The Basics Of Gardening According To Mittlider. Basic Principles. Pros And Cons. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

Perhaps one of the most difficult jobs is labor related to the land. Especially if you plan to get a decent harvest, then for more than six months you should literally live in the beds and work hard. Of course, now the work of gardeners and gardeners is greatly facilitated by gardening equipment, however, the method of "gardening according to Mittlider", offered by the vegetable grower and concurrently by Doctor of Science Jacob Mittlider, is considered a somewhat different method.

Content:

• What is Mittlider gardening?
• Fertilizer Blends Suggested by Mittlider
• Mittlider soil cultivation options
• Pros and cons of the Mittlider gardening method

What is Mittlider gardening?

This method is far from new, the inhabitants of our country got acquainted with it for the first time while being subscribers of various magazines and newspapers, where this method was actively and in detail covered. After reading the essence of the method, many rushed to experiment on their sites. Not everyone succeeded, and then a Russian book was published under the authorship of T. Ugarova, in which this method was literally adapted to Russian realities, but still it remained Mittlider's method of gardening.

Mittlider himself positioned his method as the most effective soil cultivation technology, allowing for 1.5 - 2 acres to grow such an amount of vegetable products that a full-fledged family of four or even five people would be enough for the whole year.

The most interesting thing about this method was that initially the quality of the soil was not taken into account at all, that is, it was not taken into account at all, therefore, the quality of the soil did not have any decisive importance in terms of obtaining a crop.

As Mittlider himself argued, it is permissible to grow vegetables literally on "empty" soil, with row spacing, overgrown with weeds, the poorest soil and completely devoid of fertility.

The basic principles of gardening according to Mittlider:

Firstly, this is a fractional introduction of mineral dressings, secondly, compacted plantings on very narrow ridges, thirdly, wide row spacings are required, fourthly, the use of two fertilizer compositions, and of course, scrupulous adherence these principles as the fifth component of success.

Fertilizer Blends Suggested by Mittlider

The first fertilizer mixture should be composed according to this technique from eight grams of boric acid and a kilogram of gypsum (suitable for alkaline soil). For acidic soil, gypsum must be replaced with fluff lime or, even better, with dolomite flour.

The second composition must be prepared from a base, which must consist of eleven parts of nitrogen, six parts of phosphorus, eleven parts of potassium and a number of additional components. Additional ingredients include 450 grams of magnesium sulfate, ten grams of boric acid and fifteen grams of ammonium molybdate. All this must be thoroughly mixed and added to the base (in fertilizers), the mass of which should be equal to three kilograms.

Mittlider allows the use of two options for applying dressings - dry and instant. With dry application of fertilizers, they are simply scattered around the plants, if the distance between them is from 30 to 50 cm, and if less than 30, then between the rows. When applying dissolved fertilizers, they simply spill the entire garden bed, trying not to get on the plants themselves. Usually, on a nine-meter bed, in order to dissolve 600 grams of the second mixture, you need exactly 66 liters of water according to the Mittlider.

Mittlider soil cultivation options

In addition to the proposed fertilizer mixtures, there are also two options for soil cultivation - cultivation of vegetables in open, natural soil and the next method - in box beds, which must be filled with a special mixture.

1. Narrow beds

It involves growing plants in narrow beds, which are placed directly on the dug soil. The width of these beds should not exceed 45 centimeters, but the length can be absolutely any and limited only by the size of your site, the shape of the landscape and so on.

Further, all plantings in such rather narrow beds differ from traditional plantings of vegetable crops in their thickening. It was envisaged that the necessary amount of light and a sufficient amount of moisture will be received by vegetable crops precisely due to wide row spacings. By the way, the row spacing according to the Mittlider must be at least 75 centimeters, even larger values were allowed, but not less.

One gets the impression that it is precisely on the row spacing that all the success of this method is closed: after all, if you reduce the row spacing, then the plants will immediately lack light and moisture, since the plants will inevitably grow in narrow beds, based on the compacted planting scheme, and begin to shade each other. friend and compete for these two important components (light and moisture).

It is clear that this method was most likely developed for the owners of small plots, and it suits them very well. It seems that everything is simple, but there are nuances that must be observed in addition to wide row spacings and narrow beds.

