Methods And Schemes For Planting Potatoes, How And At What Depth To Plant

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Conservative and original methods of planting potatoes

Potatoes are a popular and widely used crop that does not lose its relevance. It is not surprising that many people are wondering how to grow this culture on their own site, spending a minimum of time and effort and getting good results in the end.

Content

• 1 Getting ready for landing

  1.1 The most common landing patterns

• 2 Conservative planting methods

  • 2.1 Landing under a shovel
  • 2.2 Landing in ridges
  • 2.3 Landing in trenches
  • 2.4 Landing in ridges
  • 2.5 Deep landing (American method)

• 3 New landing methods

  • 3.1 Landing in bags
  • 3.2 Landing in barrels
  • 3.3 Landing in boxes

• 4 Original and unconventional methods of planting potatoes

  • 4.1 Planting potatoes without digging
  • 4.2 Planting in the grass
  • 4.3 Planting in sawdust

  • 4.4 Fit under cardboard

    • 4.4.1 Cardboard bed
    • 4.4.2 Bed under cardboard
  • 4.5 Landing with the "Cascade" walk-behind tractor
• 5 Planting in a greenhouse

• 6 Planting under film and agrofibre

  • 6.1 Features of growing under film
  • 6.2 Growing under agrofibre

• 7 A few more ways to get a good harvest

  • 7.1 P. Balabanov's method
  • 7.2 Folk method
  • 7.3 Gülich method
  • 7.4 Peel potatoes
  • 7.5 Video: Effective Potato Planting Techniques

Getting ready for landing

Before moving on to the nuances of growing, you need to make sure that the prepared area is suitable for planting - otherwise you risk wasting time and effort. Before planting, you need to pay attention to several important factors:

1. Clay or sandy soil. It is not difficult to find out this nuance: we moisten a small lump of earth with water and try to blind something from it. If the wet soil is plastic and easy to mold, it is probably clay, if it crumbles in the hands - sandy. Both are suitable for growing potatoes, but each will need to use a different planting and grooming pattern.
2. Soil acid. Pay attention to which weeds prefer to grow on the plot. If buttercup or plantain - the soil has an acidic reaction, if bindweed or sow thistle - neutral. To improve the structure of acidic soil, bringing it closer to neutral, you can add ash, chalk or lime to the soil (1-2 kg per square meter).
3. Under what crops was this site used during the last year. Potatoes cannot be constantly planted in the same place, so it is necessary to alternate them with other plants so that the crop is less affected by diseases and pests, and the soil is not depleted. It is better to plant potatoes after beets, pumpkins, cucumbers, legumes, sunflowers, lupines or corn. We avoid planting it on the site where garden strawberries grew before, and do not return it to the same place earlier than four years later.

Try to plant sprouted tubers in the ground - this will speed up the emergence of sprouts and increase the final yield

The most common landing patterns

Both the schemes and methods of planting potatoes can differ significantly among themselves - this is due to the composition of the soil and the climatic conditions of a particular region. So, in northern and rainy areas, in areas where groundwater is in close proximity to the soil surface or in excessively heavy soil, it is more expedient to plant potatoes on the ridges. In arid conditions, a smooth landing is used, and in the middle lane it alternately alternates with a ridge.

The mechanical composition of the soil also affects the planting depth of the crop. The lighter the soil and the warmer and drier the climate, the more the planting material is buried in the soil, and vice versa. With a smooth planting on loams, the potatoes are buried 6–8 cm, with a ridge planting - by 8–10 cm. On sandy and sandy loam soil, it is more expedient to plant a smooth planting to a depth of 8–10 cm or a ridge planting, in which the tubers are covered with soil by 10–12 cm. In the southern regions and the chernozem zone, the depth increases to 10-14 cm.

Choose a planting scheme based on the indicators of the mechanical composition of the soil and climatic conditions

The standard row spacing is 70 cm and will vary depending on the planting method chosen. Between tubers, usually 25 to 40 cm of free space is left based on their size: large potatoes are planted after 40 cm, medium ones - after 35 cm, and 25-30 cm is enough for small ones.

When planting potatoes, always arrange the ridges from north to south so that the plants do not lack sunlight.

