Growing potatoes under straw, including planting, as well as feedback on the results

Planting potatoes under straw implies minimal contact of the gardener with the ground. There is no need to weed, spud and even digging is optional - plant on the virgin soil. But is the technology really so good, or does it also have its drawbacks?

The story of growing potatoes under a straw

They say that potatoes under straw have been grown in Russia since the century before last. Legend has it: at that time the peasants were so busy with hard work that they tried to make their life easier by all means. Potato has always been the second bread, it needs a lot. And optimization is usually done where the maximum labor costs are concentrated. So there was a know-how, which even today seems to many new and unusual.

The essence of the method: seed tubers are laid out on a flat, unplowed ground and covered with a thick layer of dry straw. Technology has become popular these days against the backdrop of a successfully developing trend in natural farming. Here are its three important principles:

• refusal to dig land;
• mulching as a way to preserve the loose structure of the soil and enrich it with humus;
• abandonment of chemistry: mineral fertilizers and pesticides are not needed, because potato tops grown over dry litter are less sick and do not attract Colorado beetles.

Each modern gardener brings something different to this method of growing potatoes, focusing on his own experience. The results are strongly influenced by the climate of the growing region. Someone makes mistakes, someone gets the first time. But success is intriguing even in 50% of cases; it is interesting for every gardener who is not without curiosity to conduct such an experiment in his area.

Video: potatoes under hay from planting to harvesting, the advantages of the method

Landing time

The land for planting potatoes should be uniquely heated to + 8... + 10 ° C, especially with this method. If you cover with a thick layer of straw the cold, not yet thawed earth, it will warm up for a very long time. The potato will be in a thermos. With moderate humidity, it will lie and wait for a favorable temperature to grow, and in dampness it will rot. Perhaps the early planting of potatoes under straw is one of the reasons for the late emergence of seedlings and a poor harvest.

Plant potatoes under the straw at the same time as in the usual way. In most regions of the Russian Federation, this period lasts from mid-May to early June. If you want to plant earlier, then cover the earth with a film. And only when it warms up well, start planting under the straw. But in this case, you have to make sure that the seedlings do not fall under the return frost.

How I planted potatoes on a turf

The idea of ​​planting potatoes under straw or hay interested me in that the crop can be obtained without hard physical labor - digging the ground, weeding, cultivating and hilling. But the main arguments in favor of the experiment were: superfluous, smallest and suspicious, seed tubers and a virgin plot of about 5x5 m in the very corner of the garden, which did not reach the hands. In other words: I did not feel sorry for the place or the seeds. Why not give it a try?
I was mistaken in thinking that potatoes under the straw are a problem-free cultivation. The question immediately arose: where in the spring to get so much straw. In general, I did not understand the difference between hay and straw, for me it's all - dry grass. And where to get a lot of dry grass? Of course, in the forest glades. They just melted and dried out, the green grass has not yet broken through, but the dry one lay on top with a good layer. My husband and I went to nature, rake and pitchfork scored a considerable amount of last year's grass. Then I realized that clearing a forest clearing is not easier than digging a small piece of virgin soil, we are pretty tired and hungry.

I had enough grass for two beds 3 and 5 meters long, 70–80 cm wide and 30 cm high. The beds were decided to be placed in parallel at a distance of about 3 meters from each other, along the boundaries of the virgin land, since gooseberries grow in the center. The potatoes were already with sprouts and rudiments of roots, so I felt sorry for them and helped a bit in the fight against turf for survival. I chopped off the already grown grass with a hoe and in the places where I was planning to spread the potatoes, I slightly picked the sod to expose the ground.
Tubers laid out in a checkerboard pattern. In each bed I got 2 rows, one from each other 50 cm, between the tubers in rows - 30 cm. She laid half of the hay on top, watered because it was dry, and covered it with the second half, tamped well, shaped it like a bed. To prevent the whole structure from being carried away by the wind, it was crushed from above by heavy and ragged branches remaining after pruning the apple and pear trees.

Tip: if you plant on the turf, then be sure to treat the tubers and the soil under them with a wireworm preparation. The larvae of this pest winter in the roots of perennial grasses. Laying on top of potatoes, we serve them food directly to the habitat and mass congestion.

