Learn more about interesting methods of growing potatoes in tower, pit, barrel, bag. Learn to harvest moss using new technologies. Growing potatoes can be a real pleasure if you place the plantings vertically. Such ones do not need to be weeded, hilled, caring for them is minimized. Due to the vertical arrangement, such devices are perfectly warmed up, illuminated, which has a positive effect on the harvest.
Growing potatoes in the tower
To make such a device, you will need:
- reinforcement mesh rectangle;
- wire;
- well-ripened compost;
- straw.
- Roll up the mesh to make a kind of pipe with a diameter of 70 cm, a height of about a meter. Put straw 15 cm downwards, sprinkle 30 cm high compost on it. To prevent it from spilling out of the mesh cells, put straw on the sides.
- Place the potatoes on top of the compost in a circle with a distance of 15 cm between the tubers. Lay them sprouts up, spill this layer well from a watering can or from a hose spray.
- Sprinkle the soil on top with a layer of 40 cm, lay out the tubers, sprinkle them with water, sprinkle them with soil to a height of 8 cm. You can make such a "nest" even higher. Lay the potatoes on the top layer not only around the circumference, but also in the center.
- In the process of growing root crops, you will need to add soil, so make a "tower" of such a height that when planting potatoes, the compost is 15–20 cm below the top level of the net.
- Potato sprouts, which are located in the lower layers of this structure, will break through the side of this nest. The last row of tubers will grow upward.
Growing potatoes this way has many advantages:
- there is excellent drainage, so the water will not stagnate;
- the bed is well warmed up by the sun;
- I will not bother pests;
- saving space;
- it is practically not necessary to weed such plantings;
- convenient to harvest.
The compost has enough nutrients for the growth of potatoes, but for the formation of tubers, it is better to add 1 glass of ash and 1 tbsp. To this soil when planting on 3 buckets of soil. l. crushed double superphosphate. During the growing season, you can periodically feed the potatoes with potassium humate, but with a weaker solution than what is written in the instructions.
If you do not have straw, replace it with moss, it perfectly regulates the water balance, will not allow water to stagnate and dry out the soil.
A new method of growing potatoes in a barrel
This method is also very original and has all the advantages that plants in nests or towers have.
To grow potatoes using one of these technologies, take:
- a low plastic barrel or plastic;
- jigsaw or saw;
- compost;
- fertile soil;
- sprouted potato tubers;
- nitrophosphate.
Then follow this plan:
- Mix the compost with light soil by adding 1 tbsp. l. nitrophosphate. If you have a tall barrel, cut it across the floors, remove the bottom, you will have 2 containers in which you can grow potatoes.
- If there is one, you also need to saw off the bottom so that excess moisture leaves through the bottom. Or you can do it at the bottom of the hole without removing the bottom.
- Put a soil 50–70 cm high in a container, spread the potatoes on top, cover it with a 10 cm layer of soil. When the emerging seedlings grow a little, add 5 cm of soil to the barrel. Do this several times during the growing season, as if hilling the stems.
- Keep the soil moist as it can dry out quickly.
- When the time comes to harvest the potatoes, it will be enough just to turn the barrel over and extract the fruits of your labors from it.
If you do not have such unnecessary capacity, but have tires from wheels, they will also make an excellent vertical garden for growing vegetables. Put 2-3 tires one on top of the other, pour fertile soil here a little over half, lay out the potatoes, sprinkle 10 centimeters of earth on top of it.
If you have a tall barrel and tires without holes, then the roots may not be getting enough oxygen to grow. To fill this gap, make holes in the side of the container just above ground level.
Some gardeners are building a ventilation device. They take the old hose and lay it at the bottom of the container in a spiral, the upper end is brought out. A pump is inserted into it, with the help of which air is pumped into the container. For this, cuts must first be made in the hose.
In order for the compost to mature faster, it also needs air flow. To do this, when laying it down, place tubes with holes at different heights, as shown in the next photo.
After all, in order to plant potatoes in vertical beds, compost is needed, but it must be well ripened, similar to crumbly black soil. If this substance contains non-decayed plant residues, such a mass is not suitable for growing this root crop.
How to plant potatoes in bags: technology?
This is another original way of growing this vegetable. It is also suitable for those who do not yet have their own hacienda, but only have a balcony.
To accomplish this, you will need:
- black garbage bags with a capacity of 120 liters;
- synthetic tight bags;
- fertile soil;
- potassium humate;
- potato;
- water.
Proceed in this order:
- First of all, you need to germinate the potatoes. To do this, a month before planting, it is laid out on a light windowsill, periodically turned. You can put several potatoes in plastic transparent bags, make holes here. hang.
