Growing a high-quality potato crop requires a large amount of time and energy. In order for potato tubers to be strong, you will have to regularly loosen the soil when growing potatoes. This will improve the supply of oxygen and moisture to the soil. To do this, it is better to use a manual potato hiller, which makes loosening the soil several times easier.
Why hill up potatoes?
It is known that during the active growth of potato bushes it is necessary to loosen the soil. However, not everyone knows exactly why the soil is loosened and a potato hiller is used.
Loosening the soil using special equipment is carried out to supply oxygen to the soil and accelerate plant growth. If fresh air regularly enters the soil, the formation of new root crops doubles. Thanks to this, the amount of total harvest will increase by 50%.
When to hill potatoes?
Having become familiar with the purpose of loosening the soil, you need to decide when it is best to do it.
It is recommended to carry out hilling at the most appropriate time. The first time the procedure is carried out after the first shoots appear. Moreover, their height should be at least 5–7 cm so that the seedlings are clearly visible above the ground.
It is necessary to loosen the soil with a potato hiller 2-3 times per season. The procedure is repeated when the bushes grow to twenty centimeters. It is recommended to do this in the evening or in cloudy weather, so that there is no sun. Hot sunny days are not suitable for this procedure, since in large, unshaded areas, the hilled parts of plants above the ground may burn.
It is also necessary to loosen the soil after rains and prolonged downpours. After precipitation, the soil surface becomes covered with a crust, which prevents the penetration of oxygen into the soil. If you do not get rid of it in a timely manner, the plants will develop worse.
Design and purpose of a manual hiller
There are two main types of homemade potato hillers.
Disk
The disk-type design looks like a small frame on which several metal disks are hung.Such models are made from the following elements:
- two screw lanyards, which are responsible for adjusting the speed of rotation of the disks;
- T-shaped leash;
- two disk blades;
- two metal stands.
The main advantage of a homemade disk manual hiller for potatoes is the ability to adjust the racks located between the disks. This allows you to independently set the most suitable row spacing. When adjusting, you need to make sure that the racks are at the same distance from the disks. If the distance is different, one of them will pull the hiller to the side.
In the form of a plow
The model, made in the form of a plow, is also often used for cultivating land when growing potatoes. This product is much more convenient than the disk model and allows you to quickly hill up and even plow large areas. To make hilling easier, experienced gardeners recommend using the device together with a walk-behind tractor. This will allow you to loosen the garden much faster.
Do-it-yourself manual potato hiller
Some vegetable growers do not want to spend money to purchase such a device and therefore try to make a manual hiller themselves.
Before you start work, you need to prepare all the materials and necessary tools. To create the design you will need the following:
- sheet rod 2–3 mm thick, with which dumps will be made;
- one hollow pipe at least a meter long for the manufacture of rear and front rods;
- a meter water pipe, which will be needed when creating a vertical stand;
- a steel plate or lanyard to connect the vertical post to the front link;
- gas burner for heating metal products at their bends;
- grinder for working with joints;
- welding machine.
Also, to create a hiller yourself, you need a drawing that will show the correct location of all components. Of course, you can make a product without the help of a drawing. However, such a hiller is more likely to be of poor quality and will quickly break.
Making a vertical stand
It is necessary to make a potato hiller from a vertical stand, which is considered the basis of the entire structure. For this, a pipe about a meter long is prepared.
To create a high-quality rack, the pipe will have to be bent 10–20 degrees forward at a distance of 300–400 mm from the beginning of the structure. To bend metal pipes, a special device is used - a pipe bender. However, not everyone has the opportunity to use it and has to do everything with their own hands. To bend a metal pipe yourself you will have to:
- pour river sand into the pipe cavity;
- install plugs at the edges of the structure that will hold sand;
- heat the place where the pipe is to be bent with a soldering apparatus;
- Carefully bend the pipe at the heating point.
Some try to repeat the above steps, but without using sand. However, without sand between the walls of the vertical pipe, its shape will deform due to heating and therefore it will not be able to maintain its original cross-section.
We make front and rear links
To make the rear and front links you will need ¾ inch diameter pipe. It will have to be bent in the same way as the pipe when creating a vertical stand. When the product is bent, several holes are made in it at the top and bottom where the fork will be installed. The holes created will be needed in the future to change the height of the rack.
When making the front fork, it is necessary to take into account the height of the person who will work with a hand-made manual disc hiller for potatoes. Therefore, the front link is created so that its forks are at least 60 cm long. To connect the fork to the vertical post, holes are drilled for large screws.
Double shaft plow
Making a manual plow for hilling potatoes is quite simple. For this, two metal plates with a thickness of at least 3–4 mm are prepared. They should have small semicircular bends to make it easier to loosen the ground. A self-made plow is attached to a vertical stand. For more reliable fastening of the structure, a welding machine is used.
Pruning knife
At the very end, a pruning knife is created for a manual disk potato hiller. This part of the structure is made of carbon steel, from which a knife of the required length and diameter is cut. After cutting the product, it will have to be sharpened exactly at an angle of 40–45 degrees to create a sharp blade. When the knife is ready, it is welded to the upper half of the vertical stand and the weld seams are ground with a grinder.
Hilling technology
Before using a potato hiller, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of loosening the soil.
First you need to break through the weeds in the area where potatoes are grown. In this case, the torn grass can be left on the site to protect the potato bushes from the sun's rays.
When all the weeds have been picked, you can begin loosening the soil with a homemade potato hiller. This is done in the evening or in cloudy weather. When loosening the soil, the hiller is pulled twice between the rows of potatoes. If, after using the manual device, crust remains in some areas under the bushes, you will have to get rid of it manually with a regular hoe.
Conclusion
When growing potatoes, you need to carefully care for the potato bushes. To get a good harvest, it is recommended to regularly loosen the soil. To do this, you should use a manual hiller, which will quickly get rid of the crust that has formed on the ground.
