Weeding potatoes during flowering: is it possible?

Unless you're using specialized potato growing methods, weeding is an essential part of the process. If you want to minimize your efforts on weed control, it's worth learning about the latest weeding techniques using industrial, homemade, or manual tools.

We will help you with this.

Description of potato weeding and timing

Weeding is the removal of weeds from agricultural crops. This procedure can be done mechanically, chemically, or manually.

Potatoes can be weeded even before the first shoots appear, as weeds emerge significantly ahead of the crops in terms of timing and frequency. Typically, this should be done every two weeks. You can stop weeding when the potato plants are quite large and strong. From this point on, weeds no longer interfere with the development of the tubers.

Potato Weeding Guide: Trimmer and Hoe

Potato weeding can be done using a variety of methods, or a combination of them. A trimmer and a hoe are particularly popular among gardeners.

• Trimmer A trimmer is a brush cutter powered by gasoline or electricity. It provides weeding speeds unachievable by hand. Organic gardeners typically favor trimmers, who believe that cut plants should be left in the garden beds. This retains moisture, temporarily inhibits new weed growth, acts as fertilizer, and attracts earthworms and microorganisms.
• Hoe. This tool has arguably been used for tilling soil since time immemorial. It can be considered a combination of a shovel and a hoe. A hoe is versatile, suitable for weeding and hilling, but it requires considerable time and effort. Before using this tool, check the blade's sharpness, work carefully, avoiding disturbing wet soil, and avoid making the beds sharp so that rainwater doesn't run off them and instead moistens the potato plants.

Is it worth weeding potatoes during flowering?

Weeding potatoes while they're blooming won't harm them. Besides keeping the garden clean, it also helps loosen the soil, improving oxygen flow to the plant's roots. So, this procedure is very beneficial for your potatoes.

However, some believe there's no need to weed during flowering. Once this period has passed, weeds no longer pose a threat to the future harvest, meaning weeding is unnecessary.

Motor-blocks

A walk-behind tractor or motor cultivator is increasingly winning the hearts of gardeners. It makes weeding potatoes much more enjoyable and faster. There are various types of walk-behind tractors and attachments for a variety of functions:

• Walk-behind tractor with rotating cutters. I use a tiller for weeding potatoes and mixing natural fertilizers into the soil. It's a special attachment with sharp, star-shaped blades that fit onto the working shaft.
• A walk-behind tractor with wing tines. Gardeners also use the wing tines attachment for weeding. This attachment is a frame with small V-shaped plows. For effective weeding, the tines are sunk 2-3 cm into the soil. This attachment cuts weeds quite quickly. Unlike rotary tillers, wing tines are gentle on the soil, creating no dust clouds or raising damp soil layers.

Attachments for walk-behind tractors

In addition to the above-described attachments, there are several others used for weeding potatoes:

• Rotary hedgehogs. This attachment can be used on various walk-behind tractors. It's excellent for weeding beds 50-70 cm wide.
• Cone-shaped weeders. Typically, weeders are used to remove weeds before they have sprouted. The weeding process is faster than with other methods.
• Rotary cutter. Rotary cutters are also called soil cutters. Rotary cutters come in various shapes and sizes, but they all operate on the same principle: as the cutter rotates, the soil, weeds, and fertilizer are ground up. Rotary cutters are convenient for their versatility.

How to weed potatoes with a trimmer

When weeding potatoes with a trimmer, it's best to use a rounded line. This will slow down weed growth. This method is most effective when the weeds are just emerging and can be easily cut with a brush cutter. When weeding, keep several important points in mind:

• use special glasses;
• Turn off the trimmer if someone approaches you, because when it is working, small stones fly in all directions;
• do not immerse the brush cutter blade into the soil more than 1-1.5 cm;
• when using a low-power device, take a break every 15 minutes to prevent the engine from overheating;
• After the end of the season, treat the knives with fungicides to prevent the presence of potato pathogens.

How to make your own potato weeding trimmer attachment

When a brush cutter can't handle the more complex tasks gardeners assign it, DIYers find ways to make a special attachment. Why spend large sums on equipment when you can make everything from scratch?

We take a perforated metal plate (10 cm by 24 cm), 2 hacksaw blades for metal, 4 screws and 4 M5 nuts, 4 washers and 4 oversized washers.

So, let's get started. For the base of the attachment, cut a 1 cm square from the plate. Place it so that there is a hole directly in the center. To achieve this, measure 50 mm from the center of the chosen hole perpendicular to the short side of the plate and mark the cutting lines. After removing the excess, you have a 1 cm by 1 cm square. Next, round the corners and drill a center hole for the trimmer shaft. Measuring 8 cm on each side, cut the blades. Now you have four blanks that need to be shaped into blades. Mark the cutting line, connect the blanks, and grind off the excess. Next, place a small washer on the screw and insert it into the corner hole. Place the blade on top, aligning the sharpened side with the direction of rotation of the brush cutter shaft. Next, install the large washer and nut, loosely tightening it to allow the blade to rotate easily. Attach the remaining blades in the same manner. The end of the screw needs to be riveted to prevent the nut from coming off. The attachment is ready!

A method for growing potatoes without weeding

Some farmers and gardeners successfully use a no-weed technique for growing potatoes. This requires some preparatory work in the fall. The soil is cleared of weeds, dug, then fertilized, and the entire plot is covered with a thick layer of straw. This allows the straw to rot before the next planting, creating a natural mulch that retains moisture, maintains a comfortable temperature, and prevents weeds from growing. This is an excellent way to eliminate the need for endless weeding.

Reviews

Vasily Fedorov, Krasnoturinsk:

— Personally, I use homemade hedgehogs for weeding. Cheap and cheerful! I made them using a hollow pipe, onto which I welded teeth made of metal rods. I secured the whole thing to a metal frame and attached it to a wooden handle. You press down and move this miracle machine forward and down. And no weeds!

Mikhail Stepanov, Voskresensk:

"I use a homemade hoe to help me fight weeds. I recommend it to everyone! It's very easy to make: take 70-80 cm of elastic steel wire (2 mm in diameter), a polypropylene tube (20 mm in diameter), pliers, a glue gun, and electrical tape. Bend the wire in half and push it through the tube. Bend the end with pliers, then secure it with electrical tape. For added security, it's best to secure the structure by filling the ends of the tube with polyethylene using a glue gun.

Anna Nikiforova, Kemerovo:

"From personal experience, I've learned that the easiest way to weed potatoes is with a flat-bladed weeder. My husband made one from an old scythe, attached the blade to a tube, and slipped it onto a handle. I press down on it, run it along the soil, and the weeds disappear."

Oleg Melkozerov, Kazan:

"I prefer hand weeding to cultivators. In July, I invite friends and family over for a barbecue, and weeding is quick and fun. As the saying goes, one man is no match for the other!"

So, there are a great many weeding methods, and you're sure to find one that suits you. Perhaps you'd like to try a no-weed method or stick with manual methods. The choice is yours! The main thing is to enjoy gardening.