- To increase the yield, spray the roots with potassium humate. Make sure that the potatoes do not dry out during the germination period. If you notice that this is not the case, spray it with water, cover it with plastic wrap with holes.
- Pour soil into each bag or sack to a height of 35-50 cm, spill it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Spread the tubers sprouted up, sprinkle with soil.
- If you grow potatoes in bags in your garden, then make small cutouts on the side and at the bottom of each container for water drainage and oxygen access. If you have placed bags and sacks on the balcony, then water your plants sparingly so that excess water does not stagnate.
It is better to add a little vermiculite to the soil during its preparation, which will absorb excess moisture, and when the earth dries up, it will be given to the plants.
Also, remember to huddle the potatoes, so when planting, add enough soil to leave room to add it.
To prevent the soil from drying out, it is better to mulch it.
If you grow potatoes at home, you may face the problem of a lack of light, and the sprouts will stretch out. Therefore, place them so that there is enough sun and tie the stems to the supports.
Growing potatoes in a crate, trash can, mat?
There are several more interesting methods that will answer the question of how to grow potatoes in a vertical way.
For the following you will need:
- mat;
- metal grid;
- wire;
- pliers;
- straw or moss;
- fertile soil.
Measure out a rectangle of the mesh of a suitable size, cut off the excess with pliers. Roll the workpiece into a roll, secure it on the side with wire. Use it to fix the Vietnamese mat on the outside of this device.
Fill the container in the same way as you put the compost in the nest tower. Also gradually place the potato tubers along the edge at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. Moisten the soil well.
This design will allow air to pass through, which is necessary for the growth of tubers. If the sprouts do not make their way through the sidewalls, help them by cutting out these areas of the mat.
Subsequently, it will be enough to remove it to collect a rich crop of potatoes.
Such designs look original and simply amazing.
The following ideas are also suitable for growing vegetables on the balcony or in the country. To implement it, you will need:
- 2 large-volume plastic flower pots of different capacities;
- fertile soil;
- knife;
- potatoes.
- Make cutouts in a small pot, place it in a large planter. Pour the soil, water, spread the potatoes at the same distance, cover the top with soil. If you take early ripening potato varieties, you will be able to taste delicious young vegetables already 2 months after germination.
- To do this, it is not necessary to dig up all the bushes, pull out the top container, collect only large root crops, let the rest grow and pour on. Just do not forget to water them after such a procedure in order to restore the injured roots.
- If you only have one large pot, use a laundry basket or plastic waste bin as an interior. If you do not have a pot, but only have such devices so that the tubers do not darken, first place a black plastic bag at the bottom of the basket, and only then pour earth into it, plant potatoes.
If you have unnecessary boards in your dacha, make a vertical bed out of them. To do this, you will need:
- four bars with a cross section of 5 cm;
- boards;
- self-tapping screws;
- fertile soil.
Place four bars of the same size in the corners of the future structure, attach the bottom 4 boards using self-tapping screws, thus fixing the beginning of the structure. Then attach the following rows of boards horizontally to the bars. In this case, there are 6 of them.
It will be most convenient to attach three or four boards, then pour the earth down, plant potatoes, and only then nail the other two rows of boards.
When it's time to harvest, just tear off the planks of the first row, and the potatoes will literally spill out into your hands.
Interesting methods of growing potatoes
There are also quite a few of them.
In kobts
They say that this method of growing potatoes allows you to get up to 70 pieces from one tuber! If you want to propagate quality seed potatoes, then use this method.
On the dug soil, cut squares with sides of 140 cm, make holes in the middle of these rectangles to a depth of 10 cm, plant potatoes here, 1 piece in each groove. Pour on each square:
- 25 g superphosphate;
- 150 g of potassium salt and ammonium sulfate;
- one bucket of compost.
It all gets mixed up. When the sprouts reach a height of 20–25 cm, lay them on this fertile soil, sprinkle them with earth 8–10 cm on top. In this case, the tops must be above the soil level.
As they grow, add fertile soil here several times, so that as a result, kobts are formed, the height of which reaches 27 cm at the end of the season. They say that with such a planting, you can get up to 15 kg of potatoes from each bush!
In the pit
- If the site is virgin, it is difficult to immediately process it. Use the following potato growing methods to make your job easier and to develop a portion of your garden area.
- Dig a hole 50 cm deep right on the virgin soil. At the same time, remove the upper part of the sod along with weeds from here, put it in compost. For 2 years, the roots of weeds rot there.
- Pour humus or compost at the bottom of this depression, having previously mixed it with the soil. The layer of this soil should be 10 cm high. Water it.
- The grown seedlings should be periodically sprinkled with fertile soil, leaving the tops.
A hole must be dug on a small hill or where there is no stagnant water so that the potatoes do not get wet and rot.
