Growing potatoes using Dutch technology with video

In the pursuit of productivity, summer residents invent various methods of growing crops. The Dutch technology for growing seed potatoes is considered one of the most popular among gardeners. Having studied all the nuances of the Dutch potato growing technique and putting it into practice in the fall, it will be possible to grow a good harvest without much effort.

Dutch technology: general principles of methodology and cultivation features

The basis of the Dutch cultivation method is to observe the following points:

Compliance with a specific pattern of planting root crops.
Fertile crops need to be rotated.
Compulsory use of fertilizers and chemicals.
Seed potatoes for future plantings must be collected in advance.
Before planting root crops, the soil is fertilized with special solutions.

The Dutch method of growing seed potatoes starts with sprouting. It is not necessary to germinate potato tubers before planting, and many summer residents do not do this, getting a good harvest in the fall. But to increase the yield, the germination of root crops is considered a necessary measure.

Sprouting seed potatoes has a number of features that are important to consider before starting the process.

Seed potatoes are planted without prior preparation, but in this case no one can guarantee that all the seeds will sprout. Even shoots will appear, they are weak and thin and die quickly.Pre-germination of planting material will reduce the growing time of the crop to two weeks. Different varieties grow at different rates. But on average it takes 4-6 weeks.

If less than a month is left before planting, the tubers are placed in a room with a temperature above +25 degrees. Sprouts under such storage conditions will appear 20 days earlier.

Advantages of Technology

Among the advantages of this method are the high yield of potatoes. Following all the recommendations to increase the yield to 30-45 tons per hectare of land.

The speed of plant growth and the development of root crops, their size and quantity in one bush is another advantage of using this particular method.

Flaws

Significant shortcomings in the Dutch method of cultivation were not found.The only downside is that it takes a lot of time to grow. Preparation of root crops, germination of sprouts and drawing up a planting scheme in open ground. Otherwise, there are no cons and the method has proven itself well.

Selection and preparation of planting material

Potato planting material should be prepared immediately after it is harvested. The harvested crop is sorted out, the gnawed and damaged root crops are thrown out. Then the he althiest tubers are selected. It is not advisable to use large potatoes for planting.

The optimal size of seed potatoes is medium-sized root crops of the correct form. Their average weight is 40-90 g. If you take large potatoes, then the above-ground part will develop much faster than the underground. And if you use small fruits for planting, then the harvest will be poor. The selected tubers are stacked separately from the entire crop and left for the winter.

The second stage of preparation begins with the onset of spring, 30-40 days before planting in open ground. First, the seeds are sorted and any damaged or moldy ones are thrown away.

There are various ways to prepare seeds for planting:

Germination.
Green.
Spraying with mineral growth stimulants and disinfectants.

Before sprouting potatoes, they must be disinfected. For this, a solution of vitriol with an admixture of potassium permanganate is used. To prepare the solution, you will need 10 liters of water, 3 g of copper sulfate and 11 g of potassium permanganate. All ingredients are mixed and the tubers are dipped in liquid for 25 minutes. After the procedure, it is dried to dryness.

Soil preparation

The Dutch method of planting potatoes in the open field is to pre-treat the soil. The main goal of this method is to create an optimal loose soil structure for planting. Therefore, land preparation consists of autumn and spring cultivation.

Autumn processing

Preparing the substrate for the onset of the autumn period is the basis of the Dutch scheme for the cultivation of root potatoes. Immediately after harvesting, the site is dug up, all weeds are removed and mineral fertilizers are applied. The soil is dug up to a depth of 20 to 36 cm.

The best plows for plowing are special plows that dig up the top layer of soil and swap it with the bottom. This is necessary in order to prevent the appearance of insects in the fall. Most pests of agricultural crops prefer to winter in the soil, and spoil the crop in spring.

The Dutch won special love for nitrogen-containing top dressing. In autumn, the soil is fertilized with ammonium nitrate. Also, the earth is disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate or iodine.

Spring training

In the spring, the soil is not dug up, but simply loosened with a cultivator. Loosening the soil is necessary to a depth of 12-15 cm. This should be done after the earth warms up by +10 degrees. Soil preparation in spring is of two types and depends on the type of soil:

Deep loosening (used if the soil is fertile and well drained). For loosening, it is preferable to use a pitchfork and dig up only the top layer with them.
Digging the soil (used on the ground, rough and prone to acidification). It consists in cultivating the soil to a depth less than in autumn, but subject to the removal of weeds on the site.

Another factor to consider when planting potatoes is crop rotation. In areas where potatoes have grown for several years in a row, it is not recommended to plant them again. The best predecessors for potatoes are legumes, pumpkin or cabbage.

It is also effective to plant green manure plants before planting potatoes. Most often, peas, alfalfa, mustard, sweet clover or clover are used as green manure.

After loosening the soil, the second stage of soil preparation is fertilization. Before planting root crops, phosphorus is added to the soil in the form of Superphosphate, and potassium in the form of potassium sulfate. Ammonium nitrate is applied to the beds 20 days after germination.

Dutch potato planting dates

Most summer residents prefer to plant root crops immediately after warm weather sets in at night.The main criterion is the soil, if the earth leaves the shovel well, then it's time to plant the planting material. But this method of determining the timing of planting is not the most effective and in some cases reduces the yield.

According to the Dutch growing scheme, the timing of planting potatoes is determined by the readiness of the soil for planting. Root crops should be planted after the substrate "ripens". To determine readiness, you need to take a small amount of earth in a fist and throw it down from the height of the waist. If the lump of earth crumbles, then you can start landing. If not, then you need to wait until the substrate dries a little more.

It is also worth focusing on climatic conditions. If the weather is warm during the day, and frosts occur at night, then the landing should be postponed for a while. Most often, they start planting potatoes in late April or early May.