Basically, gardeners are guided by the planting schemes, which are listed below

Row spacing:

• 70 cm - for varieties with late ripening;
• 60 cm - for early potatoes.

Distance between tubers of standard size:

• 30–35 cm - for late potatoes;
• 25-30 cm - for early varieties.

Planting depth:

• 4–5 cm - on heavy clay soil, as well as on moist soils;
• 8–10 cm - on loams;
• 10–12 cm - on light, well-warmed ground.

Conservative planting methods

When deciding on the most suitable method, remember that each of them will give good results only if the soil composition and climatic conditions are suitable for growing potatoes in this particular way. So, an excessively shallow planting depth is not suitable for sandy soil, and too deep is contraindicated in clay soils. For all traditional growing methods, only the basic requirements remain unchanged.

Shovel landing

The main and most common method, most often referred to as "old-fashioned", is justified on light and loose soils, where groundwater is located quite deep. A significant disadvantage of such a planting is the dependence of tubers on weather whims: for example, if the beginning of the season turned out to be rainy, due to excess dampness, the roots of plants begin to die off, which has an extremely negative effect on their development. If it rains shortly before the potatoes are harvested, the tubers may become saturated with moisture, as a result of which the keeping quality will deteriorate. In clayey, excessively wet and heavy soil, the use of this method is impractical, since the likelihood of fusarium disease and potato decay is high.

It is much faster and more convenient to plant together: the first will dig holes, and the second will follow him on his heels and lay out the tubers. You can also attach a third assistant to the event - he will level the ground on already planted rows with a rake.

To keep the holes in a straight line at an equal distance from each other, stretch the rope along the section to provide a reference

The principle of this planting method is as follows: on the site after a certain interval, rows of holes are dug into which the planting material is laid. In this case, the earth from the holes of the next rows buries the previous ones.

To make the rows of holes as even as possible, drive in from two opposite ends of the plot along a peg and stretch a rope between them.

With this planting, the beds can be formed in three ways:

1. Square-nested. The site is conventionally divided into squares, and a hole (nest) is placed in each, observing a gap of 50–70 cm between the nests.
2. Chess. The holes of the adjacent rows are staggered relative to each other.
3. Two-line. Two rows of holes (lines) are located almost closely. The gap between the holes is approximately 30 cm, between the double rows - up to a meter. The holes themselves are staggered.

When planting, add a handful of ash and humus to each hole.

Pour a handful of humus and ash into each of the holes, and then put the potato tuber on top. During the season, be sure to carry out at least one (or preferably two) hilling. Plants should be watered once a week (during dry periods - twice), the first watering is carried out after the emergence of sprouts. Two weeks before digging potatoes, watering is completely stopped.

Landing in ridges

This type of landing is similar to the previous one. The difference is that the potatoes are not planted in holes, but in shallow grooves.

1. Two pegs are driven in along the edges of a previously prepared section and a rope is pulled between them.
2. A groove is formed under the rope, into which tubers are laid out with an interval of 30 cm and each of them is sprinkled with a tablespoon of ash.
3. Then, with a rake (or a hoe - as it is more convenient for anyone), the grooves are covered with earth on both sides so as to cover the planting material by 6 cm.
4. 65 cm recede from the freshly planted row and proceed according to the same scheme.

According to experienced agronomists, it is better to use the double row method when planting in ridges.

Some agronomists argue that it is best to use the double row method for such planting, that is, to reduce the gap between two adjacent rows to 30 cm, expanding the row spacing to 110 cm. The tubers are laid out in the grooves in a checkerboard pattern, keeping a gap of 35 cm. further, the double bed is looked after as one row.

Like planting under a shovel, this method is not suitable for heavy clay soils, since the likelihood of rotting tubers and infection of plants with fungal diseases increases. But on soils of light texture, it will be fully justified.

Landing in trenches

The main advantage of this method is that it increases soil fertility. This method protects tubers from overheating and drying out in hot climates, and is most appropriate in areas with loose soil that does not retain water well.

Trench planting has been a success since the beginning of the last century. This method is considered one of the most productive - subject to good weather, one hundred square meters can get up to a ton of potatoes. In this case, the tubers receive proper feeding without chemical fertilizers.

