Technology for growing and caring for potatoes in a barrel

What it is?

The method of growing potatoes in barrels has been known for a long time. Experienced gardeners usually retell the story about a peasant who, at the beginning of summer, dropped a potato into a barrel of food and vegetable waste, and in the fall shook out a whole bucket of potatoes from it.

Today's gardeners are experimenting, testing different planting methods, some simply out of interest, and others in order to save space in the garden. Judging by the reviews, many experienced vegetable growers manage to get a good harvest. Therefore, planting potatoes in a barrel can be considered a good alternative to traditional methods of growing in holes, furrows, and ridges.

conclusions

The experiment with the method of growing potatoes in a furrow is not a clean one.

The potatoes were larger in the furrow; there were a lot of them in the bush - that’s a fact. In the smaller holes, there was less of it in quantity. But it cannot be admitted that this difference was only due to the landing methods. Maybe the holes are the reason for the worse harvest, or maybe snails. Hard to tell…

By the way, it was not large grape snails that damaged the potatoes, but small, white ones. How to get rid of them is a difficult question. Large snails are very harmful to pepper seedlings, cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, and other plants. But I more or less cope with them with beer traps and the Thunderstorm remedy. But Thunderstorm does not work on small snails, or rather, it is not so effective. For some reason they are also indifferent to beer. In general, this is a big problem.

Productivity

The productivity of the method is judged by the amount of planting material and the final result. The volume of the harvest depends on the quality of the seeds, soil, planting scheme, container volume, availability of fertilizers, and quality of care.

You often come across negative reviews about growing potatoes in a barrel, but usually they come from people who do not follow the basic rules of planting and care. Those who adhere to them receive 3 buckets of excellent potatoes from a 200-liter barrel. In this case, only 8 seed potatoes are planted.

Pros and cons of this method

Saving space is the first plus. This is especially true for summer residents. There is always not enough space for planting, but you want to plant everything: vegetables, flowers, berry bushes, fruit trees. For many, a barrel for growing potatoes will allow them to allocate space for other vegetable crops.

Saving time is the second plus. Caring for potatoes is simplified. With this method, weeding and hilling become unnecessary. Thanks to this, there is more free time. Less physical effort is spent on servicing plantings; you don’t need to strain your back.

Potatoes are dug earlier than with traditional planting. Ripening is accelerated by the fact that seedlings appear earlier due to the rapid heating of the earth in the barrel. In the middle zone, potatoes can be planted using this method in mid-April. If there is a threat of frost, the barrel can be wrapped with covering material and film.

The method has a drawback - the soil dries out quickly. For summer residents who rarely come to their dacha, this can significantly reduce the yield of the method. In overheated, dry soil, potatoes will not have time to form.

How to grow potatoes in an apartment. How to grow a good potato crop

Potatoes can be found in almost any garden. Our article will help you grow a lot of potatoes at home. By following the tips below, you can grow vegetables not only using the traditional method, but also using unusual methods.

The article also describes in detail the technology of growing potatoes and the main features of caring for plants at all stages of cultivation. Only here you will learn how to grow a good potato crop with your own hands.

How to grow a good potato crop at home

For their excellent taste, potatoes are called second bread. After all, it contains a lot of proteins and vitamins, as well as various minerals. This vegetable is widely used for dietary nutrition, and traditional medicine recognizes it as one of the most effective means of treatment.

This is probably why potatoes are most often grown in personal plots and vegetable gardens. Everyone wants to get a good, tasty and healthy harvest. This article will tell you how to plant potatoes and care for them correctly.

Growing conditions

Potatoes are a cool-loving plant. Its seedlings develop better in humid, cool weather. At air temperatures above 40 degrees, the growth of the above-ground part stops and the plant itself dies.

At the same time, the stems and leaves of this root crop are very sensitive to a significant decrease in temperature. So, with slight frosts, plants may turn black and no longer recover. Therefore, it is not recommended to plan the area where the garden bed will be located on low terrain.

Figure 1. Potatoes at different growing periods

Moisture requirements vary depending on the growing season (Figure 1). At first, young seedlings tolerate a lack of moisture well. The need for it increases sharply during the formation of buds and flowering. In hot, dry weather, the bushes wither, which negatively affects the future harvest. At the end of the growing season, the plant no longer reacts so sharply to drought.

Sufficient rainfall in June and the first half of July is extremely important for the harvest of early varieties. Precipitation in July and the first half of August guarantees the yield of mid-season and late varieties. Another important factor is the optimal lighting level

Lack of light leads to elongation of stems, decreased yield, and deterioration in the taste of tubers.

Another important factor is the optimal lighting level. Lack of light leads to elongation of stems, decreased yield, and deterioration in the taste of tubers.

It is necessary to position the rows of potatoes correctly: in the direction from north to south. This way the bushes are evenly illuminated by the sun throughout the day.

And of course, to obtain a high yield, it is necessary to provide potatoes with access to minerals: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. They are artificially introduced into the soil through various types of fertilizers.

