It's an interesting way to grow potatoes when space is limited. To do this, take a high capacity - iron, plastic, wooden - is not as important as it is, as long as it is without a bottom and with holes made around the circumference, so that the soil could breathe, and at the bottom did not stagnate water.
This method has a long history. Once, a farmer, preparing compost in an old barrel, dropped a potato tuber there, which after a while germinated. The stems were once again filled with another batch of waste. When the container was filled, the potato bush grew on it.
In the autumn, the farmer decided to rip it out, but that was not the case. The stems went deep into the compost and were covered in tuber garlands. He ended up picking up a bag of potatoes.
Gradually, this method was improved. At first, we used the same tuber. It was placed on the bottom of the container, lined with a layer of 5-6 cm thick compost and 9-10 cm thick compost from above. When the seedlings reached 2-3 cm, they were sprinkled again in the same way. This was repeated several times. By the end of the growing season, there were already many tubers of different sizes in the barrel.
Later, the tubers started to spread in the chess order. When sprouting appeared, they were covered with the same layer of compost and the tubers were planted again on top. This operation was repeated 4-5 times and the plants were wrapped as necessary. The crop was harvested gradually, starting from the last planting period.
To test the new method, we recommend the following preparatory work.
- Install an old metal barrel on the site. It is also possible to use any container of suitable dimensions, such as a wooden tub or even a dense polyethylene bag securely attached to the ground. Finally, any available material can be used to make a box of approximately 1x1x1 m.
- Remove the bottom of the drum to allow excess moisture to flow out of it and to ensure that rainwater worms can easily access the ground.
- Make holes in the drum walls approximately every 10-20 cm in diameter, 0.5-1 cm in diameter, to allow oxygen to enter the root system of future potato shrubs.
- The 10 cm high layer should consist of fertilizer for potatoes, turf soil and ordinary soil in a 1:1:1 ratio.
The potatoes are planted (because they do not form steps) approximately every 20 cm, and if the container for growing in a round cross-section, planted on the diameter, if the square - in a chess order.
There will be a lot of tubers planted, so the holes made in the sides of the barrel are not enough to supply oxygen to the root system of all plants. To avoid oxygen starvation in the root zone, it is necessary to put a rubber hose on the bottom of the barrel, rolled up in a spiral so that the distance between the turns was about 10 cm. In the hose, make 2-3 cm long slit-shaped cuts with a knife every 15-20 cm. Pull the outer end of the hose out of the drum and close the inner end of the hose tightly. This is done in order to pump the air into the root zone 2-3 times a week for 5-10 minutes.
When filling the barrel layer by layer with a grass mixture, do not let the sprouts peck completely. As soon as the sprout reaches the upper limit of the soil layer, it is necessary to immediately fall asleep the next layer. If you miss this process, the sprouts will fully germinate, form a green part, and the plant will no longer form the root system, and up to the surface of the earth will develop a powerful green stem.
If due to the circumstances, you are unable to monitor the formation of sprouts, you can plant potatoes sequentially in each of the three lower layers of the mixture, not necessarily in whole tubers, and in order to save the planting material to use parts of the tuber eyes.
In this way, you will have a 3-story planting. And if you do everything correctly, the barrel will form a lot of powerful tube-like root systems, which formed a huge number of tubers.
Do not forget to maintain the necessary soil moisture. Also keep in mind that your potatoes will "eat" almost all the nutrients in the barrel by mid-July, so the plants will require top dressing. And since you can't top off fresh fertilizers because the barrel is already full, you can water the plant with a chatter made of them. This procedure should be carried out at least once a week, but it is better, of course, 2-3 times, if you have the opportunity.
Observing all the above-mentioned conditions, as well as pumping air into the root system, you will be able to get more potatoes from the area of 1x1 m.