Planting potatoes in trenches helps to increase soil fertility

The site should be prepared for this method in the fall.

1. At the site, pull a rope and dig a trench under it with a depth and width of a shovel's bayonet (35–40 cm), laying the removed earth along the left edge. The row spacing is 60–80 cm.
2. The bottom of the trenches is covered with plant debris and food waste - weeds, squash and cucumber tops, onion husks, flower stalks, etc. Leaves fallen from the trees are placed on top, sprinkled with earth and left until spring.
3. Planting begins at the same time the lilac begins to bloom. First, a little earth is poured into the trenches from the tops of the ridges, then every 30 cm they spread a tablespoon of ash, a handful of chicken droppings and onion husks.
4. Planting material is placed on top of the fertilizer and covered with earth.
5. To protect the sprouts from frost, they are spudded as they appear. If there is no severe drought, the plants are watered once - during the flowering period.

Potatoes planted in trenches can be fertilized with a solution of sodium chloride at the rate of 800 grams per 12 liters of water. Top dressing is carried out only once a year, combining it with watering.

According to some gardeners, the trenching method gives good results on well-aerated soils with a high peat content. True, in this case, planting will have to be carried out 1–2 weeks later than the standard time, since peat tends not to thaw for a long time in spring. And when using such a planting on loam, both the quality and quantity of the crop are significantly reduced.

Ridge landing

If you are the owner of an area with heavy, excessively moist soil or groundwater is very close to the surface, feel free to choose the ridge method. It is especially good if it is possible to use machinery for processing the soil - for example, a tractor or a motor-cultivator.

Choose a ridged planting if you have the ability to work the soil with a tractor or motor cultivator

1. The selected area is prepared in the fall, digging it up with the necessary dressing.
2. In spring, ridges with a height of about 15 cm are formed on the plot at a distance of 70 cm from each other and planted in them. As a result, the tubers will be protected from excessive soaking and are well warmed up by the sun's rays.

Ridge planting is justified exclusively on structured and moisture-absorbing soils. Since loose and light soil tends to crumble under the influence of precipitation, exposing potato tubers, and the sun and wind quickly dry the ridges, in arid climates, plants will need additional watering.

Deep landing (American method)

The so-called American method is suitable for light soils that dry out quickly. Planting is carried out according to the scheme 22x22 cm, while the planting material is buried 22 cm into the ground. When the first shoots appear on the surface, the soil near the plants is periodically loosened, but hilling is not carried out. The rest of the care is standard - watering as the soil dries out, preventive treatments and timely treatment if necessary.

American planting causes potatoes to form a very long stem, which increases the final yield

The peculiarity of the American method is as follows: in order to reach the surface of the soil, plants are forced to form a very long stem. And since the tubers can be located along the entire length of this very stem, the final yield increases significantly.

Many experimenters claim that the American planting method is indeed effective, but it should not be used on heavy clay soils.

New planting methods

Of course, conservative planting methods have many advantages, but many gardeners are wondering how to minimize the physical and time costs of planting potatoes and further care. Therefore, craftsmen do not get tired of inventing original methods that require as little time and effort as possible. These methods can be useful for busy people, as well as for those who like experimenting, who will not be too upset even if the experience of growing potatoes in a new way turns out to be unsuccessful.

Landing in bags

The main advantage of this method is that it allows you to harvest potatoes in absolutely any area, even where it is impossible to grow it using traditional methods, since it is not the soil from the plot that is used for planting, but a certain soil mixture. However, in dry and hot climates, plants will need very frequent and abundant watering.

The method described below is suitable for tiny areas where there is no room for traditional planting:

1. You need to take a regular bag and pour drainage into it, and put potato tubers on top.
2. As soon as sprouts appear on the potato, it is covered with a mixture of soil and compost (1: 1). When the tops get taller, more soil is added, repeating this procedure if necessary.
3. Watering is carried out as the soil dries out, fertilizing is regularly performed with complex fertilizers according to the instructions.

Planting potatoes in bags is a great option for small areas

Planting in barrels

The method is very similar to the one described above, but in this case, it is not bags that are used, but metal or plastic barrels without a bottom.

