Growing potatoes under straw or hay: a step-by-step description of the method with photos and videos

It is difficult to harvest a rich potato crop if the plot area is small and there is no time to care for the vegetable. Vegetable growers offer new methods for planting a popular crop - growing potatoes under straw. You can replace straw with hay, while getting he althy high-quality tubers in autumn and in large quantities. Moreover, you need a little space for planting a vegetable.

Advantages of the method

Instead of the traditional way, potatoes are grown under hay, straw, in bags, pots. But preference is given to growing potatoes under straw or hay, as this method:

Eco-Friendly. After all, there are no chemicals in the straw, it is a pure natural material.
Simple. The planting of seed tubers is easy, the vegetable does not require difficult care, and potatoes are dug up without effort and strain.
Helps the growth of potatoes. Thanks to a layer of straw or hay, moisture around the developing nodules lasts longer. And plant pests cannot get inside the mulch layer.
Easy to care for and harvest potatoes. In the fall, it will not be necessary to dig up the tubers, planting the back. It is enough to clear a pile of straw or hay to get potatoes under the straw. And you don’t need to loosen the vegetable plantings, you don’t need to spud them throughout the season.
Gives a high yield of tubers. It is easy to get a whole bucket of selected potatoes from a bush. And when growing varietal potatoes, and more buckets are harvested from one plant.

But in order for the cultivation method to be successful, one must have knowledge of how to plant seed material correctly, in what time frame.

How to grow potatoes under straw or hay?

There are several ways to grow potato tubers under a layer of straw or dry grass.

The classic version is used most often. They begin to prepare for planting a vegetable in the fall, immediately after harvesting. The plot for vegetable crops is dug up, cleaned of plant residues, debris. It is important to get rid of perennial weeds that can crush potatoes with their powerful rhizomes.

It is better to choose a virgin area for potatoes or one where rye, oats, mustard grew Mustard roots left and rotted in the ground will fertilize the soil well and prevent the top layer of soil from weathering . Especially in the second half of summer, green manure is planted on the plot for potatoes: mustard, oats, in order to mow them in the fall.In the spring, it remains to dig a fertilized area and that's it.

Potato tubers are prepared in advance for planting. For a month, the root crops are laid out in boxes for vernalization. Place a container with seed material in rooms where the air temperature will reach no more than fifteen degrees Celsius and not fall below ten.

The wet vernalization method is also used for two weeks. Wet sawdust or humus is added to boxes with fruits, pouring tubers over them. Humidify the environment around the potato not with clean water, but with the addition of superphosphate (thirty grams) and potassium s alt (twenty grams). Fertilizers are dissolved in a bucket of water.

Tubers with sprouts are kept in the light until they turn green. The optimal length of the sprouts is three to five centimeters. With a larger growth, they will have to be broken off to the desired length before planting.

Many are wondering what is better to use hay or straw. Experienced potato growers choose dry straw material. It will provide reliable protection for seed tubers, give them nutrition. Hay is also used in potato growing, but freshly cut grass is not suitable for growing a vegetable. You can use the same straw for several years in a row, placing it in a dry and ventilated room for storage for the winter.

How to plant potatoes under hay or straw step by step

Planting potatoes under straw begins, as usual, in May. Specific dates depend on the weather and climate. We plant no later than May 15, otherwise the tubers will not have time to reach the optimal mass and quality during the growing season.

Step-by-step landing goes like this:

Water the cleaned bed, moistening the soil well.
Tubers with sprouts are laid out on the surface in rows. At the same time, the sprouts look up. The distance between the tubers should be thirty to forty centimeters. Rows are placed as far apart as seventy centimeters.
A glass of wood ash is poured around the tubers.
It remains to place a layer of twenty to thirty centimeters of hay or straw on the planted potatoes.

Some gardeners use straw as mulch. The seed material is buried, as in the traditional method, placing two tubers in each hole. Sprinkle with a thin layer of earth, and lay straw or hay on top of the field. Potatoes under straw will feel protected from pests. She will have enough moisture and nutrition throughout the growing season.

If dry grass is not enough to cover the entire garden with it, then the potatoes under the hay are placed in ridges. Each comb will be twenty centimeters wide and ten centimeters high. This is one of the methods when, even after heavy rains, the tubers do not appear on the surface and do not turn green.

Growing in cardboard and straw

Potatoes can be placed not only under natural material, but also under cardboard. To do this, take the boxes, stack them on the selected area overlapping each other. At a distance of twenty to thirty centimeters, cuts are made in cardboard. Then the germinated tubers are placed in the holes with the sprouts up. A layer of straw or dry grass is poured on top. Potatoes under hay and cardboard will be reliably protected from the Colorado potato beetle. And the weeds will not be able to break into the light and will die.

Potato yields are increased by using this method. It will be realistic to get a bucket from a bush of he althy tubers in the fall.

A feature of the methods is that the care of the vegetable is minimal. It is only necessary to add natural material to where the tubers are slightly exposed.

Harvesting potatoes, storage of tubers

When potatoes are grown in this unconventional way, it is a pleasure to collect tubers.

Rake a layer of straw, and clean tubers are placed in bags or buckets. If the roots are wet, then they are laid out under an awning. Potatoes cannot be kept in the light for a long time, otherwise they will turn green.

To use potato tubers for food until spring, they must be stored properly:

The room for potatoes should be dark, with constant ventilation.
The air temperature in the cellar or basement is controlled. Its stable indicator is three to five degrees above zero. Increasing it will lead to sagging fruits, the appearance of sprouts. At low temperatures, potatoes will freeze and their taste will deteriorate.
The storage floor is covered with sand, which absorbs moisture well. It is not recommended to cover it with linoleum, slate. These materials help to accumulate moisture in the room. Hence the appearance and growth of fungus, mold, which can spread to tubers.
Potatoes are poured into wooden boxes. A plastic container is also suitable. It is important that the containers are with holes for ventilation of root crops. Boxes made of iron mesh can save the potato crop from rodents.
Beets or apples are stored with potatoes. Beets will prevent moisture from accumulating, apples - tubers will not germinate.

It is not difficult to put potatoes under straw and grow them, it is more difficult to preserve the crop, to provide yourself and your family with “second bread” for the winter.

Opinion of gardeners on the method of growing potatoes

Experiment during the period of growing vegetables, not everyone decides. It is difficult to move away from tradition, but reviews of this method and its high yields lead to the fact that he found his fans. Planting potatoes for hay is chosen by those who do not have the opportunity to engage in the laborious process of caring for the plant.

Hilling, weeding is especially difficult for elderly summer residents. By placing the seed tubers under dry stalks of straw or grass, you can forget about garden chores before harvesting. The mass of tubers harvested in autumn, their cleanliness, and he althy appearance are also striking. And you won't have to work on digging up potatoes. It is convenient to collect tubers from under the straw. You just need to correctly store the vegetable and enjoy the fruits of your labors during the winter.