A vegetable garden for the lazy - we plant and grow potatoes on the grass, without digging, without weeding
The three whales on which the correct conduct of ecological gardening is based are three "not". They are also called the rules of lazy gardeners, because they sound like this: "do not dig, do not water, do not weed."
Why is it better not to dig up the ground when planting?
A lot of microorganisms and insects live in the soil, which fertilize it, make it more fertile. If you dig up the ground a couple of times a season, then all living things are deprived of their usual habitat, as a result of which they die. The soil becomes barren from fertile.
It is all the more harmful to water the ground with chemical solutions. Not only is all life in it killed, the plants themselves, which gardeners are trying to grow, often give weak shoots.
And then they are overtaken by another attack - pests, which can now freely press on garden crops.
The easiest way is to start an environmentally friendly cultivation experiment without digging up the potatoes. This is what the story will be about in this manual.
Preparing potato seeds for germination
This stage of work for the gardener is practically the most important. Potato tubers can be planted on un-dug ground only with 3-4 cm sprouts.
If you do otherwise and use seeds for sowing with slightly hatched eyes or no sprouts at all, then the potatoes will simply rot. In tubers with sprouts, the growth program is already included.
To awaken potato seeds, you should first wash them without damaging the eyes, if they have already appeared. Then the nodules are placed in sufficiently hot water, about 45 degrees, and left in it until the latter cools.
Potatoes are added to cool water so that the liquid turns pink, and the potatoes are left in it for another 10-15 minutes. This is done to combat microbes that may have settled on the tubers during storage.
Then the tubers are taken out, washed, blotted with a cloth, and laid out for greening in a cool, but well-lit place. When the "eyes" hatch on the seed material, you should proceed to the next stage - germination of sprouts.
It is important to remember: green potatoes are not touched by insects or even a bear.
Sprouting tubers before planting
This stage of work with potato seeds must be carried out at such a time that the planting itself is carried out just with the onset of "bird cherry cold snaps".
Germinate tubers in several ways.
"Box"
Green potatoes are laid out in two or three layers, shifted with black and white newspapers. It is best to use cardboard boxes under the container. After unfolding, the seed is harvested in a warm place. It is advisable that the light does not hit the boxes.
Sometimes plastic vegetable boxes are used instead of cardboard ones.
"Maechno-packet"
8-12 potatoes are laid out in plastic bags. The most convenient for this purpose are "T-shirts" with handles. About ten holes are made in them to provide fresh air for the seeds. Hang the bags in a warm place. The greenhouse effect allows for good and fast germination of tubers.
If you hang "T-shirts" in the light, then you should attend to the fact that sunlight does not fall directly on the tubers.It's also important to rotate them regularly so that the lighting is even.
It is very convenient to transport the seed material to the planting site in such bags. But you should be as careful as possible so as not to damage the young and fragile sprouts.
Planting potatoes "on the grass"
So, the gardener decided not to dig up the soil before planting the seeds. Therefore, tubers with sprouts are placed directly on the sod. If desired, you can carefully cut off a thin top layer from it in the places where the seed is laid. And some potato growers even specially train weeds and lay them out with a "mattress" in order to grow their crops on them.
Potatoes are planted in a checkerboard pattern, 25 cm are left between the tubers. Between the rows, the most optimal distance is about half a meter.
Now you need to cover the seeds. To do this, use hay, torn newspapers, dry leaves and sedge, straw. You can cover them with lutrasil.
The potatoes will begin to sprout through the backfill. If the frosts are not over by that time, you need to sprinkle the shoots again.
All summer it is recommended to carry the weeds collected from other ridges to the potato beds. Slop from the table should be poured into the aisles (not after washing!). But you do not need to water the seedlings. Actually, fertilize too.
The fact is that plant residues, overcooking, release moisture, which is enough for the growth of potatoes. Compost is obtained from them, which serves as a fertilizer. But during this process, its volume decreases. Therefore, the regular addition of hay, grass, straw to the beds is necessary so that the potato tubers are constantly covered.
Harvest
During flowering, flowers on plants should be cut off so that the formation of "berries" does not weaken the bush.
It is enough to leave flowers on only one of them. This will be a control shrub, by which it will be easy to determine that the flowering process is over and it is time to start harvesting roots.
To do this, the gardener just needs to lift the coating layer with a pitchfork.
After that, the young potatoes will all be at the top, clean, even and absolutely without losses, which often happens when root crops have to be dug out of the ground.
The positive aspect of growing potatoes in this way is also important: the crop can be harvested in early August!