1. Holes are made around the perimeter of each container (so that the soil is better supplied with air and water does not stagnate in it) and a mixture of compost and earth is poured into them.
2. Potatoes are placed on top of it and covered with the same soil mixture.
3. In the future, soil is added to young bushes as they grow until the barrel is filled one meter.
4. Plants are watered and fertilized regularly.

If the potatoes are properly cared for, you can get about a bag of crops from each barrel.

For planting potatoes in barrels, use metal or plastic containers without a bottom

Planting in barrels can be done on any site, since the land from the plot is not involved in cultivation, however, under the condition of a very hot summer or in an arid climate, barrels of potatoes will have to be watered more often.

Landing in boxes

Like the two previous methods, planting in a box is quite justified in an area with any soil composition. In drought conditions, plants will also need more frequent and plentiful watering.

The growing principle in this case is similar to the American one, that is, it is based on the fact that potatoes can form tubers along the entire length of the stem placed in the soil (accordingly, the longer the stem, the better). A design feature is the extension of the walls of the box and filling them with soil as the young bushes grow. To do this, you can drive stakes into the ground and fasten the walls of the boards to them with wire, or simply put boxes without a bottom of the same size on top of each other.

Landing in boxes is carried out as follows:

1. We install the box on bricks so that the bottom does not touch the ground and is well ventilated.
2. We cover the bottom of the structure with a layer of paper and cover it with a layer of light soil (ideally, expanded clay screening with humus in a 1: 1 ratio).
3. We put the sprouted tubers on top and cover them with soil. If planting is done early, cover the box with plastic.
4. When the potato sprouts begin to rise above the box, add the second floor to the structure and again fill the plants with soil. We repeat the manipulations until the buds appear. To prevent budding from starting too early, water the potatoes with manure and keep the container from excessive heat.
5. Noticing the appearance of buds, we stop building the tank and take care of the crop in a standard way (watering, feeding, taking preventive measures, etc.). The easiest way to water is through pipes with holes.
6. After the tops have completely wilted, when the crop is fully ripe, you need to disassemble the structure and select the tubers.

Be sure to place the potato grower box on props so the bottom does not touch the ground.

To avoid decay of the boards, the boxes can be sheathed with foil from the inside.

Original and unconventional methods of planting potatoes

As a rule, non-standard planting methods are invented by gardeners to facilitate a particular task. For example, a plot for potatoes is completely overgrown with grass, and there is neither strength nor desire to dig it up. Thus, the problem gives rise to an original and inexpensive way to solve it.

Planting potatoes without digging

There are quite a few options for such a planting, but they all boil down to one principle: the soil should not be dug up. Including, weeds should not be removed from the soil - shortly before planting, they are simply mown, leaving the roots in the ground.

There are no specific requirements for the composition of the soil with such a planting, so you can experiment in almost any conditions, starting from the planting schemes and basic growing rules described at the beginning. But on heavy, overly compacted soils, the quality and quantity of the final harvest will be much lower.

Planting potatoes without digging does not require preliminary soil treatment

One of the planting methods without digging the soil looks like this:

1. Carefully remove the soil with a shovel to a depth of about 10 cm.
2. We put the prepared planting material in the ditch and sprinkle it with earth or compost by 5 cm.
3. During the entire growing season, we shed various plant residues under the bushes - leaves, weeds, etc. At the same time, we try to prevent the stems of the bush from being gathered together, but, on the contrary, falling apart as far as possible from each other. We do not huddle.
4. We water very rarely, only in severe drought. If you wish, you can carry out preventive treatments, and if necessary, you need to spray the potatoes with drugs for diseases and pests.

Planting in the grass

With this method, you also do not need to dig up the area. The potatoes are simply laid out on the ground, directly on the grown grass, in two rows. The gap between the tubers is 25 cm, the row spacing is 40-50 cm. So that in the future the tops are well illuminated by the sun, it is better to spread the potatoes in a checkerboard pattern.

When planting in grass, the beds are mulched with hay, foliage or dry sedge

After planting, the site is mulched with hay, dry sedge or leaves. Some gardeners even cover the tubers with ragged black and white newspapers. To prevent the layer of mulch from being damaged by the wind, you can cover it on top with lutrasil.

