Growing potatoes using the Kizima method: planting and care rules
All day long summer residents work on their plots. Each of them strives to get a rich harvest. Many work very hard, leaving no time for themselves and personal concerns. Galina Kizima is a gardener-practitioner who for years has been developing methods for growing various crops that are close to natural. Growing potatoes according to the Kizima method is simple, just study carefully and follow simple instructions correctly.
Who is Galina Kizima?
She is an ordinary person, at one time she even received the education of an engineer-physicist. But soon she realized that it was not her, she began to do what she loved.With a small plot at her disposal, she realized how much the soil was depleted, so she decided to develop new ways to plant, care for and grow plants.
Basic rules of her methods:
- Don't dig.
- Don't water.
- Do not remove weeds.
There is no need to worry about the soil, plants already know what they need for growth and development. But you still have to work, the method is not so simple.
Galina has written many books for amateur gardeners. Her followers note the great benefits of advice, while skeptics continue to adhere to other rules in growing. Those who want to learn something new and useful will find answers to many questions in her books.
In her work, Galina places great emphasis on pensioners who, for he alth reasons, cannot spend much time on the site. She tries to keep the usual process as simple as possible.
Fit features
Gardeners have been planting potatoes in the ground for years, fertilizing and treating them with chemicals. Galina Kizima innovates in this regard by suggesting summer residents to try planting tubers in a compost heap on the surface of the soil. The beds do not need to be watered, weeded, fertilized. The potatoes themselves do not need to be buried and dug up. In addition, if necessary, you can take a small part of the crop, and the rest of the bush continues to grow and form tubers without visible damage.
Gardener-practitioner Kizima, took into account in her observations the peculiarities of the growth and development of potato crops.
Potatoes according to her method are laid out directly on the ground, covering with mowed grass or hay. As the bushes grow, the stems are covered with straw or weeds from another part of the site. Under no circumstances should tubers be exposed. They will begin to turn green, accumulating substances harmful to the human body.
Skeptics consider this method unaesthetic, as from the side the beds with potatoes seem unkempt. Galina herself advises to carry out a series of works in sequence:
- Preparation of planting material.
- Planting.
- Caring for plants.
- Harvesting.
She writes each of the points in detail in her writings.
How to prepare potatoes for planting?
Preparatory work should begin 30-45 days before the expected day of disembarkation. Select tubers the size of a chicken egg. If the tubers are smaller, then they are placed in 2-3 pieces, to ensure the number of stems necessary for a normal harvest.
Potatoes must be germinated, at the time of planting, the sprouts should be 4-5 cm in length.First, the selected planting material is washed, then soaked in water, the temperature of which is +45 ⁰С. The tubers are kept in it until the water cools down to + 18-20 ⁰С. At this point, a separately diluted solution of potassium permanganate is added. The water in the potato container should turn a faint pink.
Leave the roots in the solution for 15 minutes. Then the water is drained, and the tubers are washed. As an option, Fitosporin is used. A weak solution is diluted and the tubers are kept in it for 30 minutes. Then they take it out of the water and dry it. Additional rinsing is not necessary in this case.
Tubers are kept in direct sunlight for 21 days, turning green, thus, the summer resident protects potatoes from pests and rodents that are afraid of corned beef. It is produced under the skin of tubers, under the influence of the sun.
There are several options for this process, summer residents put jars of potatoes on the windowsill and constantly turn them. Or spread on the newspaper on the windowsill.
The last stage of preparation of planting material is germination. To do this, the tubers are folded into a cardboard box. Spread out in one layer, covering with a newspaper, then the next layer of potatoes, then newspapers again, and so on as many layers as the container allows. The whole process will take 2-3 weeks.
Galina Kizima advises planting potatoes after bird cherry blossoms.
Potato planting process
The peculiarity of Kizima's method is that the tubers are laid out on weeds. They make 2 rows, leaving a distance between them of 50 cm, and between potatoes 20-25 cm. On each side of the edge of the bed, 25 cm per 1 m are left, placing 4 tubers in each row. The resulting bed takes from 80 to 100 cm, the length is set by the summer resident.
Why is it so important to select tubers of a certain size. Potatoes that are too small will give a poor harvest. Too large planting material will develop powerful stems.Large root crops must be cut lengthwise into 2 halves. Let it lie down for a few days, then powder with wood ash. Only then plant in prepared compost.
To increase the number of stems, cut off the skin in the middle of the potato in a thin strip across the tuber 7 days in advance. This will help awaken the sleeping kidneys in reserve.
The plot is selected on the sunny side, the lack of lighting will lead to the growth of green mass.
The final stage of planting is shelter from frost. Dry and breathable material is used to protect potatoes. To prevent the wind from blowing away dry plant residues, hay or leaves, burlap or spunbond is used. In no case do not use a film, this will cause the covering material to begin to rot.
Aftercare
Hilling potatoes is a familiar process for every summer resident, the same should be done with potatoes grown according to the Kizima method. The only difference is that they do it not with the help of the earth, but with weeds and plant residues.
When the threat of recurrent cold weather passes, the covering material is removed. And throughout the summer they carefully monitor the beds. Since the compost gradually settles, young tubers are exposed and begin to turn green, this cannot be allowed. Must be constantly added, covering the bottom of the plants, without planting emerging potato stalks.
Watering is not required, because when overheated, the liquid flows down to the root system, nourishing and moisturizing it. Do not be afraid of the appearance of weeds, they die under a layer of grass without even sprouting.
Planted potatoes require little to no maintenance. Except for the obligatory procedure of picking flowers and constantly adding a compost layer.
Galina recommends picking flowers because the bush devotes all its energy to the formation of tubers, without being distracted by the formation of seed material.
Harvest time
In order to orient correctly, several flowers are left on various beds. As soon as the color begins to fade, the potatoes are ready to eat. To collect the required number of tubers, the compost is pushed aside and only large root crops are collected, small ones are left intact and given the opportunity to grow a little more.
After the entire crop is harvested, the tops from the potatoes are not thrown away, leaving it in the garden, dried under the sun, and left for the winter.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Kizima method
Skeptics find a lot of negatives in this method, but in fact there are many more positives.
Pros of technology:
- High yield.
- Tubers are large.
- No need to water, weed or fertilize.
- Minimum effort and time.
- Maximum nutrients.
- Tubers are harvested selectively, allowing small root crops to grow further.
- Harvesting is very easy.
- Save money.
Cons:
- Unattractive appearance of the beds.
- Possibility of development of diseases and pest attacks.
- In large areas it is physically impossible to cut off the color.
- The larva of the Colorado potato beetle overwinters in the compost layer.
Sometimes you have to try something new to see for yourself how effective a method is. Grow potatoes using this method and evaluate its advantages and disadvantages.
Reviews of summer residents
Beginner gardener looking for help from like-minded people. To do this, he visits sites and looks for comments from experienced gardeners. The following is said about Kizima's method:
- Grigory: “I have been growing potatoes for several years according to her method. You can't say it's easy. But it works great, the yield increases, the potatoes are clean.”
- Ekaterina: “I didn’t like planting potatoes this way, the garden is like a dump. And it takes a lot of fiddling.”
Galina Kizima calls herself a "reasonable sloth", who, in order to save time and effort, invents more efficient ways to grow crops in small plots.
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