Is it worth using potato peels as fertilizer for plants. Potato peelings: the best fertilizer for currants, video and photo

Potato tubers are covered with skin. In cooking, it is of no value, but is actively used in agriculture. The main thing is to properly prepare raw potato peelings as a fertilizer, to know for which plants they are used. If everything is done correctly, the agrarian will receive almost free top dressing to increase productivity.

The benefits of feeding from cleanings

The use of inexpensive organic fertilizers for the soil minimizes the cost and application of chemicals. effective natural dressings not very much, which makes farmers look for new opportunities to increase productivity. And if not every household has manure or litter, potatoes are present on the table of any family throughout the year, and waste from one root crop, even with fine cleaning, is at least 15-20% of the total.

The advantages of such organic feeding are many:

The versatility of fertilizer concerns not only a wide range of crops, but also seasonality. Seedlings are fed with gruel, watering is carried out with an infusion of potato "waste". In some cases, ground cleanings are used, obtaining a product that can be stored for the entire holiday season rather than use immediately. Apply such organic matter in spring, summer, autumn. It is rich in potassium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus and other valuable elements, necessary for the plant at every stage of development.

How to prepare?

Organic top dressing will benefit only with proper harvesting. Do not use potato waste in fresh. Spread out on the beds, they will begin to rot, attract the attention of rodents. It is not recommended to bury the raw peel in the ground. decomposition will take long time, the risk of planting late blight infection will increase.

The procedure for the "transformation" of tuber waste into nutrient fertilizers pretty simple. The peel is thoroughly washed, squeezed, dried, and then resorted to one of the following harvesting methods:

How to improve productivity?

We are constantly getting letters in which amateur gardeners are worried that due to the cold summer this year, a poor harvest of potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables. Last year we published TIPS about this. But unfortunately, many did not listen, but some still applied. Here is a report from our reader, we want to advise plant growth biostimulantswhich will help increase the yield by up to 50-70%.

Read...

Dried potato peels are more practical as a fertilizer because they have a longer shelf life. Frozen peel must be used in full immediately. If it is defrosted, it is impossible to re-place organic matter in the freezer.

How to store cleanings?

Collect the peel begin in the fall or winter. If it was not included in compost pit, and dried or frozen, organic matter must be properly preserved. Otherwise, it will not be usable. This is true for organics prepared in any of two ways.

Dried cleanings are transferred to cloth bags. Polyethylene cannot be used. They don't let air through. Dried naturally potato peelings in order not to worry about the presence of pathogens, when we fertilize the beds, it is better to store in a cool place, and then in the spring you can feed the plants without fear of scab and late blight.

Past heat treatment skins are stored in a cool and well-ventilated area. They are completely devoid of pathogenic organisms. Frozen cleanings are left in the freezer or transferred to the balcony when frost hits outside. You have to be careful not to let them thaw.

Preparing potato peels

There are three options for preparing nutrient dressings with potato peels that can be used to fertilize various plant crops:

The gruel is laid in the hole or added dropwise next to the plant. Infusion spend watering. Flour is used as a universal fertilizer. Its main advantage is a long shelf life, but it is not recommended to immediately grind cleanings from autumn. Pests can start in the flour.

For which crops is the fertilizer suitable?

Potato peelings are suitable as a fertilizer for almost all garden, fruit, vegetable crops. They are versatile and effective, they are an excellent alternative to mineral supplements. Under perennial crops, such organic matter is introduced into the soil in the fall, and under annual crops - in the spring.

Additional feeding is carried out in the summer

Organic useful fertilizer, unlike mineral compounds, not only gives nutrients to plants, but improves soil composition. It contributes to the formation of humus - a fertile top layer. Speaking about the benefits of potato peelings, one cannot ignore the composition of this top dressing.
It is rich in glucose, vitamin C, starch, fats, potassium, salt. Getting into the soil, this set of nutrients enriches the soil, releases heat, which is especially important for the full development of vegetable and horticultural crops.

What plants need to be fed?

Potato fertilizer is of great value for crops that are in need of starch and glucose. Top dressing is necessary for raspberries, strawberries, currants, gourds. It is also useful for other plants, including even indoor and garden flowers.

Especially high is the need for nutrients, which are rich in cleaning, for seedlings. Top dressing is best done nesting. Porridge or flour is laid in the hole, covered with a small layer of earth. A second portion of fertilizer is added from above, and sprinkled again.