A significant disadvantage of growing under mulch is that a lot of it is required, which means that this method is unlikely to be able to plant a large area. Mulch prevents moisture evaporation, so this method of cultivation should not be used on excessively moist soils in order to avoid rotting tubers and damage to plants by fungi.

Do not use cereals for mulching, otherwise mice and rats will start in the garden.

During the entire vegetative period, torn weeds, grass and hay are poured onto the garden bed, making sure that the tubers are well covered, since the mulch layer will settle during overheating. No fertilizers can be applied. Watering is also not necessary - when the plants overheat, moisture from them will go into the soil, providing the plants with everything they need. When the potatoes are in bloom, cut off all the flowers, leaving them on only one bush so you can determine when to harvest. When the flowers on the control bush wilted, rake the compost and remove the tubers.

Planting in sawdust

This method is similar in principle to the previous two. The planting material is distributed over the site, observing a distance of about 25 cm, and sprinkled on top with a layer of sawdust mixed with peat, ash and plant waste so that the sawdust completely covers the tubers.

Use not fresh, but old, half-rotted sawdust for planting, since fresh sawdust has increased acidity and can significantly worsen the final yield.

There is another option for such a planting: grooves about 10 cm deep are dug at the site, covered with a layer of sawdust mixed with organic matter, sprouted tubers are laid on top of them and sprinkled with sawdust.

Do not use fresh sawdust for planting - this can adversely affect the yield

Add sawdust as needed during the growing season to keep the potatoes from bare. There is no need for watering and feeding. Once the tops have wilted, rake off the mulch layer and select the crop. The sawdust remaining on the site can be used next year.

Many gardeners note that with this method, the likelihood of freezing of tubers is high, therefore, planting should be carried out only after the threat of late frosts has completely passed. On excessively moistened soils and in very rainy summers, potato rot and a decrease in keeping quality are possible.

Fit under cardboard

This method greatly facilitates not only the planting itself, but also the process of preparing the soil, since before laying the cardboard on the ground, weeds do not need to be removed from it - they will subsequently die off by themselves from lack of air and sunlight. Also, no preliminary digging of the soil is needed. The only thing you need is a large amount of cardboard. Make sure the soil is moist before placing the cardboard on the soil. If the soil is dry, be sure to water it.

It is better to use large cardboard sheets, such as those thrown away by furniture stores or home appliance stores.

Planting under cardboard has an extremely beneficial effect on the fertility of the soil, since the weeds that remain under it, decomposing, play the role of fertilizer. The ground under the cardboard holds moisture well, there are many earthworms in it, which make the soil looser.

Of course, this method is hardly suitable for a large area, since a lot of cardboard will be required. In addition, you will need to constantly monitor so that the covering material is not blown away by the wind. Cardboard is biodegradable and therefore not reusable. However, such a planting has a lot of advantages: the gardener will not need to remove weeds and spend time digging the soil, the soil structure will improve, and, accordingly, the final yield. And the plants will have to be watered only during a very severe drought.

This landing method involves two options.

A bed of cardboard

The main advantage of this planting is that the ridges formed above the bed protect the tubers well from freezing. Therefore, this method is most often used when growing potatoes in cold climates, as well as when planting early varieties. Cardboard prevents weeds from germinating and filling trenches is an excellent fertilizer for plants. In addition, potatoes planted in this way are much easier to dig up, as the cardboard bottom of the trenches prevents the roots from sinking too deep into the ground. This method is justified on almost all types of soil, with the exception of sandy and excessively wet clayey: in the first case, the ridges above the trenches will very quickly collapse under the influence of external factors, and in the second case, rotting of the seed material is possible.

1. Since autumn, the soil is covered with a layer of cardboard without any preliminary processing (that is, digging or removing weeds) and pressed to the ground so that it is not blown away by the wind.
2. In the spring, the cardboard is removed and made on a section of a trench with a depth and width of a shovel's bayonet.
3. They take used cardboard and put it on the bottom of the recesses, sprinkling it on top with a layer of humus and semi-rotten grass.
4. On top of it, at a short distance from each other, prepared planting material is placed and trenches are filled in so that the distance between them is 60–70 cm, and high ridges are obtained above them.
5. Water the beds as needed.
6. After the tops are completely wilted, the crop is dug up.

