hilling is performed immediately after planting, by scooping up a small hill above the planted potatoes. The method is used mainly in those regions where the probability of spring frosts is greater than in the middle lane.
The first hilling is carried out when the bush has reached a height of 5 cm The next time it is usually done hilling potatoes in about two weeks, and when the bush has reached a height of over 15-20 centimeters .Make it necessary to try before the first inflorescences appear on the potatoes.
If the bushes begin to stretch and fall very strongly in different directions, then requires an unscheduled hilling .This will help the plant not to fall and break the stem. You should do the same if, for some reason, sunlight gets to the tubers.
If there is no rain for a long time, and it's time to spud, be sure to moisten the soil with water.
If the bushes begin to fall in different directions - you need an unscheduled hilling In what cases hilling is not required
- In hot regions, with low humidity and the lack of possibility of watering, as in dry land the plant may die.
- When the plant is grown under non-woven material black color a. But you need to make sure that the material does not miss the light at 100%.Otherwise, the potato will turn green and become completely inedible.
- When the method of growing potatoes is that the stalks of potatoes are laid out on the ground and covered with soil, leaving only the tops. When the bushes grow back, the procedure is repeated again. Instead of soil, straw or mowed grass is sometimes used. This method of cultivation requires a lot more land per bush than with the usual method.
Hilling is not necessary when potatoes are grown under the film. Proper manual hilling with the hopper
The manual method involves the use of an auxiliary tool, such as a chopper. There are two techniques for this procedure:
- raking the soil around the bush toward the center of the plant.
- piling the soil into the center of the bush, and planting the branches slightly apart.
The soil ridge as a result of hilling should turn out to be about 15-20 centimeters high .
The roots of potatoes grow in different directions 30-40 centimeters .When hilling, consider this in order not to injure the tubers of the plant.
Use of the manual hiller
The device serves to facilitate physical labor, in the cultivation of potatoes, and save time. It consists of an handle, a handle and two disks directed to the ground at an angle of 45 degrees. Using them is also not difficult.
You just need to pull the handle forward, guiding it along the border along the bed. Manual tucker can be bought in the store, and you can design your own hands.
Manual Hiller Using the
motoblock If you have large potato planters, you can’t do without a motoblock in your farm. He can not only loosen the soil and spud, but also harvest potatoes. But the motoblock has a minus. When harvesting, it can damage some of the tubers.
In the case when a walk-behind tractor with a plow-shaped hiller is used, you need to adjust the angle and depth of the to which the plow will sink. When using the tiller with a disk hiller, you need to adjust the required distance between the disks and their angle of inclination.
The distance depends on the potato variety and is approximately from 40 to 70 centimeters .And the disk tuning angle should be the same for both drives, and is approximately 45 degrees .
There are also rippers on the disk motor block. They prepare the ground in front of the block, which the disc hiller, in turn, will use to powder potato bushes.
Disk hiller on the Neva motoblock Before planting potatoes, you need to take into account that the motoblock will spud and harvest. Therefore, the beds should be flat, and the distance between them should be so, for the walker to pass unimpeded.
No matter how the process of hilling potatoes takes place, manually or with the help of various devices, the results are visible literally after one or two weeks. Shrubs grow, becoming stronger, and tubers under the ground become larger and healthier.