Potato growing technology

Growing technology is understood as a whole range of measures, the purpose of which is to create the most favorable conditions for the growth and development of a crop.

This complex consists of techniques performed from the moment the plot of land is vacated by the previous species until the new harvest (Figure 2). If we are talking about potatoes, then among them are: soil cultivation, fertilizing, pre-sowing preparation of planting material, sowing, crop care, harvesting. All technological methods are closely related to each other and to the entire farming system.

When developing technology and its techniques, the requirements of a particular crop for growing conditions play a decisive role.

Suitable varieties

Early ripening potatoes planted in barrels in April will yield a harvest in mid-summer. A good early harvest (on the 45th day from germination) can be expected from domestic varieties: Snegir, Udacha. The Snegir potato early and quickly forms medium-sized tubers (up to 90 g) and has good taste. The Udacha variety has larger fruits (up to 150 g), it tolerates heat and drought well, and does not suffer from rot when the soil is waterlogged.

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Description and treatment of potato wrinkled mosaic, prevention

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You can plant varieties with increased drought resistance in a barrel; their yield will not suffer from short-term drying out of the substrate in the barrel. Heat-resistant varieties deserve attention:

• Nevsky;
• Rosara;
• Slav.

Any of these varieties in a barrel will form large potatoes due to well-leafed stems and a powerful root system.

Choosing a potato variety for planting

If you want strong plants, use larger root tubers. In order to have no doubt that this is an original variety, you have the right to request a certificate of conformity from the seller. The most productive and disease-resistant varieties in Russia are:

• Lyra;
• Zhukovsky early;
• Timo;
• Cardinal.

When planning to select a variety, you need to look at where it was bred. It is also important what yield indicators this variety has, how large and tasty the fruits are obtained from such potatoes. Notice how hardy this variety is and how quickly it matures.

Tools

When growing potatoes in barrels, conventional tools in the form of a shovel, hoe, or flat cutter are not needed. For care you will need a bucket, a watering can, you can water the potatoes in a barrel using a hose from the water supply. Tools are needed at the stage of preparing the barrel for planting. You will need a drill, drill, hammer, chisel. They are needed for drilling holes and removing the bottom of the barrel.

The necessary conditions

The correct choice of location solves most of the problems that arise when growing potatoes in barrels. In the middle of the day, the barrels should be in shade or partial shade. In this case, the soil will not dry out and overheat.

You will have to build artificial shading (mesh, covering material) if the only free space is in the sun. It’s good if there is a container of water or a water tap not far from the barrel with potatoes. This will make maintenance much easier - it will reduce the time for watering.

Car tires - “beds” for potatoes

If you can use tires from wheels, they will also make an excellent vertical bed for potatoes. You can immediately install several pieces on top of each other, or build such a “Leaning Tower of Pisa” gradually, as the potatoes grow.

First you need to dig up the ground along the diameter of the wheel, add fertilizer or compost to the soil. Then plant the potatoes with their eyes facing up. Now you need to put a tire around it and fill it to the top with light soil.

When the seedlings grow to a height of 15 cm, place a second one on top of the first tire. The earth is also poured into it; this will also be “hilling up”.

You can stop there, but it’s better to use 1-2 more tires and also add soil as the potatoes grow. The harvest will certainly please you.

If you can use tires from wheels, they will also make an excellent vertical bed for potatoes.

How to build a barrel

You can take a plastic or iron barrel. Any will do. The main thing is that no toxic substances have been stored in it before. For a good potato harvest, its dimensions are important. The most suitable volume is from 100 to 200 l, the minimum height is from 0.6 to 1 m.

It will take little time to prepare the container for planting if you have an electric drill at hand. Drilling holes will take no more than 30 minutes. Holes are drilled in the walls at intervals of 20 cm, in the bottom at intervals of 3 cm. The bottom can simply be knocked out.

A serious mistake of vegetable growers is that they do not make holes in the barrel, their potatoes do not receive oxygen in the required quantity, and excess moisture stagnates at the bottom. That is why they cannot boast of large harvests.

Potato rejuvenation

Zucchini in a barrel - growing

Each farmer has his own favorite potato variety, which they try to grow from year to year, selecting seed tubers from each harvest. But experienced gardeners know that in this case, selectivity deteriorates, the tubers become smaller, and after 5 years the planting will give a meager yield of potatoes with deteriorated qualities.

To prevent this from happening, they renew potatoes at home. At the same time, it is not necessary to buy a new variety externally - it will be cheaper to rejuvenate your seeds, if you take into account the advice of experienced farmers.

Methods for rejuvenating seed potatoes

In the autumn sorting of the harvest, some gardeners leave the best fruits for food, and put aside small potatoes for seeds. With this approach, degeneracy will occur within 2 years. In order not to carry out frequent rejuvenation, it is better to use, on the contrary, high-quality large tubers for propagation.

Soil preparation

Planting soil is prepared from 1 part garden soil, 1 part compost or humus. If the soil is prepared in the fall, it will freeze in winter and the pest larvae will die. To be on the safe side, it can be treated with an insecticide in the fall.