A bed under the cardboard

In this case, the site is completely covered with cardboard before planting. This method can be used on almost all types of soil (except for excessively moistened ones, since the cardboard prevents moisture evaporation), however, it is highly likely that when planted in heavy soil, the quality and quantity of the final crop will decrease. Avoid making beds under cardboard in a rainy climate - an abundance of rainfall will lead to soaking of the covering material, which will nullify your efforts.

When planting under cardboard, you can cover the soil both in the fall and immediately before planting.

1. About every 30 cm, X-shaped holes are made in the cardboard and holes of fifteen centimeters deep are dug under them.
2. A potato tuber is placed in each of them and sprinkled with earth. When weeds appear, they are immediately removed.
3. Watering is carried out in a very dry time and only under the bushes (in order to avoid soaking the cardboard).
4. After the foliage dies off, the cardboard is removed and the harvest begins.

Since planting potatoes on an area that is covered with cardboard is not very convenient, you can resort to an alternative planting method: first, dig holes, spread the tubers in them and sprinkle them with earth, and only then place the covering material on top and make holes for future bushes.

Landing with a walk-behind tractor "Cascade"

When planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor, gardeners mainly pursue the goal of making their own work easier, therefore they think little about such nuances as climatic conditions or the mechanical composition of the soil. In principle, this is true, since this method is successfully used on all types of soils, although planting methods may vary somewhat.

Using a walk-behind tractor, you can plant potatoes in several ways:

• hiller,
• mounted potato planter,
• plow,
• into the ridges.

The first three are used on light soils, and the last one is suitable for clayey, where groundwater is in close proximity to the surface. Planting with a potato planter is justified only when working with a very large planting area, since its purchase requires a lot of money. True, some agronomists get out of the situation by building this unit with their own hands.

It is more convenient to plant with a walk-behind tractor using a potato planter

This method requires preliminary processing of the soil - the soil must be dug up in advance with the introduction of all the necessary fertilizers. If a potato planter is used, the entire procedure is carried out in one pass, since this unit is equipped with a furrow cutter, a hopper for planting material and a disc hiller for filling the furrows. Instead of wheels, lugs are put on the walk-behind tractor and the parameters of the potato planter are adjusted in accordance with the instructions.

When planting with a hiller, lugs are also installed instead of wheels. The width of the hiller's wings is made minimal, and the track width is 55–65 cm. The tiller is used to make furrows along the track width and the potato tubers are laid out, observing an interval of 20–30 cm. After that, the lugs are changed to ordinary wheels and the furrows are filled up.

Plowing involves the installation of lugs and the plow itself. It is much easier and faster if two people participate in the event: one manages the machine, and the other puts the tubers. The plow is inserted into the soil to the depth of the shovel's bayonet: thus, the furrows for the potatoes are formed. After placing the seed, the previous furrow is covered with soil from the next.

Ridge planting is only suitable for well-moistened soils. With the help of a walk-behind tractor, ridges of 15–20 cm in height are made on the site and potato tubers are planted in them.

Greenhouse planting

This growing method has several advantages. Firstly, if you provide the greenhouse with proper heating, you can feast on young tubers almost all year round. Secondly, planting in closed ground allows you to get more harvest, and the plants will be less damaged by pests. And weeds in a greenhouse are much easier to weed than in an open area.

Potatoes planted in a greenhouse are less damaged by pests than growing in an open area

To grow good potatoes in a greenhouse, you will need to carry out the following manipulations:

1. In autumn, the soil in the greenhouse is prepared by filling it with manure or humus and carefully digging it up.
2. Choose medium-sized potatoes and germinate the tubers in a well-lit and warm (13–17 ° C) room, turning occasionally. To speed up germination, you can put the potatoes in a basket and sprinkle with damp peat or sawdust.
3. In the greenhouse, even rows are drawn every 20–40 cm, holes 5–7 cm deep are dug, sprouted potatoes are laid in them and covered with a layer of manure. After a week, the manure layer is increased.
4. The first feeding is carried out after the sprouts reach a height of 5-7 cm.

