Growing potatoes in a barrel: technology description, pros and cons

Do you have a small garden? Learn the original method of growing potatoes in a barrel. Having learned some of the features of planting, you can get 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 is this?

Planting potatoes in a barrel is an alternative method of growing this crop. This method has proven itself well in small suburban areas. On a small area, you can grow the crop of tubers necessary for the family, and use the vacant land to grow other vegetable crops.

Productivity

Summer residents-experimenters, when mastering new methods of planting vegetables, always evaluate their productivity. Vegetable growers give statistics:

200 liter barrel;
8 seed potatoes;
filling the soil 6-7 times per season;
feeding;
regular watering;
harvest 3 buckets.

Pros and cons of the method

You can talk about the advantages of the method for a long time. The first advantage over conventional planting in the ground is accelerated maturation. The crop will ripen a month earlier than with traditional planting in the holes. The ripening period is reduced due to the early heating of the soil in the planting tank and the possibility of earlier planting.

The second plus is space saving. The third is the lack of traditional care methods: 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, you can restore it with the help of autumn planting green manure.

This method has a drawback - the earth dries quickly, regular watering is required. It is difficult for summer residents who rarely visit the dacha to control soil moisture, which can adversely affect the volume of the crop.

Suitable varieties

Delicious potatoes will grow if a good variety is chosen. Summer residents tested varieties for planting in barrels:

Timo.
Zhukovsky early.
Cardinal.
Lyra.

For an early harvest, choose early, large-fruited varieties.

Tools

To prepare the container for planting, you will need tools. First of all, you need to have a drill and drill bits for metal. It is worth buying a metal drill of the largest size (10-13 mm).

Necessary conditions

You need to choose the right place to place the landing tank. Sunny places are not suitable. The earth will overheat, and potatoes will not grow in hot soil. Many gardeners make the mistake of placing a barrel on the south side of the house.

How to build a barrel?

Good results are obtained with metal drums.If the container was in use, then only for the purpose of storing food. The optimal volume is 200 liters. The height of the barrel must be at least 60 cm. Plastic barrels can also be used. Wooden barrels are not suitable for growing potatoes.

In order for the potatoes to breathe during growth, holes must be made in the barrel. For this we have a drill and a drill. There should be a lot of holes. It is recommended to place them at a distance of 20 cm from each other. Holes should be evenly distributed around the perimeter.

The bottom of the container must also be prepared. There are two options:

knock out the bottom;
drill a lot of holes, leaving a distance of no more than 3 cm between them.

This bottom preparation procedure is important - excess moisture will flow out through the holes, which will exclude rotting processes.

Soil preparation

The planting mix should be nutritious, so it is prepared from humus, compost and garden soil (1:1:1). You will need to treat the soil from pest larvae and infections. If the soil is harvested in the fall, the soil can be treated with a chemical preparation; during spring preparation, it is better to warm it up or treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin.

Need fertilizer:

double superphosphate;
ash;
ammonium nitrate.

Dolomite flour and magnesium sulfate are added to sandy soil. All ingredients are well mixed. The amount of fertilizer in the soil of a certain volume is added exactly according to the instructions.

Step-by-step cultivation technology

To grow potatoes in a barrel, you need to follow the technology, going through stage by stage:

Choosing the right potato variety.
We take the tubers out of the cellar 2 weeks before planting, germinate them in a dark room.
We process potatoes before planting with any modern preparation that combines the properties of an insecticide and a fungicide.
Preparing the soil.
Pour 15 cm of soil into a container.
Spread the tubers sprouts up, leaving a distance between them of at least 20 cm.
Put the potatoes in a 10 cm layer of soil.
Watering.
When sprouts 7-10 cm long appear, cover them with earth, repeat this procedure 6-7 times.
When the soil level rises by 1 meter, we fertilize the potatoes.
Next, the usual growth of tops begins and the active formation of tubers.
At the end of the growing season, the soil from the barrel is emptied and harvested.

Feeding

Nutrients are consumed actively, fertilizing helps restore soil fertility, use:

herbal infusions;
ash infusion;
complex mineral fertilizers for potatoes;
superphosphate during flowering.

Urea and ammonium nitrate should not be used as top dressing, it is enough to add them to the soil when planting. Excess nitrogen adversely affects the quality of tubers. The application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers to the soil brings more benefits.

Essential Care

Basic 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 topsoil dries out. All other work on caring for potatoes in a barrel is reduced to:

to prepare the soil mixture before planting;
sprinkling it into a container as the tops grow;
for 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 all seasonal work on growing them has ended.

Harvesting

Harvest is easy. As soon as the tops dry, the barrel can be laid on its side and the earth along with the tubers can be raked out. The whole harvesting procedure comes down to collecting potatoes and cleaning them from the ground. The most interesting point is the evaluation of the yield of the method. Some gardeners manage to collect a whole bag of potatoes from one barrel.

Diseases and pests

There is no need to fight pests and diseases if the soil and tubers are treated for pests and diseases before planting. Even if there will be prolonged rains, the potatoes are not threatened by phytophthora. The barrel can be covered from the rain with a polyethylene cape.

Comparison with planting in bags and boxes

The principle of planting potatoes in boxes and bags is almost the same as planting them in a barrel. The soil must be prepared in the same way, you can take ordinary garden soil and treat it with Bionex.

Keep bags (boxes) with earth in a warm room, you can plant potatoes in them early. If there is a greenhouse already in April, the bags can be moved there. Potatoes planted in boxes (bags) must be periodically covered with earth, 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.