Fertilizer for indoor flowers

Potato peelers are great not only for use in vegetable gardens, but also for home gardening. Indoor ornamental crops respond well to organic feeding. Greenery becomes more magnificent, and the plant itself is more resistant to pests and diseases.

For indoor flowers, watering is used. The infusion is applied at intervals of once a month. When fresh, cleanings buried in the ground are useful for saprophytic and epiphytic plants. Dracaena, orchids and others flower crops with aerial roots, decaying organic matter is needed.

Fertilizer for vegetable crops

Melons are fed by laying slurry in the hole. Cabbage, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, squash are recommended to be watered with potato infusion throughout the season. This will stimulate the set of green mass, increase productivity.

Radishes, garlic, onions and turnips begin to fertilize through watering from the last days of May. Top dressing is applied every 2 weeks. It is better to pour the infusion into the furrows dug between plantings. This will enrich the soil so that the plants receive all the necessary elements.

flower fertilizer

Great for keeping flower beds in great condition. When transplanting perennials or planting annual flowers, you need to make no a large number of gruel in each well. As practice shows, 1 scoop is enough. Further care involves watering with infusion in the phase of active growth and flowering once a month.

Berries

Fertilizer is most useful for raspberries and strawberries. The first is fertilized in a basal way. Flour is brought in, the earth is loosened. Water the bushes with infusion. On the running meter landings need about 5 liters. Ground peelings are also poured under the strawberries in the spring. Top dressing is used for mulch.

shrubs

Annuals and perennials respond well to watering and root bait. But, if we talk about the shrub, which is most useful for potato peelings, they are considered the best fertilizer for currants, especially black currants. Berries grow the size of cherries or sultanas, acquire a wonderful sweet taste.

Currant bushes are fertilized with dried potato peels moistened with water, digging the peel at the roots 15-20 cm deep. Such top dressing is carried out when the soil has warmed up sufficiently. The event is held every two years. If the quality of the crop does not meet expectations, it is carried out annually.
Helps to increase the yield by watering every 2 weeks. In winter, bushes, if the soil is covered with polyethylene, are also fertilized. They rake the snow, scatter cleanings, which are then buried.

Fruit Tree Fertilizer

The trunks are dug around, receding about 50-100 cm, and the resulting furrow is sprinkled with flour. The soil must be well loosened. For each mature tree it takes about 1 kg of top dressing, and for young ones - 0.5-0.7 kg.

It's interesting to know! Peeling potatoes will help get rid of slugs, wireworms, and the Colorado potato beetle. It is enough to spread the peel on the ground, leaving it overnight, and the next morning, burn the waste along with the pests that have accumulated on it.

Restrictions

Organic fertilizer is not used for related nightshades. It is contraindicated for the following cultures:

• nightshade;
• tobacco;
• physalis;
• tomatoes;
• capsicum;
• eggplant;
• potatoes.

Potato peels as fertilizer

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Gardeners practicing organic farming in their summer cottages, they know firsthand what a huge amount of organic matter is required per season. Therefore, nothing is wasted with them: rotten pieces of wood are burned to obtain ash, chips and small branches are sent to the raspberries as mulch, kitchen waste goes to compost heap etc.

But then winter comes, summer residents return to their city apartments, where all the useful waste that could help in or improve soil fertility turns into ordinary garbage. After all, you can’t make a fire in an apartment and you can’t build a compost heap.

And yet ... Some organic matter can and should be stored in the winter, so that later it can be used for the benefit of your garden.

Dry onion peel does not rot or deteriorate. It keeps well in cloth or open plastic bags, so it can easily be saved all winter.

Phytoncides contained in onion scales will subsequently help fight pests. Onion infusion is used, for example, for spraying currant bushes or cucumbers,.

Any crops can be watered with infusion of onion peel to increase their productivity, this procedure is especially useful for tomatoes.

Potato peelings - the best fertilizer for currants

Potato peelings are a source of starch that currants like so much that its berries become the size of cherries. Want to ? Do not be too lazy to dry the potato skins over the winter.

Cleanings dry perfectly on a radiator or simply laid out in one layer on a windowsill; when dry, they are best stored in cloth bags.

During the spring-summer season, dry potato peelings can be buried under the bushes or brewed with boiling water, cooled and used to water the currants.

Potato peelings are also recommended to be used as fertilizer when planting cabbage and cucumbers. To do this, dry cleanings are soaked and crushed into gruel. When preparing the holes, “potato porridge” is laid on the bottom, sprinkled with earth on top, and then seedlings are planted.