Potatoes planted in a greenhouse need very frequent fertilization. Water it abundantly, every 10-12 days. Be sure to loosen the aisles, carry out the hilling procedure and remove pests from the leaves.

Abundant watering of potatoes in the greenhouse increases the yield several times.

Planting under film and agrofibre

Growing under covering materials justifies itself on any soil, helps to get a consistently high yield, protect tubers from late frosts, and, if desired, make good money on the sale of young potatoes. At the same time, there is nothing complicated in agricultural technology, and even novice gardeners can easily master it. The use of covering materials increases the yield by 15–20%.

Regardless of what kind of material is chosen, you will need to prepare the site in advance. To do this, in the fall, it is dug to a depth of 22–25 cm with the introduction of organic matter and ready-made complex fertilizers. After the snow has completely melted, you can cover the area with plastic and leave it that way until planting.

To make the snow melt faster on the site, form raised beds in the fall.

For planting, choose medium-sized tubers (70–80 grams) and germinate them at 10–15 ° C. To feast on young potatoes early, choose early or ultra-early varieties.

Features of growing under film

The potatoes are planted in the ground, keeping a gap of 20-25 cm between the tubers. The row spacing is 60-70 cm. The planted area is covered with dense polyethylene on top and its edges are fixed with earth, bricks or water bottles to protect it from gusts of wind.

Covering the planting with polyethylene, fix its edges so that the material is not blown away by the wind

Before sprouts appear, potatoes do not need ventilation, but young shoots already need fresh air. Therefore, after their appearance, the film is raised from time to time, and when the bushes reach 10-15 cm in height, holes are made in a checkerboard pattern for ventilation every 15 cm.

Control the temperature under the film - if it is too high, the growth of young shoots will stop.

Alternatively, you can install a frame 30–35 cm high above the garden bed and stretch the film over it - then the plants will receive more air. The rest of the agricultural technology does not differ from the traditional one: water as needed, fertilize and make sure that pests do not appear on the bushes.

Growing under polyethylene will help protect tubers from frost, so it is advisable to use it in cold climates.

Growing under agrofibre

Agrofiber, or spunbond, is a non-woven material widely used for covering plants. Its main advantage is that it is moisture and breathable. In addition, good quality light agrofibre is perfectly washable and can be used repeatedly.

For covering potato beds, a spunbond with a density of 20-30 grams per square meter is suitable. They cover the plot with them in the same way as with polyethylene, fixing the edges. You can also stretch the agrofibre on the frame, so that in the future the bushes will be more spacious. Since this material is highly aerated, it will not need to be removed periodically.

If using black agrofibre, make cross holes for each bush

Depending on what purpose you are pursuing, you can use either light or dark spunbond. White is usually wide and suitable for multiple uses. Black is disposable, and it does not transmit light, since it is designed to protect against weeds. If you are using black agrofibre, after covering, make cross cuts in it for each bush.

When planting under agrofibre, keep in mind that it will not be able to properly protect the plants from frost. Therefore, if the temperature drops to -6 ° C, cover the beds on top with polyethylene. The plastic film and light agrofibre are removed after stable warm weather is established outside. The dark spunbond is left until harvest.

Hilling begins when the sprouts reach 15–20 cm in height, and watering is carried out once a week. Two weeks after planting, potatoes are fertilized with urea (15 grams per square meter), and potassium fertilizers are applied before budding. The first harvest can be carried out in May (depending on the timing of planting), and the main harvest is carried out from the end of June to July.

A few more ways to get a good harvest

In addition to those described above, there are several more original planting methods that allow you to get a good result. These methods are not suitable for everyone, but some gardeners really like it.

P. Balabanov's method

The method was developed by the potato grower Peter Romanovich Balabanov, and its essence is to carry out two hilling even before the emergence of shoots so that as a result the tuber is covered with soil by 20-25 cm. Balabanov argued that this method greatly facilitates the work of the gardener and increases the yield.

The maximum amount of potatoes obtained by Balabanov's method is 119 from one bush.