Gülich method
Another way to quickly master the site. To do this, you will need:
- the soil;
- shovel;
- humus;
- rake;
- medium potato tubers;
- roulette.
Method description:
- On the plot allocated for this vegetable, you need to mark squares with a side of 1 meter. Of course, it's better to dig up the soil here. Pour humus on top, scoop it from the middle into a roller.
- Pour loose soil in the center of this ring, plant a large tuber here. As its stems grow, sprinkle them with humus from a roller, raking it with a rake or hoe.
- Gradually, the sprouts will move from the center to the edges in the form of rays. Thanks to hilling with humus, additional shoots will form, on which a lot of potatoes will form. From one such multi-tiered bush, you can get up to 16 kg of root crops!
Talking about the methods of growing potatoes for those gardeners who do not want to spend energy digging up the land or are only mastering the purchased plot, you should also tell about the next one.
Moss litter
To put this method into practice, you will need:
- moss;
- sawdust;
- potato;
- reed leaves;
- window frames or dense non-woven fabric.
Step-by-step planting:
- Place the squares directly on the non-dug area, dusting them with sawdust. Place some moss on top and sprouted tubers on top of it. Sprinkle them with ash, put a thick layer of moss on top, and on it - some reed leaves.
- This method is great for growing early potatoes. If frosts are still possible, then cover the planting material with window frames on top, placing glass bottles or bricks under them so that they do not crush the plantings.
- When the threat of frost return has passed, remove the frames. If the summer is rainy, do not water the plantings. If it is dry, then the moss sometimes needs to be moistened and slightly agitated if it is caked.
- Such potatoes are not spud or weeded, since it is difficult for weeds to break through a thick layer of moss.
- When it's time to harvest, simply cut off the tops, scrape aside the moss that needs to be dried and can be used next year. Clean potatoes will remain on the beds.
Almost according to Mittlider
To plant potatoes using this method, take;
- boards;
- bars;
- screws or nails;
- light soil;
- turf;
- cardboard;
- sawdust;
- sand;
- nitroammophos.
- Pour 1 tbsp of sawdust into the bucket. l. nitroammophos, moisten with boiling water, cover. In this form, the mixture should lie for 2-4 weeks. During this time, make boxes without a bottom from bars and planks. Their height is 40-50 cm, width is 80-100 cm. The length is individual. Place an overlap of cardboard or black foil on the bottom to prevent grass from growing.
- Place these containers in a sunny place (or better, do it right where they will stand), pour a soil mixture consisting of 1 part of sand there; 1 part prepared sawdust; 4 parts of fertile soil.
- Now you should plant potatoes, cover them with 8-10 cm of soil, why huddle the sprouts as they grow, mulch the aisles with straw or dried grass.
In crowded but not mad
- If you do not want to dig up a large area for planting potatoes, then use the following method of growing it.
- On a narrow bed 50 cm wide, make two grooves, the distance between which is 20–25 cm, plant potatoes in them to a depth of 8–10 cm.
- When the sprouts reach a height of 15 cm, spud each one on only one outer side. In the middle, a trench is formed, periodically pour the fermented infusion of weeds here. But such a top dressing must be done after moistening the soil. If the summer is hot, it is necessary to water the plantings once a week.
- When you notice that weeds have appeared in the garden, weed them out, do not let them bloom, lay them around the potato bushes. These plants serve as mulch and organic food for the main crop.
According to Mikhailov's method
- The following potato growing methods will also help you reap a rich harvest. Cut into squares with a side of 1 meter, put humus in the center, place a large potato tuber on top of it, sprinkle with earth.
- When the shoots grow, leave the 4 central ones in an upright position, hilling them, and spread the rest horizontally, sprinkling with earth. To make them better fixed, you can tie them obliquely to the pegs.
We get two crops
To implement this method of growing potatoes, you will need:
- tubers;
- shovel;
- water.
Then proceed in this order:
- When the soil warms up well, plant the sprouted early potatoes. In late June-early July, collect large and medium-sized roots from the bushes.
- Pour water into the holes and plant bushes right into this mud, spreading the roots. Spud them. If the weather is sunny, cover with lutrasil. Usually in a week they live and give another crop.
In order for the survival rate to be high, it is more expedient to dig in the bush without pulling it out completely, cut off large and medium potatoes, and sprinkle the plants with soil again.
These methods of growing potatoes will allow you to get larger yields with less effort and less planting material. If you want to know how the Chinese method of growing potatoes is used, then watch an interesting video.
If you want to learn how to plant potatoes under straw, thereby excluding weeding, watering, making it easier to dig up root crops, then check out the following video.
The third will show what kind of potato crop can be in a bag if the necessary conditions for growing this vegetable are met.