Eggshells as a source of calcium

Accumulating a large number of eggshells over the winter is very simple. First, dry the shell a little so that the protein remaining inside does not begin to exude bad smell, and then simply fold into a regular plastic bag and chop well. So the shells will not take up much space, and in the spring they will go to the dacha as an excellent organic fertilizer, especially valuable on acidified soils.

Egg shells are used for crops demanding calcium. These are eggplants, peppers, melons and watermelons, beets.

Crushed egg shells are brought into tree trunks fruit trees, especially cherries, plums and other stone fruits, and also buried under rose bushes.

If a best use there were no eggshells, they are simply laid in compost.

Pumpkin seed husks - future mulch

So a lover of pumpkin seeds for a long winter can provide a whole garden with vegetables with excellent mulch. You can also store pistachio and hazelnut shells, dry peanut pods, etc. in the same way.

Pest control citrus peels

We are no strangers to drying citrus peels: many people like to add them to tea because of their excellent unique aroma.

And lemon, orange and tangerine peels will help to cope with some pests, especially aphids.

There are several recipes for healthy citrus peel infusions:

• 100 grams of dry lemon peels pour 1 liter. water and insist in a dark place for 3-4 days;
• 1 kg. Pass citrus peels through a meat grinder, put in a 3-liter jar, pour water and insist in the dark for 5 days. Dry peels should be pre-soaked. Then strain and dilute in a proportion of 100 ml. infusion for 10 liters of water. You can add 40 grams of laundry soap to the resulting liquid;
• Pour the peel of 2 oranges with a liter of water and keep for a week in a dark place. Then add some liquid soap and strain.

Infusion of citrus fruits should be sprayed or rubbed on infected plants at least 2-3 times.

Sleeping tea and coffee for top dressing and fertilizer

The most hardworking and painstaking gardeners are not too lazy to procure tea and coffee for the benefit of the business. Any tea is suitable for this purpose, even in bags. The main thing is to dry the used “tea tea” well so that it does not become moldy during subsequent storage.

Sleeping tea and coffee is very useful to mix with the soil when preparing the land for seedlings.

You can put dried tea leaves in the moons when planting seedlings in the ground - they will serve as a good fertilizer.

Seedlings of vegetable crops are fed with brewed sleeping tea. To prepare such top dressing, a glass of dried tea leaves is poured into three liters. hot water and insist 4-5 days. Then filtered and mixed with nitrogen fertilizers.

In addition, currant cuttings are treated with sleeping tea before planting to prevent infection with a kidney mite. To do this, the sleeping tea is brewed at the rate of 2 grams per liter of water and infused for a day. It is not worth taking fresh tea for this purpose, it can harm. Currant cuttings are dipped in tea infusion for 3-4 hours, then planted in moist soil.

Banana skins - organic potash fertilizer

Like potato peels, banana peels can be dried and stored in cloth or paper bags. If you periodically visit the country house in winter, you can simply freeze banana skins on the balcony and take away how much has accumulated with each trip.

Experienced gardeners are in no hurry to send potato peelings to the bin or use them to make compost. In order not to fertilize horticultural crops with store-bought "chemistry", they use the peel of everyone's favorite potato as an excellent fertilizer. Today we will tell you why potato peels are the best fertilizer for a currant bush, how to prepare them correctly, how to use them and what results can be obtained.

Increasingly popular among gardeners is the use of fertilizers of natural origin, which are easy to obtain without fear of harm to health. The composition of the potato peel contains a large number of trace elements useful for plants. These are phosphorus, fluorine, iron, potassium, magnesium. For example, potassium allows you to get more juicy and sweet berries. And phosphorus is responsible for the rapid growth of roots and helps the normal flowering of crops.

Potato peelings are a good fertilizer for plants such as gooseberries, currants, raspberries, many other types of berries and ornamental shrubs. They have a positive effect on the growth of fruit trees, strawberry and strawberry bushes, a number of vegetable crops, flowers, including indoor views. The use of such dressings for potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, physalis and nightshade plants, as well as garlic is not recommended. Since sometimes pathogenic fungi remain on the peel, which are dangerous for the above crops.

Potato skins are advised to dry or freeze at home. If it is observed on the street subzero temperature, they can be laid out on a cold balcony. With the arrival of early spring, the prepared raw materials should be immediately taken to the site. Otherwise, the peel may begin to rot and exude an unpleasant odor.