Landing is carried out as follows:

1. On the prepared plot, in autumn or early spring, ridges are formed with a height of 15–20 cm and sown with green manure. A couple of days before planting potatoes, the plants are pruned, leaving the root part in the ground. Neither organic matter nor any mineral dressings are applied.
2. Exceptionally large tubers weighing at least 100 grams are suitable for planting. The planting material must be germinated, dipped for 10-15 minutes in a protective solution (1 teaspoon of potassium permanganate, boric acid and copper sulphate per 10 liters of water) and powdered with ash.
3. A shovel is stuck into the center of a prepared ridge, tilt it slightly and carefully place potatoes in this gap so that a layer of soil of 6 cm remains above it. The gap between tubers is 30-40 cm, row spacing is up to 120 cm.

Planting operations are carried out after the soil warms up to 8–10 ° С. A week later (but always before the first shoots), the potatoes are covered with a 6 cm layer of earth, and this procedure is repeated after 7 days. During the growing season, the plants will need to be spud twice more. Watering is carried out at least three times - at the beginning and at the end of budding, and then at the beginning of flowering. According to Balabanov, planting with this method will allow you to get up to a ton of potatoes from one hundred square meters, and the harvest will delight even in the driest years.

Gardeners, who planted potatoes in the above way, argue that it justifies itself only on the condition that the summer is not too hot and dry. Otherwise, the tubers are very small.

When planting using the Balabanov method, you do not need to dig holes for potatoes

Please note that only loose, fertile and slightly acidic (pH 5.5-5.8) soil is suitable for using the above technology. For heavy soil, this method is absolutely unacceptable.

Folk method

This method was developed by one of the residents of the Tula region. It consists in carrying out the following manipulations:

1. In the fall, the soil is dug onto a shovel bayonet. At the same time, manure is introduced into the soil.
2. In the spring, the site is dug up again - this time 15 cm deep, while bringing in Nitroammofosk.
3. Divide the plot alternately into strips 20 and 80 cm wide. Sprouted potatoes are laid out at the edges of the strips every 30 cm. From wide strips, they rake the ground onto the tubers, covering them by 2 cm.
4. High hilling is carried out three times per season (with the threat of late frosts, the sprouts are hilled high).
5. When good weather stabilizes outside, the first fertilization with Nitroammofoskaya is carried out. Then two more dressings are carried out with an interval of 10 days.
6. The stems of two adjacent rows are stacked on top of each other and spud so that a flat mound is formed, and a couple of days before harvesting, they are mowed at a height of 15 cm from the ground surface. This is done so that the stems take root and give more yield.

Gülich method

This method of planting is suitable for owners of large areas, since its meaning is that each bush gets the maximum free space.

1. The plot prepared for planting is divided into squares measuring one meter by one meter.
2. In the center of each square, a roller of ripe manure is built in a circle, covered with loose soil and a large potato is planted upside down.
3. When shoots begin to go from the tuber, soil is poured into the center of the ring formed by them.
4. As soon as the first leaves appear on the shoots, more earth is added.
5. These manipulations are repeated until a multi-tiered bush is formed.
6. Water as needed, fertilize several times.

According to agronomists, with proper observance of all instructions, up to 16 kg of potatoes can be obtained from one such bush.

Growing a crop using the Gülich method allows you to get up to 16 kg of potatoes from a bush

Peel potatoes

A very original method that allows you to get a harvest without actually using seed.

1. In spring, peel potatoes are collected and put in open paper bags.
2. As soon as the temperature outside approaches zero, they take the collected into the greenhouse, spill a small corner in it with hot water, lay out the cleaning on top, cover them with soil or several layers of newspapers and cover them with snow.
3. When the soil warms up to 12 ° C, sprouts will appear from the peel. They will need to be planted instead of regular seed, a handful in each hole. Further care is standard.

The experiment with growing potatoes from the peel can be carried out on any soil and in any climate, setting aside a small area of the garden for it. Since this method is practically cost-free, you are unlikely to regret it even if it does not pay off.

If you don't have a greenhouse, germinate the cleanings on the site by covering them with plastic wrap on top.

Video: effective methods of planting potatoes

There are a great many methods of planting potatoes - both completely conservative and original new ones, and it is simply impossible to list them all. Each gardener will be able to choose from this list the most suitable method for him, and, having provided the potatoes with the necessary care, boast an excellent harvest.