While summer residents argue about the depth of holes and fertilizers, Siberian old-timers collect a bucket of potatoes from a bush.
Their secret was revealed by agronomist Ivan Semenov from Krasnoyarsk, a descendant of Old Believers, whose family has been growing potatoes since the 18th century.
In an article for the Journal of Applied Agronomy, he described a "double planting" method that protects tubers from frost and the Colorado potato beetle.
The technology is simple: two tubers are placed in each hole - one at a depth of 15 cm, the other at 25 cm.
If the top one dies from the cold, the bottom one will sprout.
But the main trump card is the “warming pillow” made of birch leaves and fish heads.
“As they decompose, they release heat and nitrogen, which awakens dormant buds,” says Semenov.
A study by the Timiryazev Academy confirmed that this approach increases germination to 98%, while traditional planting gives 70–80%.
Why fish? Scientists from Novosibirsk have discovered that fat from the heads saturates the soil with phosphorus, and the bones serve as drainage.
In the villages of Altai this method has been used since the 19th century, replacing fish with horse manure. But Semenov insists:
"Salmon are better - they don't attract mole crickets."
Another secret is planting in a "checkerboard pattern". This prevents beetles from crawling between the bushes. An experiment in the Omsk region showed that there were 60% fewer pests in such beds.
Critics talk about the labor intensity, but Siberians laugh: "The lazy will starve." To speed up the process, they advise digging holes with a shovel with markings - two depths in one stroke.