Drying potato peelings is more reliable and convenient. Although it will take some time to do so. It is recommended to do this on hot battery. You can put the peel in the oven. To get excellent raw materials for fertilizer, it is advised, after drying, to grind the material with a meat grinder and dry it again in the oven. When spring comes, the skins need to be placed in a barrel or other large container. They are usually poured with boiling water, left to soak for a couple of days and stirred from time to time.

How to apply

At the bottom of the prepared holes, the composition made by oneself is first poured, and then the plants are planted. The frequency of applying such a fertilizer is every 10 to 14 days. Do not forget to strain the infusion through a sieve before use. This is about vegetables. In practice, potato peelings have proven to be an excellent top dressing for currants and similar berry bushes. They enable the gardener to collect not only large, but also very tasty berries. It is especially important to feed the bush with such a solution during the period when the ovaries appear, when the berries ripen, shortly before the planned harvest.

In order for potato fertilizer to bring clear benefits, you need to remember simple rules its use on the site. Cleanings are not advised to be placed on the surface of the earth. Because this way you will not only spoil appearance site, but also attract rodents. For currants and others fruit crops cleaning should be added dropwise near the root system. It is best to use dry raw materials for these purposes.

It is recommended in the spring, before the currant blossoms, to make a projection of the crown of the bush on the surface of the earth. Further, a groove will be dug along the already outlined line. Its depth is normally about 15 cm. A layer of dry cleanings should be laid out on the bottom and buried. In the process of decomposition, the potato peel will saturate the currant bush with all essential substances. If the plants have recently been ill with scab or late blight, it is advised to pre-disinfect the cleaning. A slightly diluted solution of potassium permanganate will help you with this.

Result from fertilizer

Many gardeners have already managed to own experience verify the effectiveness of such fertilizer. It contains a lot of starch and glucose, which are so necessary for currants for full growth and development. Bury cleaning is permissible both in spring and summer. It is advised to use them both dry and pre-fill with boiling water to obtain a solution. Before use, it must be cooled down. When you remove fallen leaves in the fall, loosen the soil, do not forget to dig in dry cleanings in a circle. And on top you need to place a layer of dry grass. Then really expect a good result.

The use of such fertilizer allows you to increase the degree of soil fertility. Its structure is improving. The soil on the site becomes looser and lighter. These indicators are especially relevant for silty, clay and peat soils.

Top dressing is safe and non-toxic for both shrubs and humans. Unlike modern "chemicals" that can be purchased at the store, potato peel fertilizer is organic, it begins to decompose faster, as it is processed by the bacteria present in the soil structure. You can be sure that the plants you need for proper growth and development of microelements in the shortest possible time will get to them through root system.

Be aware of a minor "side effect". Due to rapid decomposition, significant heat generation will be observed. The soil will warm up much faster if you plan to fertilize in the spring.

This fertilizer is very beneficial in financial plan. Since there is no gardener who does not grow on personal plot potatoes and does not use them for food. And even with the excellent quality of the tubers, when cleaning, the 5th part of the total volume of your favorite vegetable is subject to disposal. Therefore, potato peelings can be safely called practically free, useful and effective fertilizer.

If, when using other natural fertilizers, not only intensive growth is noted cultivated plants on the site, but also weeds, then in the case of potato peelings, this effect is not very pronounced. Such fertilizer is necessary for many crops at all stages of their development.

Video “How to use fertilizer from potato peels”

In this video, you will learn how to properly use fertilizer from potato peels.

Many, for sure, had to hear that potato peels are wide application as an organic fertilizer for a number of country plantations. First of all, we are talking about currants. Potato peels contain a number of minerals, in particular starch and potassium. As a result, potato skins turn out to be a simple and completely harmless fertilizer that can significantly increase the yield of berries harvested at the end of the season.

How to prepare potato peels

The answer to the question, how to use potato peelings for currants, begins with a search right way their preparations.

It is not difficult for residents of private houses who have a garden in close proximity to the house to organize a place for collecting potato peelings for the purpose of composting. The same for whom the visit suburban area is purely seasonal, it will be somewhat more difficult. But there is still a way out. All peeling potatoes can be dried or frozen. When autumn ends on the street, and sub-zero temperatures set, potatoes (peeled) can be sent for storage on an unheated balcony. They will freeze and keep well until the moment when they can be used. The most important thing is that when the first thaws come, the first thing to do is to transport the accumulated material to the dacha. Otherwise, it will begin to rot and spread an unpleasant odor.

Potato peelings

Drying peeling potatoes is also allowed. But this method is much more troublesome, although more reliable. The drying process can be done on a battery or in an oven.

