Do you have a small garden? Learn the original method of growing potatoes in a barrel. Having learned some planting features, you can get a yield of at least 30 kg from 8–10 potatoes. At the same time, you will save yourself from tedious physical labor: loosening, hilling, weeding and even digging. To harvest, you just need to turn the barrel over and collect the tubers.
What it is?
Planting potatoes in a barrel is an alternative method of growing this crop.This method has proven itself well in small summer cottages. In a small area, you can grow the tuber crop necessary for the family, and use the freed land to grow other vegetable crops.
Productivity
Experimental summer residents, when mastering new methods of planting vegetables, always evaluate their productivity. Vegetable growers provide statistics:
- barrel with a capacity of 200 liters;
- 8 seed potatoes;
- adding soil 6–7 times per season;
- feeding;
- regular watering;
- harvest 3 buckets.
Pros and cons of the method
We can talk about the advantages of this method for a long time. The first advantage over conventional planting in the ground is accelerated maturation. The harvest will ripen a month earlier than with traditional planting in holes. The ripening time is reduced due to the early heating of the soil in the planting container and the possibility of earlier planting.
The second advantage is saving space. The third is the lack of traditional methods of care: weeding, hilling, loosening. The main advantage is the free time that has appeared, which can be spent not on hard physical labor, but on a pleasant summer vacation. Another useful point is that the soil can be used several times; it can be restored with the help of autumn planting of green manure.
This method has a drawback - the soil dries out quickly and requires regular watering. Summer residents who rarely visit their dachas find it difficult to control soil moisture, which can negatively affect the volume of the harvest.
Suitable varieties
Tasty potatoes will grow if the right variety is chosen. Summer residents tried the following varieties for planting in barrels:
- Timo.
- Zhukovsky early.
- Cardinal.
- Lyra.
To get an early harvest, you should choose early-ripening, large-fruited varieties.
Tools
To prepare the container for planting, you will need tools.First of all, you need to have a drill and metal drill bits. It is worth purchasing a metal drill of the largest size (10–13 mm).
The necessary conditions
You need to choose the right place to place the planting container. Sunny places are not suitable. The earth will overheat, and potatoes will not grow in hot soil. Many gardeners make the mistake of installing a barrel on the south side of the house.
How to build a barrel?
Good results are obtained when using metal barrels. If the container has been used, then only for the purpose of storing food products. The optimal volume is 200 l. The height of the barrel must be at least 60 cm. Plastic barrels can also be used. Wooden barrels for growing potatoes unsuitable.
In order for the potatoes to breathe as they grow, holes need to be made in the barrel. For this we have a drill and a drill bit. There should be a lot of holes. It is recommended to place them at a distance of 20 cm from each other. The holes should be evenly distributed around the entire perimeter.
The bottom of the container also needs to be prepared. There are two options:
- knock out the bottom;
- drill many holes, leaving a distance of no more than 3 cm between them.
This procedure for preparing the bottom is important - excess moisture will flow out through the holes, which will eliminate the processes of rotting.
Soil preparation
The planting mixture must be nutritious, so it is prepared from humus, compost and garden soil (1:1:1). It will be necessary to treat the soil against pest larvae and infections. If the soil is harvested in the fall, the soil can be treated with a chemical; during spring preparation, it is better to warm it up or treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin.
Fertilizers needed:
- double superphosphate;
- ash;
- ammonium nitrate.
Dolomite flour and magnesium sulfate are added to sandy soil.All ingredients are mixed well. A certain amount of fertilizer is added to the soil exactly according to the instructions.
Step-by-step cultivation technology
To grow potatoes in a barrel, you need to follow the technology, going step by step:
- Selecting the appropriate potato variety.
- We take the tubers out of the cellar 2 weeks before planting and germinate them in a dark room.
- Before planting, we treat potatoes with any modern preparation that combines the properties of an insecticide and fungicide.
- Preparing the soil.
- Pour 15 cm of soil into the container.
- Place the tubers with the sprouts facing up, leaving a distance of at least 20 cm between them.
- Cover the potatoes with a 10 cm layer of soil.
- We water it.
- When sprouts 7–10 cm long appear, cover them with soil and repeat this procedure 6–7 times.
- When the soil level rises by 1 meter, fertilize the potatoes.
- Then the normal growth of tops and the active formation of tubers begins.
- At the end of the growing season, the soil is poured out of the barrel and the crop is harvested.
Top dressing
Nutrients are actively consumed, fertilizing helps restore soil fertility, using:
- herbal infusions;
- ash infusion;
- complex mineral fertilizers for potatoes;
- during flowering superphosphate.
Urea and ammonium nitrate should not be used as fertilizer; it is enough to add them to the soil when planting. Excess nitrogen has a bad effect on the quality of tubers. Adding phosphorus-potassium fertilizers to the soil brings more benefits.
Necessary care
The main care will be watering. The soil in the container should not dry out, but the water in it should not stagnate. Watering is required when the top layer of soil dries out.All other work on caring for potatoes in a barrel comes down to:
- to prepare the soil mixture before planting;
- adding it to the container as the tops grow;
- During the season, potatoes need to be fed at least 3 times with balanced fertilizers.
Dry tops indicate that it is time to harvest the potatoes and that all seasonal work on growing them has ended.
Harvesting
Harvesting is easy. As soon as the tops dry, you can put the barrel on its side and rake out the soil along with the tubers. The entire harvesting procedure comes down to collecting potatoes and clearing them from the ground. The most interesting point is the assessment of the method’s yield. Some gardeners manage to harvest a whole bag of potatoes from one barrel.
Diseases and pests
There will be no need to fight pests and diseases if the soil and tubers are treated against pests and diseases before planting. Even if there is prolonged rain, potatoes are not at risk of late blight. The barrel can be covered from rain with a polyethylene cape.
Comparison with planting in bags and boxes
Principle planting potatoes in boxes and bags almost no different from planting it in a barrel. The soil needs to be prepared in the same way; you can take ordinary garden soil and treat it with Bionex.
Keep bags (boxes) with soil in a warm room; you can plant potatoes in them early. If you have a greenhouse, you can transfer the bags there already in April. Potatoes planted in boxes (bags) must be periodically covered with soil or covered with a layer of mulch. Care is identical to care for potatoes planted in a barrel. Most of the time is spent on watering.
