The gardener's dream has always been and will be - the earliest harvest. Other crops are planted in warm beds, greenhouses, and potatoes often remain “on the street” and, undergoing a nightly drop in temperatures, die in one night. To protect her and came up with a method of planting in a bag.
In this way they manage to grow a culture not only in the country, but also on the balcony of the city apartment.
Content
Description of the conditions for growing potatoes in bags
Growing potatoes in a bag will not be difficult even for a novice gardener, observing certain conditions: the correct choice of place for placing the bags, the availability of fertile soil and the ability to ensure timely watering. The essence of the method of planting in a bag is to grow another 2-3 layers of tubers above the first planting tuber, increasing the yield three times.
Pros and cons of growing in bags
The idea of growing potatoes in bags is wonderful because you only need to take care of watering, you don’t have to dig, huddle, or remove weeds or pests, since they simply do not exist. Therefore, this method also has no minuses. Planting and growing healthy potatoes, observing such a technology is not difficult at all. Each year, soil nutrients must be replenished using crop rotation. That is, the ground for filling the bags must be taken from the beds after cabbage, carrots, dill, parsley. And after tomatoes, eggplant and pepper, it is extremely undesirable.
Step-by-step instructions for planting potatoes in bags
Planting in bags includes several basic measures, namely: preparing the container and the place of planting, the process of laying the soil mixture and tubers, the rules for the proper care of potatoes, and the rules for collecting and storing the crop. Only following all the recommendations without exception can you succeed.
Selection and preparation of capacity
As a container for potatoes use bags and tall bags made of polyethylene or burlap. The volume of the tank should be 50-75 liters. In the case of a smaller bag, you should not rely on a high yield, since only one layer of tubers can be grown. When choosing a non-hygroscopic product in the bottom and over the entire area of the bag at a distance of 20-30 cm, holes should be made to drain excess moisture.
Preparing the landing site
Potato is a southern culture, thermophilic, so the place for placing the bags should be on the south or southeast side of the site. The easiest way to lean the bags against the support, for example: the wall of the barn, bathhouse or to the fence. With this option, it should be noted that moisture should not get into the bag from the drain, otherwise the plants will die from its excess. The second option is to place the bags, propping against each other. In this case, you need to leave openings around the bags for free access.
Planting potatoes
The main reserve for the future harvest is the selection of seed material and its germination. Only healthy tubers smaller than a chicken egg should be selected. If only large specimens are preserved, then (after the formation of root primordia) the tubers should be cut with a knife so that 1-2 pieces are on each piece.Germinating potatoes is recommended in a cool dark place, such as in the basement. When the preparation of the material is completed, time to begin planting.
The step-by-step process of filling the bag and planting the tubers includes:
- In the form of a base we lay a drainage, for example, branches, they will also serve as a warm layer, as in a “warm bed”.
- Pour a bucket of earth, breaking up lumps. Add 400-500 g of wood ash on top and mix with the top layer of earth. Ash protects potato bushes from scab, feeds them with calcium and creates friable soil.
- Plant sprouted potatoes in a bag should be 4 pieces in one bag.
- We add 1/2 more buckets of garden soil on top, add 200-300 g of ash together with worms, and turn the edges of the bag to the outside and water it if the soil is not moist enough.
- Lay the top layer of 10 cm mulch, for example, lawn grass.
- As soon as the potatoes sprouted the first seedlings 5-6 cm from the ground, you need to untwist the sides and, carefully shifting with handfuls, add a bucket of earth to each bag. After germination, during the entire growing period, potatoes need to be mulched in a timely manner.
- Topping up the soil and mulching should be done weekly until we reach the very top of the bag.
- After a short time 2-3 weeks, a bag of potatoes will look like in the photo.
How to properly care for potatoes in bags
Potato is a southern plant and loves sandy soil and watering with warm, well-maintained water. Drop watering is considered ideal. As a result, in a small amount of land you can grow 3-4 buckets of selected clean potatoes. In a particularly rainy summer, the potato tubers dug in the garden will be uneven and covered with mud. With potatoes in bags, this does not happen, all the excess moisture goes into the lower layer of the earth.
Harvesting and storage of crops
Potato, regardless of the planting method, ripens at the same time. As soon as the tops are dry, in dry weather you should start harvesting. Further, the potatoes are laid out for drying in the fresh air, and then laid out in boxes and put away for storage in the cellar. The only difference with the usual planting method is that you do not need to dig potatoes, but only cut the bag with scissors from one side from top to bottom. Not laborious and even nice.
Are all varieties suitable for planting in bags?
When choosing seeds for planting in bags, preference should be given to varieties with high productivity, a powerful bush that is above average growth for the formation of more tubers. Under favorable warm weather conditions, you can get two potatoes in a bag in season.
Bellarosa
German early variety with high yields and extreme drought tolerance. The bush can reach 70 cm, so it is suitable for forming in a bag in 4-5 layers. Plant 3 tubers per bag to get large specimens at the exit. During the growing season, the plant must be fed with magnesium, like all early varieties, then it will please fruiting.
Sante
Dutch variety, high-yielding, medium early (from germination to harvesting takes up to 90 days). It has complex resistance to viruses. The potato is beautiful in fried form, does not lose shape when cooking. It shows its characteristics well with any type of cultivation and is not afraid of mechanized harvesting, but in a bag gives two crops.
Slav
Mid-season variety of Ukrainian selection, unpretentious to short-term drought and rarely affected by diseases.The potato is large and even, has rich flavoring characteristics and better preservation. Tubers do not tolerate mechanical damage when digging or harvesting. That is why growing in bags and removing it is very convenient.
Reviews
Ekaterina, Leningrad Region: “I don’t know how others do, but my experiment was half successful. The potato grew, but not large and small in the nest. I realized my mistake later. I added land only once and planted 2 tubers in a bag. Next season I’ll do everything according to the rules and hopefully get a good result. ”
Pavel, Crimea: “The result exceeded my expectations. I collected 4 kg of a fairly large potato from a bag, and I counted only on a trifle. He covered the top layer not with grass, but with moss, it retains moisture better. "
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