Potato growing technology in a box or barrel

There are many ways to plant potatoes in the world. One of them is growing potatoes in a barrel. This method has a long history. One peasant, preparing compost in a barrel, accidentally dropped a potato tuber into it. After some time, the potato sprouted, but it was again covered with a layer of waste. When the barrel was filled to the top with compost, a potato bush appeared on it. In the fall, the peasant was harvesting potatoes from his garden, he decided to pull out this bush too. But that was not the case - the roots of the plant went deep into the barrel and were covered with tubers. It was necessary to lift all the contents of the barrel, and as a result, the peasant received about a sack of excellent potatoes.

The cultivation method, inadvertently invented by a peasant long ago, has been improved. At first, only one tuber was placed on the bottom of the barrel, pouring about 10 cm of compost on top, and waiting for the shoots. Then, after the first shoots appeared, compost was poured again. This procedure was repeated several times. By the time of harvest, there were already several tubers of different sizes in the barrel.

Then, to grow the plant, several tubers were put in a barrel in a checkerboard pattern. After the emergence of seedlings, they were sprinkled in the same way and new tubers were placed on top, repeating the operation several times before harvesting.

Preparatory work

In order to plant tubers, you need to stock up on a barrel with a volume of at least 7 liters.

Advice

In the absence of a barrel, you can use a similar container with the same volume. For example, a wooden tub is perfect. You can put together a box with your own hands with the following overall dimensions: length - 1 m, width - 1 m, height - 1 m.

After the container for planting is prepared, it is worth removing the bottom from it. This step is necessary so that excess moisture leaves the barrel without hindrance. After removing the bottom, it is worth making holes in the walls with a diameter of about 1 cm - so that oxygen reaches the root system of the plant in sufficient volume. The holes should be made about 15 cm apart.

It is recommended to prepare a soil mixture for planting potatoes from the following components:

• turf land;
• the drug "Em-bokashi";
• ordinary soil.

All ingredients for preparing the mixture should be taken in a 1: 1: 1 ratio. Fill the barrel about 1/2 of its height with this soil mixture. This completes the preparatory work, the next stage is planting.

Planting potatoes

Before planting, you must select the location of the barrel. It is not necessary to put it on the garden bed, it can be placed on the lawn.

The tubers must be placed in a prepared soil mixture at a distance of 20 cm from each other. After that, they should be watered abundantly with water and sprinkled on top of a 10-centimeter layer of earth.

After the first shoots appear, you need to wait until they grow 3-4 cm in height. Then they should be sprinkled again with a 10-cm layer of soil. This operation must be repeated 4 to 5 times, that is, until the barrel is completely filled with earth and the root system is formed.

Why does growing potatoes in a barrel require sprinkling earth on the sprouts? The fact is that if you let the plant stem grow, then all the vitality of the bush will go not to the root system, but to the stem and leaves, and large potatoes will no longer grow. It is allowed to grow tubers in a barrel of 3 floors, but this method is used when it is not possible to regularly add soil.

Advice

If at the initial stage of planting the tubers, put grass or small branches on the bottom of the barrel, then this will subsequently help accelerate the growth of the tops.

Care

A crop grown in this way requires much less maintenance than one that is planted in open ground. Plants do not even require special watering: this procedure must be carried out only 3-4 times per season. But in severe droughts, you should water more often.

To ensure the flow of water and air to all the tubers of the plant, you can use a hose that is perforated along the length and plugged at one end. It must be put into a barrel in a spiral. It is necessary to periodically pump air into the hose and connect it to the water supply system. However, this method is not necessary when planting potatoes in a barrel. In addition, not every gardener has the time and energy for such experiments.

July is the month when almost all nutrients from the soil are used to form tubers. Therefore, at this time, additional feeding is needed. It should be produced about 2-3 times in 7 days. For this you can use a mixture consisting of woody earth and the substance "EM-1". In addition, infusions from ash, mineral fertilizers and complex nutritional formulations are perfect as top dressing. You can also use compost and the remains of rotten boards.

How to properly feed? For this procedure, it is necessary to pour a nutritious soil mixture into the barrel and supplement it with fertilizers.

Alternative ways

This kind of growing technology is quite feasible even if there is no suitable container for planting. It is only necessary to allocate a place on the garden plot and dig a hole about 40 cm deep on it. A layer of compost with a height of 8 to 10 cm should be laid on the bottom. A huge potato tuber is suitable as a planting material. It should be placed on the bottom of the pit and sprinkled with compost of the same volume on top.

After the first sprout 3 cm high appears, sprinkle it on top with a layer of compost of about 2 cm. Repeat the operation until the dug hole is completely filled. As a reward to the gardener for the autumn period, the pit will be filled with selected tubers. Up to 1 bucket of potatoes can be collected from one such pit.

If there is no barrel, a simple bag can also be used for planting. This method will also help you get a rich early harvest without hassle.

The bagging method is as follows:

1. you need to prepare a large bag, you can canvas;
2. the bag must first be brought to a warm place - home or on the veranda;
3. fill it with a mixture of humus and earth and tie it;
4. put the bag on the floor and make cross-shaped cuts on it on top;
5. pre-germinated tubers or seedlings should be planted in the prepared incisions;
6. the bag should be taken out into the street only when the threat of frost has passed.

It is not required to water the potatoes planted in this way, but it is necessary to regularly monitor the presence of moisture in the soil mixture. If it is dry, it should be moistened. The advantage of this method is that no weed control is required.

Benefits of barrel growing

This cultivation technology has undeniable advantages.

• The number of tubers obtained is often 5 times higher than the traditional method.
• Landing is practically not labor intensive.
• No need for weeding the soil, loosening it and hilling the bushes.
• Water resources are saved for irrigation: the amount of water is reduced by 3-4 times compared to the traditional method of planting.
• You can plant potatoes in a barrel even earlier than in the usual way, therefore, you can harvest earlier.

If you follow all the growing requirements, gardeners will receive a powerful root system of the plant. She will be the key to an excellent harvest. However, this method of landing has both its adherents and opponents.Different growers using the same technology may end up with different results. But it is worth noting that most of them, when planting potatoes in barrels, note the appearance of a larger yield compared to the traditional method of growing.