Now the end of August, which means that very soon the time comes to cut the tops and digging potatoes. This year, I have a whole potato field, so a lot of work to be.
How and when to dig up potatoes, I wrote earlier, today I want to talk about what to do with the old tops. After the end of the season it accumulates very much.
Tops for me it is not waste, as some gardeners, but useful and necessary waste. Who never go to waste.
I share the tops into 4 pieces and apply it for different purposes.
1. From tops to obtain useful ash
Every year, without fail, I burn of the potato leaves. The thing is that it is full of a huge number of the most important trace elements such as:
- train;
- Manganese;
- Boron;
- Molybdenum;
- Potassium;
- And many others.
Itself tops burns bad enough, so I burn it as follows.
At the site of the fire bricks to make small stove without a roof. Laid out on top of the iron mesh or metal trim tubes. Inside breed bonfire and throw on top of the tops.
In the end, it turns out great ash from the tops and birch / pine firewood.
2. Good mulch and weedkiller
Plant is an excellent mulch for fruit trees. I spread it next to the trunk in several layers and knead slightly.
- Firstly, it perfectly protects tree roots from the cold (If the winter was snow-free).
- Secondly, in the spring it does not break through the weeds;
- Third, tops deters pests that go to winter in the soil;
- Fourth, peregnivaya tops turn into an excellent fertilizer.
Fear for the fruit trees is not necessary, common diseases they do not have potatoes.
3. Compost
Potato tops, as well as any other, it is suitable for compost.
However, it has some special features. It contains various types of toxic compounds (May be fungal disease.)
Therefore, it is best to treat tops 1% solution of copper sulfate or other disinfecting agent.
4. Pest
Potato tops is an excellent tool against a huge number of garden pests. The stems and leaves are a lot of toxic compounds that are harmful to insects. At the same time, they are completely absorbed by the fruit, leaving the crop completely harmless to humans. How many resources from pests can boast such a feature? I think no!
The only condition - the greens should not get sick and be infected.
My recipe is pretty simple broth (Recipe for the lazy, as I like to say).
- Take 1 kg of dried chopped potato haulm;
- Fill 10 liters of clean water;
- Tightly cover with a lid;
- We insist in a warm room at a temperature of about 25-30 degrees for about 5 hours;
- We filter the resulting broth.
That's all the broth is ready. It remains only to treat the affected plants.
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