When preparing the substrate in the spring, a strong solution of potassium permanganate or “Fitosporin” is used for disinfection. You need to add ash to the soil together with complex fertilizer for potatoes from Fertica. If you don’t have them on hand, then superphosphate and ammonium nitrate will do.

Land and fertilizers

If the soil mixture is prepared correctly, then fertilizing will not be needed. The soil must be fertilized, the growing process takes place in a closed space, there is no possibility of aerating the soil. You need peat, which will help make the soil loose; it absorbs moisture well. The peat mixture warms up quickly and pests do not like it. Add chalk or lime flour to the soil - 80 g of chalk per 10 kg of peat. If there is no peat, use compost. An earthen composition made of equal parts of garden soil and compost is suitable.

Composition of the soil mixture:

• compost or peat – 1 part;
• garden soil - 2 parts;
• sand – ¼ volume;
• ash - 200 g per 10 liters of soil.

Ash is needed to protect plants from diseases and reduce soil acidity. Sand, like peat, makes the soil light. You can prepare the soil in the fall. Ammonium nitrate, double superphosphate, potassium and ash are added to the soil. For sandy soil you will need dolomite flour and sulfate.

Important! To neutralize harmful insects and infections, the soil is pre-steamed or calcined. You can water it with a solution of potassium permanganate or use chemicals.

Step-by-step cultivation technology

A brief step-by-step instruction will help you grow potatoes; many summer residents have already used it:

• seed material is germinated until shoots appear;
• For one 200 liter barrel take 8 potatoes;
• potatoes are treated against pests with a liquid insecticide solution;
• a 15 cm layer of soil is poured onto the bottom of the barrel;
• moisten the soil;
• lay out the potatoes evenly, retreating from the walls of the barrel and from each other by at least 7 cm;
• cover with a layer of 10-15 cm;
• watered.

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This is the planting process. During June, the soil will have to be added at least 6-7 times. Each addition is carried out when the stems grow 10 cm. By July, a sufficient layer of soil will be poured into the barrel to form a powerful root system. In July-August, potatoes need care, consisting of watering and fertilizing.

Top dressing

The volume of substrate in the barrel is small, so fertilizing is necessary. During the initial growth period, a herbal infusion is prepared with the addition of ash. Nitrogen fertilizers are not used. During flowering, the bushes are fertilized with superphosphate or a special fertilizer for potatoes. It is better to combine fertilizing with watering.

Necessary care

Caring for potatoes in a barrel is minimal. In May-June this means watering and adding nutrient soil. In July, only watering combined with fertilizing. Since there is no need to hill up the potatoes, physical labor is not needed.

Throughout the summer you need to monitor the condition of the tops. Treatment against pests and diseases is carried out after the appearance of disease symptoms or pest larvae. Use insecticides only when planting late potato varieties.

Harvesting

Drying yellow tops serve as a signal to start harvesting. The period will depend on the variety and time of planting. It will take male physical strength to turn the container over and empty its contents. It takes little time to harvest. You just need to stir up the ground and select all the tubers.

Diseases and pests

Potatoes in barrels hardly get sick, and pests are easy to notice in a small area. If the month is rainy, then cover the container with film, this will avoid fungal diseases. Without care, plants can become infected with late blight or rot.

Late blight affects tops and tubers. Vague red spots with a whitish coating appear. Brown stripes form on the petioles and stems. When there is drought, the spots dry out. The development of mycelium is favored by warm weather and frequent rains. All greenery gradually turns into a dark mass, the bushes die. In a small container, the plants are located close to each other, so if one bush is infected, the infection will quickly spread to neighboring ones. It is better to plant varieties that are resistant to late blight. For preventative purposes, tubers are treated with fungicides before planting.

The Colorado potato beetle can fly over and settle in a barrel. It is much easier to collect and destroy uninvited guests in a small area. But if a mole cricket arrives, there may not be a harvest. It damages the roots and stems of plants and eats tubers. This insect can be brought in with garden soil, so it is necessary to cultivate the soil before planting.

You may be interested in: Dates for planting potatoes in 2022 for central Russia and the Moscow region Dates for planting potatoes in May-June 2022 according to the lunar planting calendar Favorable days for planting potatoes in 2022 according to the lunar calendar

Together with untreated soil, you can introduce nematodes, potato cutworms and wireworms, as well as a lot of harmful microorganisms. Potato moth flies from bush to bush. One individual breeds up to 8 generations of harmful insects. Caterpillars gnaw through leaves and tubers, turning potatoes into dust. Deep embedding will save potatoes from the pest; the larva does not fall lower than 10 cm.

In the fight against parasites, biological products are used: Entobacterin, Bitoxibacillin, Agrovertin, Fitoferm. The aphid infestation is washed off with a soap solution mixed with ash. Insects do not like garlic and mustard infusions. Ash is used against slugs; if you sprinkle ash around a barrel, the slug will not overcome the barrier.

Attention!

Insecticides are used only to treat late varieties of potatoes.