Dutch planting pattern

To the person who decides to grow potatoes the Dutch way for the first time, at first it seems that a huge amount of empty space is being wasted. For 1 sq. m planted only 5-9 root crops. But in fact, a large distance between the bushes allows you to form more tubers in each bush.

The Dutch way of growing potatoes gives the following conditions:

Enough heat.
The soil is always saturated with oxygen.
Regular feeding.

Potato beds are planted according to a certain algorithm. The earth is loosened with a pitchfork or using a cultivator. Remove all weeds. The distance between each row is left approximately 70-85 cm, between each bush - up to 30 cm. The holes are dug to a depth of 7-9 cm.

The second stage of the scheme is the introduction of top dressing. Throw them so that the fertilizer is under the root crops. Then pour a small amount of ash and crushed shells. Onion skins are used to prevent the appearance of wireworms and slugs.

Root crops are laid with sprouts up and covered with soil. A week after planting potatoes on the site, you can notice the appearance of weeds. They need to be weeded as quickly as possible before they begin to grow. After the sprouts began to appear, they spud. The height of the ridges should be 10 cm. If there is a risk of frost at night, then the sprouts are sprinkled with soil, and when the weather is warm at night, the stems are straightened and carefully placed evenly.

12 days after planting, the potatoes are spudded again. This time the combs are 25 cm high. The width at the base is approximately 75 cm and the width at the top is 30 cm. When the Colorado potato beetle appears in the plantings, they are treated with chemicals against insects as needed.

Plant care

A characteristic feature of this growing scheme is the care of seedlings and adult plants. Care includes the treatment of plantings from weeds and pests, the prevention of diseases of crops, fertilizing the substrate and hilling. If potato plantings are small, additional watering is possible.

Weed treatments

Spraying the plantation from weeds is a mandatory procedure, especially at the growth stage, when sprouts have just begun to appear. In addition to the fact that they fill the site and prevent potatoes from growing, they also contribute to the appearance of harmful insects.

There are two ways to get rid of weeds. With the help of herbicides and the manual method. The use of chemicals is advisable if the area is large or overgrown with weeds. In summer conditions, it is better to use the manual method and get rid of weeds with a chopper.

Popular chemicals are Shogun, Alfa-Mais and Tornado 500. These products include phosphites, which are responsible for the destruction of weeds from the site.

Treatment from pests and diseases

For the destruction of harmful insects, in most cases, chemicals are used. They are quite effective and help get rid of insects in a short time. You need to spray the bushes on a sunny windless day. Also, before the procedure, it is desirable to know the weather forecast. If rains are expected in the near future, then it is better to postpone spraying.

The following drugs are used to control pests:

Before planting potatoes, the Taboo chemical is introduced into the ground.
After the appearance of the bushes, they are treated with Fitoverm or Beetle Eater.

As a disease prevention, the bushes are sprayed twice a month. For this purpose, Ordan or Revus chemicals are used. If there are both insects and diseases on the potato, then you should not mix different types of herbicides. It is necessary to use complex preparations of a different spectrum of action. For example, the preparation Potato Rescuer. The composition of the drug includes three ampoules:

Insectoacaricide.
Broad spectrum fungicide.
Stem and root growth activators.

The drug works for a short time and helps to save the harvest.

Fertilizers

It is believed that applying fertilizer directly to the hole is much more effective than spraying the soil. Before planting potatoes, a mixture of manure, wood ash and humus is introduced into the soil. Then proceed to land.

Before the first hilling procedure, the bushes are watered with urea. For fertilizer take 1 tbsp. l. urea and diluted in 9 liters of warm water. Water the bushes at the root. The aisles are watered with a solution of mullein. Herbal infusions are also used. For this, weeds are collected from the site, filled with water and insisted. The resulting solution is poured over the wells in the evening.

Hilling

Spud potatoes with a regular chopper. There are two hilling methods:

Shovel the soil around the plant to the center.
Pour soil into the center of the bushes, spreading the stems to the sides.

The ridge of the earth as a result of hilling should not exceed 25 cm. In the process, one should not forget that the root system of the potato grows to the sides in length by 30-40 cm. Therefore, during hilling, you should try not to damage them.

Also use a manual hiller. With it, the process should be simplified and time reduced. A walk-behind tractor is suitable for hilling. But if the area is small, then it is not necessary to use it.

Irrigation

Potatoes do not tolerate liquid stagnation at the base of the rhizome. It is not advisable to water the bushes often, but in accordance with the growth periods of the sprouts. The first watering is done after planting potatoes, when the crop is laid. The second time you need to water the bushes after the beginning of the flowering period. It is aimed at moisturizing the rhizomes and tubers.

The Dutch scheme uses drip irrigation. Drip irrigation provides a uniform distribution of moisture over the site and does not allow to destroy the formed beds.

Harvesting

The timing of harvesting potatoes from the site depends on the purpose of growing the crop.Seed potatoes begin to be dug up in early August. At this time, the tubers reach those sizes that are considered optimal for future plantings. The main part of the harvest begins to be harvested in the second half of August - early September.

14 days before digging up the potatoes, the bushes are sprayed with special solutions that dry the tops. Also, after using them, the peel thickens and the shelf life of the root crops is extended.

How to adapt Dutch technology to country conditions?

Adaptation of the Dutch landing scheme to the conditions of the dacha consists only in adapting the options for preparing the substrate, but not fulfilling all the points of preparation. The cultivator for loosening is replaced with a pitchfork or Fokin flat cutter.

It is not necessary to use chemicals to control weeds when growing potatoes at home. This method is necessary for the cultivation of potatoes on an industrial scale. And in summer conditions, it is enough to walk around the site with your hands or with a chopper to remove all weeds.