Important! If, after processing potato peelings with heat, grind them with a meat grinder and dry them again, you get an ideal semi-finished product for fertilizer.

When spring comes, pre-prepared potatoes should be placed in a large container (for example, in a two-hundred-liter barrel). Then cleaning is poured hot water and leave to swell for several days. The composition should be periodically mixed.

How to feed potato peels

The resulting slurry is optimally suited for increasing soil fertility when planting fruit and berry bushes. Fertilizing currants in the spring with potato peelings will be especially effective. Thanks to the use of this infusion, the berries will grow larger and sweeter. This is due to the beneficial effect of starch for currants as a fertilizer.

Peeling potatoes as a fertilizer for currants is very important to use correctly. Any gardener is aware that the currant root system is superficial. Accordingly, the potato composition of steamed peelings must be applied not under the bush itself, but at a certain distance from it. Usually, for this purpose, they dig a groove with a depth of 10 to 15 centimeters along the projection of the crown. Fertilize currant bush potato peeling is allowed once a month until autumn comes.

Feeding with potato peels

Potatoes and their peels can be used not only to fertilize the plant, but also to repel harmful insects.

Advice. Alternatively, the skins can be decomposed in places where slugs accumulate - they will crawl to an attractive smell for them. And it won't be too hard to remove them.

Result from fertilizer

Feeding currants with potato peels is beneficial for obvious reasons. The composition of the peel includes the following useful components:

• organic acids;
• starch;
• macro, - and microelements;
• fats;
• mineral salts;
• main groups of vitamins.

Such an extensive set of useful substances will inevitably have a positive effect on the fertilized crop and its growth. It is impossible not to note the undoubted advantages of potato peelings over such chemical fertilizers (such as azofoska):

• availability;
• the ability to increase the content of fertile humus in the soil;
• the ability to provide an influx of oxygen to the root system of the currant;
• ability to get rid of pests.

In addition, having decided to replace mineral and nitrogen fertilizers on the described organic matter, you can be sure that the harvest in the end will not only be good, but environmentally friendly.

Other feeding methods

Feeding currants with starch from potato peels is not the only way to get a rich harvest of berries. Other methods of fertilization also give excellent results.

Top dressing with onion peel

Onion peel for currants is another great feeding option. It has a rich composition and has a restorative, immunostimulating and anti-inflammatory effect on the plant. If you feed the plant with onion peel, the root system of the currant will become stronger and will be better regenerated, and the culture itself will begin to develop and grow more actively.

Important! Onion peel is useful only if the products prepared on its basis are used fresh.

The composition of onion peels includes vitamins, carotene, phytoncides, silicic acid, salts of iron, calcium and potassium.

onion peel

Carotene is responsible for the immunostimulating effect. Thanks to him, the currant becomes more resistant to fungi, microorganisms and rot. The same component is responsible for the germination of seeds and the overall endurance of the plant.

But before fertilizing the currant bush with onion peels, they need to be properly prepared. It's easy to do. They can be boiled, infused or used for a procedure such as mulching. The most important thing is to observe the correct dosage in all cases.

For example, to prepare a decoction, you need a glass of onion peels. They should be filled with water in an amount of 2 liters and boiled for several minutes. After cooling the broth, you can start feeding.

Important! In no case should you store a decoction of the husk. Otherwise, it will completely lose its useful qualities.

In addition to the decoction, an infusion of onion peel will help improve the flowering and fruiting of currants (no matter which variety is fertilized: black, red or white). The preparation of the infusion does not involve boiling or boiling. It can be prepared using raw cold water. This is done in the following way. A glass of skins is poured with a bucket of water, infused for 4-5 days, after which it is filtered and used for watering currants.

Interesting. If dry onion peel is scattered over the area before digging, for a while it will be possible to forget about pest control.

Egg shell feeding

There is a point of view that the shell of those chicken eggs, which are sold in stores, abounds chemicals and does not contain any nutrients. Practice shows that this is absolutely not the case. There are no more toxins in the shell of such eggs than in poultry products. The composition of a chicken egg includes such useful components as iodine, phosphorus, sulfur, copper, iron, manganese, fluorine, etc. All of the above contributes to the enrichment of the soil and makes it more fertile.

Egg shell nutrition

Those who are not too experienced often use egg feeding in a completely wrong way. They scatter large pieces of unwashed shells around the site. This attracts numerous birds, but is completely useless for currants. To use the shell as a fertilizer, it should either be crushed or put into the preparation of the infusion.