Ways to plant potatoes under straw

Different methods of planting potatoes under straw differ only in details. Potatoes are planted:

• in boxes, beds with sides or just on a flat surface;
• into the earth of varying degrees of preparation: dug up or only loosened, into holes, grooves or on the virgin soil on top of the grass;
• without fertilizers and with their use: scatter nitroammophoskos, ash on the ground, sprinkle tubers with humus, etc.
• spread out on the ground and covered with straw or making recesses in the already laid out straw;
• using not only straw, but also hay, dried weeds, large shavings, fallen leaves, specially grown green manure for this method.

You can’t directly lay on the seed tubers freshly picked grass, tops, kitchen waste. These materials will create a dense, airtight damp layer, rot themselves and destroy potatoes.

It is very important that the straw layer is at least 30 cm thick. Only under this condition will it be able to restrain the growth of weeds and will keep the temperature and humidity near the tubers constant. If there is little straw, then after planting regularly lay a thin layer of top weathered weeds. In the sun they will dry out and turn into hay.

Potato care under the straw

If you planted sprouted potatoes on top of warmed up soil, moistened the straw, then after 7-10 days you can go to the garden and check if bulges have appeared on its surface. Potato sprouts stick out from below, like mushroom caps. At this point, you need to help them break into the light and gently push the straw, freeing the tops of the shoots.

My site is located next to the house, so I checked how the experiment was going on, almost every day. It's so easy and interesting - to raise the edge of the straw, like a blanket, and look at potatoes that grow roots and sprouts. I was afraid that the tubers would rot or dry out, but they looked vigorous, and even the smell of hay was pleasant, forest.

The only thing you need to monitor when growing potatoes under the straw is the humidity in the root zone, and then only in arid regions. When you need to water, it is very easy to find out: put your hand under the straw, if it is dry, pour. As the tops grow, lay dry grass, as if hilling.

I saw on the Internet an interesting way of hilling: the shoots of one bush were laid out in a circle in the form of rays, and in the middle they strewed the earth. With this hilling, each stalk receives maximum sunlight and heat. I used this method on my beds, I planted shoots on different sides with the help of tangles of dry grass. She laid them in the center of the bush and the shoots deviated to the sides.
I looked after potatoes under a straw along the way. For example, it processed the main field from late blight or the Colorado potato beetle, the remains from the sprayer went to the experimental beds.
Sometimes on the forums there are posts about the fact that with this method mice are turned on in the straw. I didn’t encounter a problem, because we and the neighbors keep cats.

Harvesting

Digging potatoes was very exciting for me. The fate of the experiment was decided: everything was in vain or it was a success. I read and heard on the Internet that it’s enough to remove the straw from above, and here it is potatoes - all clean and beautiful. There it was. From the middle of summer, I stopped looking under the straw, the bushes were lush and healthy, there was no need to check what was down there.
By the end of the season, I was surprised: I could no longer just raise the straw and look under it. The bottom layer turned into humus, the middle layer into dust, and only on top of the hay remained the same. Despite the fact that I laid the tubers on top of the turf, the bushes with my hands were hardly pulled out, they sprouted into the ground and held tight to its roots.
I had to take the pitchfork and dig it up like ordinary potatoes. The tubers were large, the harvest was good, but not better than in the area where I planted potatoes in the traditional way, watered, polished and fed. That is, productivity is about the same, but much less care. By the way, there is no trace left of the turf. The experiment was a success, but I do not want to repeat it yet.

Video: picking virgin potatoes

Reviews about growing potatoes under a straw

I read a lot about potatoes under the straw, but I could not find the straw last summer, I planted potatoes for large shavings. Planted 700 grams, the area for potatoes was 2.5 sq.m. I collected 19 kg 450 g of large potatoes with a fist, the size of an egg and a walnut - 1 kg 130 g, the size of a cherry - 70 g. One bush gave 2.5 kg! From 0.7 kg, 21 kg was obtained. My mistakes: it was necessary to plant varietal, even better elite, and I planted the one that was bought for food in Auchan and the market, and I had to water, at least twice, because the heat was! This summer I’ll try to get hold of straw. Share your success!

