Vertical growing of potatoes - in a barrel

Most farmers are used to growing potatoes in their garden beds. However, if the site is small, you have to look for alternative routes. One of them is growing potatoes in a barrel. About how to build a barrel for planting, about the rules of such cultivation and the advantages of the method further in the article.

How to build a barrel for landing

Today, the number of supporters of organic growing of vegetables and fruits is becoming more and more. Incredibly, it turns out that berries and vegetables can be grown in barrels too!

There is an opinion that the method of vertical production of potatoes arose by accident: from the legend of a bag of potatoes grown from one tuber, which inadvertently ended up in a compost pit. For a long time, there was no one to test this theory, until organists-experimenters took up it. And so: the method has been tested, improved and adopted.

But in order for the result obtained to please you, you should properly build a barrel for vertical cultivation. In fact, there are many ways to make a "house" for potatoes:

• use a regular barrel by removing its bottom. It will need to drill small holes (about 1 cm) in it with a placement interval of 15 cm;
• use a wicker structure. This method is excellent in that you do not need to drill holes in this design, because they will already be there. Air will safely enter the soil;
• use old car tires;
• use a metal mesh with small cells, wrapping it in advance with straw, which also allows air to pass through perfectly.

So, having learned about the methods of making a container for growing potatoes, you can already proceed directly to planting it.

Growing rules

This landing can be broken down into several stages:

1. First, a small layer of earth (10 cm) is poured into the prepared barrel.
2. Pour fertilizer on top. This compost can be a mixture of garden soil, peat moss, grass cuttings or coconut fibers (they are nutritious, inhibit soil compaction, retain moisture in the roots). In fact, in this case there are no special criteria for composting, so you can use your long-used "recipe".
3. Place already sprouted potatoes on an earthen cushion.
4. Sprinkle some good soil on the tubers. Also about 10 cm. It is important to leave enough space between the tubers so that they are not crowded. There are also two options for planting material: either whole potatoes or cut into pieces can be lowered into the barrel.

This, in principle, is the whole technology of planting potatoes. But it is worth mentioning separately about the care of potato barrels.

It is important to keep the soil moist at all times.After the first shoots appear, you need to periodically pour new high-quality compost soil into the barrel. Thanks to this, your potatoes will have a lot of tubers, which means that a good harvest will come out.

In this regard, it is necessary to establish air access to the lower layers of the earth in the barrel. You should build a small ventilation device. For this you need a hose. It is spirally placed at the bottom of the container, one edge is hermetically closed, and the other edge is brought out.Cuts are made along the entire length of the hose, and from time to time, with the help of a pump, air is pumped into the lower layer of the earth. But, in fact, such measures are only necessary for tightly closed containers without holes. And if you made small holes along the entire surface of the barrel, as mentioned above, then such procedures are not required.

In the middle of summer, your "bed" will need to replenish nutrients, so you will need to add additional feeding - an infusion of organic matter (infusion of dioecious nettle and wandering comfrey). You need to add it 1-2 times a week.

Turn over and disassemble the barrel to harvest. If all procedures are performed correctly, the result will exceed all your expectations.

Method advantages

There are a lot of advantages of using this method, and here are some of them:

• such cultivation saves space, especially if you don't have a lot of it;
• to weed the beds in the scorching sun? Forget it! With this method, the vertical bed can be placed in any place convenient for you;
• the Colorado potato beetle and other crop pests like it cannot harm. This means that there is no need to carry out additional measures to eliminate them;
• even late blight will not harm your plants;
• potatoes will not rot, water will not stagnate;
• This method of growing potatoes is a great way to ergonomically manage your time and energy.

You can grow potatoes at any time. Want to get new potatoes for Easter? No problem. A special technique will allow you to do this. In March, you need to steam the soil and fill the barrels with it. Close the barrels. Stick the sprouted planting material through the holes in the barrel, not deeply. A couple of weeks the way the barrel "lives" in the basement. And with the onset of heat, take it out into the yard. Make sure that the potatoes do not freeze at night and the water level in the barrel. Watering should be done once a month, as moisture evaporates rather slowly at this time of the year. Harvest after 50 days.

Thus, vertical cultivation of potatoes in a barrel is a modern, environmentally friendly way of obtaining a high-quality potato crop. It has many advantages, and is aimed at gardeners with a small plot of land, but a great desire to grow potatoes.

Video "Potatoes in a barrel"

In the video you can see the process of harvesting from a potato bush grown in a barrel.