Important! The smaller the fragments of the shell of chicken eggs, the easier the useful substances from them will be absorbed by plants. In this regard, the most correct option- grind them into powder. This can be done with a hammer, meat grinder or coffee grinder.

Powdered eggshells are added to the ground, which should be dug a little after fertilization. When preparing eggshells for top dressing, one should not forget that it requires thorough cleaning. In no case should protein residues remain, since its presence can contribute to the development of pathogenic bacteria.

Another way to fertilize currants is an infusion of eggshells. It's easy to prepare. You just need to fill the jar with the shell, pour boiling water over it and leave it under the lid for about a week. In no case should you be afraid of the turbidity of the composition or its bad smell are all markers of its readiness for use. When the composition is ready, it remains only to dilute it with water about three times.

Mulching with sawdust

You can increase the yield of a currant bush in another way - mulch using sawdust (in rare cases, ash is used by gardeners). This method completely replaces top dressing and allows you to achieve the following results:

• ensure conservation in the soil required amount moisture (sawdust avoids evaporation and the formation of a capillary system);
• reduce the development of weeds (which, in turn, saves time and effort spent on tillage);
• protect the plant from temperature fluctuations (in hot weather mulch protects the soil from excessive overheating, and retains heat in cold weather).

Among the advantages of sawdust mulch are the following:

• ensuring good air permeability of the soil;
• formation in the process of decomposition of organic substances;
• plant nutrition with vital elements;
• obstruction of contact of berries with the soil;
• prevention of fungal diseases;
• repel certain types of pests.

Currants respond particularly well to mulch from hardwood trees (excluding poplar, oak or walnut). Coniferous mulch is undesirable because it contributes to the acidification of the soil.

Mulching with sawdust

Sawdust as such is not fertilizer. On the contrary, they have the ability to suck out of the soil useful elements. Therefore, mulch needs to be prepared. To do this with my own hands completely easy. Several standard buckets of high-quality sawdust should be poured onto a polyethylene film, calcium nitrate should be added to them at the rate of 70 g per 1 bucket, poured with water, covered tightly with the free edge of the film and left in this form. You can use mulch when it darkens. The bottom line is that a large number of microorganisms processing wood into organic matter should have time to form on sawdust. To make this happen faster, it is important not only to maintain a high humidity rate, but also the temperature above +15 degrees.

Quality nutrition is required for any plant. And currants are no exception to this rule. Practice shows that in order to obtain a decent result, it is not necessary to use aggressive chemical compounds. Potato peels, onion skins, eggshells, sawdust mulch are excellent evidence that organic fertilizers no worse, but from the point of view of ecology even better.

Video

So-called organic farming is gaining more and more popularity. The essence of the method is to use the minimum amount of chemical fertilizers on the garden plot. Chemicals need to be replaced with something. Preference is given to natural organic matter. Food waste we, without hesitation, send it to the trash can. But if you spend a little time processing potato peels, then they can be used as fertilizer. With a minimum of effort, you will get an excellent natural remedy for top dressing.

What are the uses and benefits of peeling potatoes?

Any summer resident wants to consistently receive a good harvest from his garden plot, spending a minimum on this. Money and strength. Therefore, instead of buying fertilizers in the store, all kinds of folk remedies. Chemical and organic fertilizers, in addition to high cost, have other disadvantages. On the soil in which you make them, not only agricultural crops, but also all kinds of weeds begin to grow well. If you do not exactly follow the dosage, an excess of chemicals gets from the soil into vegetables, berries and fruits, and from there into your body. As you can easily guess, there is nothing good in such an “overdose”. This will not benefit either your health or the soil.

Potato peelings, the benefits of which have been time-tested for the garden, are absolutely safe for humans and completely free fertilizer. Unlike chemicals, organic matter decomposes much faster, being processed by the bacteria contained in the soil. This means that the necessary trace elements will quickly reach their destination through the root system. A "side effect" of rapid decomposition is the release of heat. If you fertilize in the spring, the soil warms up noticeably faster.

The structure of the soil is also improved. It becomes lighter, looser. This is especially important for peaty, clay, silty soils.

Everyone knows that potatoes are very useful. It contains many trace elements useful for humans - potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, sodium. But the same substances are necessary for the proper growth and development of plants. The most common chemical fertilizers contain precisely nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

Potato peelings contain many useful substances that are so necessary for the plant.