Planting potatoes under straw is an idea for areas with a humid climate. I live in an area with a hot, dry climate. I tried to plant potatoes under the grass with leaves, often had to be watered because dry air and wind weathered all the moisture, but the crop was much better than with a conventional planting in the ground. There were no trifles at all, the smallest - with an egg. I liked this agricultural technology. Once put the beds (you can make a trench beds). No need to dig the earth, no need to spud potatoes, no need to weed. In the spring he planted the beds with potatoes, covered them with leaves, watered in the summer, in the autumn he picked up the dust and chose the potatoes. Through a thick layer, weed does not grow, only a birch (bindweed), but it does not interfere with potatoes, it even helps with heat. One concern only is to find enough leaves (straw) in the fall and so that it does not rot before spring (put in bags).

Regarding the landing of the potato chip “The Way to the Straw”, it’s like a proverb: “How to drown, so rush” If someone dreams that he will decompose potatoes to the ground, throwing straw, say “bracks-fex” and wonderful potato trees will grow, they’ll make a big mistake, will grow peas.

In my first year, when I used the usual mowed grass, it began to mold in a thick layer. I had to keep it almost dry, which negated the development of the stalls. In the second year, instead of grass, I used leaf litter, but it did not decompose immediately into the entire thickness of the layer. It decomposed in a thin surface layer, and the entire mass remained untouched. I think this led to failure.

I planted potatoes under the straw. Where EARTH was more or less fertilized, some results were obtained. But where the land was poor - the result was disastrous. The potato that was in the ground turned out to be smaller and hit by a wireworm. A potato laid simply on the ground turned out to be cleaner, larger, not affected by anything. During the summer, planted new servings of grass 2-3 times. By the way, when the potato grew, it was not so easy to do. It’s hard to add mulch without damaging the trunks. the conclusion of the parents is unequivocal - NOW ONLY UNDER HAY, WITHOUT ANYTHING WAS DEPTH. The potato yield turned out somewhere CAM 15. That is, 4 kg of potatoes were planted, 67 kg were removed.

I don’t plant the field. For personal use only. First, hay or straw need a little bit, just “knock” on top. In as the tops grow, add mulch. I have a large area under the lawn-kosh almost every week, sprinkle on top, as if spud. Aisles need at least 80 cm and pour a little more on top, the mulch settles and where its little potatoes with a green side. There was not enough rotten potato this year. Aisle - fresh chicken droppings pie + freshly cut grass. It comes out longer than with a traditional planting. Harvest pleased-planted 4 buckets, dug up 25. For comparison, I planted it in the ground, not deep, once it spudded, not very high))) Then I sprinkled the mowed grass. Never watered, Harvest is equivalent to potatoes under hay. There were no green sides. Earth loam. Weeds climb there (under hay) and here (mixed method), but they are easily pulled out. Most likely I will give preference to landing in the ground, followed by mulching.

I will share my experience. Planted six varieties of 5-10 tubers. Well, as "planted".. He spread tubers on the ground and covered with straw. In general, taking into account the subsequent care - I can not say what is easier than under a plane cutter in the groove. But if someone digs on a shovel - then it will probably be easier. Although in future care - a question. As the potatoes grow, you need to plant straw. The tops are falling apart. There are a lot of green ones. If there are mice - they are expanse. Since the straw should be high, then the tops will come out later. In principle, this is a plus, so the wave of the bug is already gone. But not everyone will get out of the land. But there was a bug anyway. Airborne from the second wave. In yield, different varieties showed themselves differently. From SAM3 to SAM14. He concluded that for such agricultural technology, it is necessary to select varieties. Covering the straw from the second half with something opaque will not hurt. If you succeed, of course, get into the tops.

The main thing that attracts in planting under the straw is the ability not to dig the ground and even plant on the virgin soil. Food and the right microclimate provides a thick layer of gradually decomposing mulch. To implement the technology, a large amount of straw is needed. Finding it, harvesting or growing and drying it, covering it with potatoes, and then planting it as the bushes grow is also quite a hard job.