Hilling potatoes is necessary to achieve a good and healthy harvest. Experienced summer residents say that early sprinkling of the bottom of the bushes with soil can replace weeding and loosening of the earth. Another important advantage of hilling is the fight against weeds and the protection of tubers from the action of sunlight and temperature fluctuations.
The need for a procedure
Hilling potatoes is an important step in growing this nightshade crop. The essence of the procedure is to sprinkle the bottom of the bushes with soft, loose soil. This occupation is considered an environmentally friendly replacement for herbicides. In addition, it increases yields by 30%.
Potatoes need much more hilling than other vegetables.
Sprinkle the lower parts of the plant with loosened soil in order to:
- reduce leaching of nutrients from the soil;
- accelerate shoot growth;
- improve lighting of bushes;
- protect plants from drying out;
- improve soil aeration;
- protect bushes from pests;
- protect tubers from ultraviolet rays, as well as sudden changes in temperature;
- prevent weed growth;
- create additional space for plants;
- increase the resistance of plants to winds and spring frosts.
Why does hilling contribute to higher yields? Potatoes have side shoots - stolons, which are located below soil level. They develop rapidly and die off just as quickly. On the lateral shoots, other processes are formed, which are tubers.
When hilling, these young shoots are under the ground, so the plant is forced to give new sprouts. Thanks to this, new roots and tubers appear, and moisture is retained. In addition, a strong root system is formed, which develops and forms a powerful leaf mass.
Hilling potatoes will only have an effect if there is loamy or clayy soil in the area. If the culture grows on soil with sand, then in any case, liquid fertilizers and water will slide and will not penetrate the root system.
When is hilling not required?
Such a procedure is not required in all cases. Refrain from it in the following cases:
- if high temperatures are kept, and the temperature of the soil reaches 26 degrees, and also if there is little moisture in the soil and there is no good irrigation system - under these conditions, earthing will only do harm;
- if potatoes were planted under a black covering non-woven material.
To determine whether the earthing method is suitable in each particular case, it is recommended to conduct the following experiment: to eart out a half of a bed with potato bushes, and only to loosen the second part and observe the result.
Potato Hobbing Tools
The procedure can be carried out using various tools.
Chopper or Shovel
To spud potatoes with such tools is most difficult. They must have a sharpened edge and a wide working surface.
With the help of a chopper, hilling is carried out in this way: first, the row is processed on one side, then transferred to the other. At the end of each, a small mound is made so that moisture remains in the aisle.
Manual mechanical hiller
You can buy it in gardening stores. The device consists of two metal disks directed at an angle to each other.
To spud potatoes with them, you need to include 2 people in the process: one of them will pull the mechanism, and the second will press on it and direct it. The hilling process is simple and saves time. In a single pass you can process a whole row with potato bushes.
Motoblock
This machine is not cheap, but when growing potatoes on a large scale, you can not do without it. Motoblock greatly simplifies the work and saves the gardener time.
The principle of operation of the device is that in front there are wheels or a mill, which loosen the soil, and behind is a plow that pours soil onto the lower part of the bushes.
You can only use the walk-behind tractor if the distance between the rows of potato bushes is the same - otherwise there is a high risk of damage to the tubers.
Watch the video how to spud potatoes with a walk-behind tractor:
Manual plow
Using this tool, you can process one side of each adjacent row in one pass between rows. The plow consists of a frame to which a knife, wheel and traction are attached.
When processing the land, the gardener pushes the structure, so that the plow cuts the ground. Lateral lobes distribute loosened soil to the basal part of potato bushes.
The process of hilling potatoes using a manual plow with additional load is shown in this video:
Automatic or mechanical cultivator
They are cheaper than a walk-behind tractor, and their design is simpler. The devices are used in small areas with light soil.
The principle of operation is as follows: first, with the help of a mill, the soil is loosened, then the mill is changed to a plow and hilling is carried out.
Choosing a tool for hilling potato bushes, you need to focus on the type of soil on the site, as well as its area.
When and how many times to spud potatoes?
Having decided to grow up potatoes in order to increase productivity, you need to consider that you need to start this process at a certain time.
The first procedure is recommended when the stems reach a height of 14-20 cm. Early hilling will replace weeding and loosening. In addition, sprouts covered by soil will suffer a decrease in temperature, which is usually observed in the second half of May.
Hilling after rain will maximize moisture and stimulate the formation of side shoots. In the case of hot summers without rains, it is recommended to spud the bushes after watering.
It is best to carry out this agricultural procedure after rain when the soil is slightly dry. On a hot day, it is not worthwhile to spud potatoes: the soil will be completely dry, moreover, under such conditions, it is easy to injure the plant. At high air temperatures, the culture takes damage particularly hard.
Classical technology provides two hilling procedures for the entire period of potato development. If the first of them is carried out after the emergence of seedlings, then the second - in 2-3 weeks, when flowers appear on the bushes. This is the most important time for hilling, since during this period small tubers form on the stolons.
If a walk-behind tractor and a cultivator are used to sprinkle earth on the lower part of the bushes, then the hilling is carried out once a season, during the flowering period.
If the first hilling was carried out very early, then in the future another 2-3 repetitions will be required.
Correcting technology
Compliance with the earthing technology is the key to increasing productivity. With the wrong approach, you can injure the culture and only harm the plant.
If potatoes are leveled manually using simple tools - for example, choppers - you need to follow these rules:
- Pre-remove all weeds. Grass can be left on the ground: when it dries, it will become a protection against sunlight for bushes.
- Each bush separately sprinkled with soil from the aisles from all sides. An exaltation is created around the plant.
- When performing work, you need to act carefully so as not to damage the root system of the potato.
Traditional hilling looks like this:
- The space between the furrows is dug up by a plane cutter.
- The beds spud in one direction. The gardener, moving along the beds, grabs the soil from the aisle to one side of the bushes.
- The beds spud from the other, not yet covered, side. From the aisle, the earth is raked to the other side.
- The soil to the bush is picked up by a chopper from all sides. As a result, a knoll should be formed, wide and high, from which a bouquet of stems can be seen.
- At the end of each row, a semblance of a dam is poured: this structure will retain moisture after rain or watering.
If the earthing is carried out with the help of a shovel, then one-third of the row-spacing of the spade is dug and the potato bushes are sprinkled with soil.
Another way of hilling is fan. This method can be used when the stems grow by 15-20 cm. For a fan-shaped method, it is better to use a shovel. The procedure is performed as follows:
- Hands spread the stems, lay them out on the ground with a fan, in different directions.
- With a shovel, they take soil from the aisle and sprinkle right into the center of the bush.
- The land is distributed in such a way that only the tops remain at the top.
- Weeds are thrown on top, weeded from the aisles. This must be done in order to retain moisture in the soil. In addition, hollow dry weeds serve as additional fertilizing.
Gardeners share tricks that will make the hilling really useful and of high quality. It is worth paying attention to such recommendations:
- if the first hilling is carried out after the bushes reach a height of 15-20 cm, then the embankment of the earth should be at least 15-18 cm;
- the second hilling, when the bushes reach a height of 25-30 cm, should be carried out so that the embankment reaches 17-20 cm;
- hills should be no later than 10 hours in the morning or in the evening, after 6 hours.
Hilling potatoes will increase its productivity and protect against early temperature fluctuations, as well as from the action of ultraviolet rays. This agricultural procedure is carried out using a chopper, shovel, cultivator or walk-behind tractor. The choice of tools depends on the size of the area planted with potatoes.