In addition, 10–25% (depending on the variety) of the mass of potatoes is starch, and 3–5% is glucose. It is these substances that plants store in seeds, bulbs or tubers. Starch and glucose are the main food for the developing embryo. Therefore, potato fertilizer will be useful for crops at all stages of development.

Another important point is the availability of potato peels. Potatoes in one form or another are present on the table of every family, regardless of financial situation, almost daily. Even if you remove the peel in a very thin layer, about a tenth of the mass of tubers will still go to waste. A more likely option is 15–20%. Now calculate how many cleanings you can accumulate by next summer, if you set yourself a similar goal from the beginning of autumn.

Video: potato peelings to help the gardener

Pest control

Another useful property Potatoes are great bait for pests. Slugs, the click beetle (its larvae are popularly known as the wireworm) and the Colorado potato beetle are especially fond of it.

You need to start setting traps as soon as the first shoots appear or seedlings are planted in the ground. So you are guaranteed to protect the future harvest.

The potato peel pest trap is very easy to make.

Making traps is easy. Dig into the ground glass jars, old unnecessary buckets and pots, tin cans or cut plastic bottles so that the edge of the container approximately coincides with the top edge of the pit. The container should be deep enough and without holes. Put potato peels on the bottom every evening. To enhance the effect, you can pour them with sweet water (a tablespoon of sugar per glass), syrup, or add a little old jam that no one will eat. In the morning, you just have to go around the containers, collect the pests caught in them during the night and destroy them. Just do not throw the collected over the fence. After a few hours, the slugs and insects will return to your yard.

Another option for a trap is to bury a long piece of wire with cleanings strung on it in the ground. Leave one end sticking out of the ground or mark the place where the trap is buried. Once every 2-3 days, dig it out, collect the pests that have come across and change the bait to a fresh one.

How to prepare and use fertilizer?

Raw materials for the preparation of fertilizer must be collected all winter

Not suitable as a fertilizer for peeling boiled potatoes. Prolonged heat treatment destroys all useful trace elements.

Of course, if you just lay out fresh potato peelings in the beds, good harvest don't wait. They will start to rot very quickly, especially in summer, in the heat, spreading the appropriate "aroma". In addition, mice, rats and other rodents that live in the vicinity will come running to your site - for them this is a wonderful delicacy. And in general, landings “processed” in this way look very unaesthetic.

At the same time, fresh potato (like any vegetable) peelings can and should even be added to the compost heap.

Potato peels are a good addition to compost

Exist different variants fertilizers. But in any case, cleaning, before feeding, must be thoroughly washed and disinfected using boiling water, dry heat or cold to destroy the bacteria and / or fungi present on them. Otherwise, you will only infect the soil and healthy plants.

To get the right, useful fertilizer, you need to act as follows:

1. Rinse cleaning in cool running water until visible traces of dirt disappear.
2. Wait for them to dry and lay them out in a single layer on newspapers or a thin cloth. If weather permits, dry outside in a well-ventilated area, out of direct sunlight and possible rain. When it's already cold, do it in an apartment on a battery or on a balcony. Complete drying takes 7-10 days per outdoors and 2–3 weeks in an apartment. The exact time depends on the thickness of the peels. Those who wish to speed up the process can dry them in the oven. Arrange the cleaning on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, place inside and leave for 3-4 hours at a temperature not exceeding 100ºС, with the door loosely closed. The procedure will take even less time if it is carried out in a special electric dryer or microwave oven. The main thing is to choose the right mode. The finished fertilizer becomes noticeably lighter, the peels are translucent and break easily.
3. You can simply freeze cleaning. The disadvantage is that the places in freezer probably not enough to store them. Other most appropriate place- balcony. But as soon as a positive temperature is established on the street, the fertilizer will have to be used for its intended purpose. It is strongly not recommended to defrost cleanings and freeze them again.
4. If drying at home was carried out naturally, cleanings are stored on the balcony, in an unheated garage, shed, and so on, so that the cold destroys pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Arrange the future fertilizer dried in the oven in linen bags and keep in a dry, cool, well-ventilated place. Perfect option- pantry.
5. Grind dry cleanings in a meat grinder, blender or food processor to a powder state. it finished fertilizer- the so-called flour. In addition, in this type of cleaning take much less space They are easier to store and transport.
6. In spring and summer, use dry cleanings to prepare the infusion. Put them in a bucket or barrel, filling the container about a third, pour boiling water to the top and close tightly. Wait 3-4 days for a characteristic odor to appear. Without stirring the contents of the barrel, scoop a liter of infusion from the top, pour into a 10-liter bucket and add water (9 liters). Now mix thoroughly and water the plants.
7. The gruel remaining at the bottom of the container will also come in handy. It is dug into the ground under bushes and trees and added to the holes when planting seedlings.
8. Another option for preparing the infusion is to pour boiling water over the cleaning, wait until it cools down to a temperature of 35-40ºС, and strain.

Bury dried cleanings in the ground or prepare an infusion

What plants need to be fed?

For which plants is potato peel fertilizer useful and how to feed them so that the benefits are maximized?

Table: how to feed crops with potato peels?

Agriculture	Type of feeding
Cucumbers, pumpkin, cabbage, squash, zucchini, watermelons, melons.	When planting seedlings in the ground, a “porridge” is placed at the bottom of the hole from dried peelings filled with boiling water. It is sprinkled with a layer of earth of the same thickness, then another portion of "porridge" is needed. The last layer is soil again. Then a sprout is placed in the hole, and it is covered with earth.
Onion, garlic, turnip, radish, radish.	Watering with an infusion of dried potato peels every two weeks since the end of May. It is better not to water individual bulbs, but to pour the fertilizer into the furrows between the rows of plantings. The infusion must first be filtered so that the pieces do not fall into the garden. On the surface, they are absolutely useless, and besides, they attract pests. Remove the nozzle from the watering can - it clogs very quickly. Despite straining, the infusion is quite thick.
	Cleaning in the form of flour is applied to the root zone, then the soil is well loosened. An infusion of fresh cleanings is used for irrigation (about 5 liters per 1 p / m).
Strawberry.	Under each bush in the spring, flour is poured from cleanings. For small ones, one handful is enough, for those that are larger - two. In addition, dried scrapings will successfully replace mulch.
Currant.	White, and pink, and red currants love cleaning, but the effect of top dressing is especially noticeable on black. The berries will become noticeably sweeter and larger, reaching the size of sultana grapes or even cherries. Dried cleanings are buried at the roots to a depth of 15-20 cm, after slightly moistening with water so that they do not take moisture from the plant. The procedure is carried out in the spring, as soon as the soil has melted sufficiently. If you are satisfied with the condition of the plants, you can feed the bushes every two years. It is possible to feed the bushes in winter, if the soil around them is cleaned in the fall and covered with polyethylene. As fresh cleanings accumulate, shovel the snow, spread them on the ground and bury them again. Dig up the soil well in the spring. Watering with infusion of potato peels every 12–14 days is also effective.
Fruit trees.	Dried peelings are buried within a radius of 0.5–1 m from the trunk, depending on the size of the tree. Or sprinkle the resulting circle with “flour”, immediately after that loosening the soil well. The norm per tree is 0.7–1 kg.
Tomatoes (tomatoes), eggplant, nightshade, Bulgarian and hot peppers.	Feeding is not recommended. Since potatoes and these plants belong to the same nightshade family, they are affected by the same diseases. Even disinfection in the form of scalding with boiling water and drying with high temperature does not give a full guarantee of the destruction of bacteria and fungi that cause late blight, black scab and verticillium. In addition, these crops naturally contain the same micro- and macroelements as in potatoes. Therefore, fertilizer from cleanings will not have a noticeable effect on them.
Annual and perennial flowers and ornamental shrubs.	Watering with an infusion of dried potato peels. Sprinkle flour under perennials in spring and autumn.
Houseplants.	Watering with an infusion of dried potato peels. The procedure is carried out every 3-6 weeks, depending on the condition of the foliage. They can also be watered with cooled water, in which jacket potatoes were boiled. This top dressing stimulates the growth of greenery. Sometimes it is advised to bury fresh cleanings in flower pots, but such a “fertilizer” will soon give off a very unpleasant smell, and midges will start in the apartment. An exception is saprophytic or epiphytic plants, for which decaying organic matter is vital for growth and development (orchids, dracaena, and so on). They can be distinguished by the presence of aerial roots and the ability to grow in water. In this case, you can not do without good drainage. Apply cleaning in very small quantities.

Photo gallery: the use of raw materials in the garden

Effective watering infusion during the summer Pour gruel from the cleanings into the wells when planting Don't forget to add fertilizer

Video: dressing from potato peels

Potato peels are an affordable and completely natural fertilizer suitable for most crops and for indoor plants. If you know how to properly feed, you can significantly increase the annual harvest of vegetables, berries and fruits.