For example, these very beds must be oriented from north to south and never be moved from place to place. You can also forget about the aisles, you should not even dig them up, however, weeding the weeds is not clean, but at least weeding out the most powerful, it still follows.

But what about the depletion of the soil, the accumulation of pests, diseases, you ask? In order to solve all these problems at once, Mittlider advises using the crop rotation we are all familiar with.

The beds are prepared for planting, starting with feeding (after digging). So, on a standard bed ten meters long and 45 centimeters wide, a kilogram of the first mixture and half a kilogram of mixture number two are introduced (shown above). Next, the seeds of the crops you need are sown, and a week after the first shoots appear on the soil surface, they are re-fertilized with the second mixture, but about 220 grams are already taken for the garden bed. Spreading the mixture is carried out exactly in the middle of the beds, it is between the plants, trying not to get on them. Then the soil is watered and fertilizers are absorbed into the soil, and then food is supplied to the roots.

In just one season, the number of dressings, depending on the crop grown in such a bed, can vary from three to eight, while taking into account, of course, the condition of the plants - if they grow well, then the amount of dressings can be reduced.

For example, crops such as radishes, peas, beets, and beans can be fed only three times per season, while nightshade crops (potatoes, tomatoes, etc.), as well as cucumbers and pumpkins, need to be fed seven or eight times per season.

About planting vegetables: on such a bed, they are sown in two rows, it is possible both in parallel and in a checkerboard pattern, if the plants are large (cabbage, potatoes, etc.).

The distance between plants varies greatly. So, half a meter is left between zucchini and squash, about 35 centimeters between cabbage and cabbage salad, 17-18 cm between cucumbers, 30-35 centimeters between peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, 25 cm - between potato plants, 5 cm - between onions and garlic and the same amount between beets. Crops such as radishes, lettuce, daikon, carrots, radishes and turnips are planted in a ribbon method (3-4 cm).

2. Beds-boxes

The next option that Mittlider suggested is growing vegetables in a substrate and, in fact, in boxes that act as beds. Garden boxes can be made of anything, it can be boards, plywood. The bottom of such bed-boxes is not needed, they should be either 45, or 120, or 150 centimeters wide, and about twenty centimeters deep. Such frames can be placed where it is more convenient for you, but not in the shade and not in the swamp, of course, and fill it with a specially prepared mixture.

The mixture is prepared from two, a maximum of three components, these are sawdust (any hardwood), moss (sphagnum) and a choice of perlite, river sand, straw (cut very finely), nut shells (also chopped very finely) and sunflower husk.

If all this is translated into a percentage, then the following picture will turn out: about 20% will be sand (perlite or something else to choose from) and 40% each - two other components (sawdust and moss). This composition, which can only be conditionally called soil, is placed in boxes once and for all, that is, it is not changed anymore, as well as no additional soil is used.

Before sowing seeds in such boxes, it is necessary to fertilize the beds. On the smallest box measuring 9x1x0.2 meters, 4.5 kilograms of the first mixture and 2.5 kilograms of the second mixture (their composition is described above) are applied, evenly distributed over the entire area, after which it is abundantly watered. Further, everything that is in the boxes is very thoroughly mixed, literally to a homogeneous mass, leveled and watered again (with a couple of buckets of water). Next, grooves are made for sowing seeds across the box, with the distances between the grooves and plants indicated above for open beds.

It remains to fill the seeds to a depth of about one and a half centimeters, cover them with the same composition and water again (one and a half buckets of water). The next day, directly on the sown seeds, a second top dressing is applied in the amount of 600 g, in terms of the length of the bed of nine meters, for which we are calculating.

Further feeding follows one after another every ten days, with the same proportions.

Pros and cons of the Mittlider gardening method

In conclusion, a few words about the pros and cons of this method, obtained from gardeners who have tested this growing method.

First about the cons

Almost everyone is afraid of the abundance of fertilizers, and this is perhaps the main disadvantage.

The second disadvantage is, according to gardeners, the need for a large amount of moisture, and these are additional costs and manual labor and financial (you will have to pay for water).

The third minus also concerns fertilizers, but already in financial terms, that is, how much will cucumbers cost if you use a very significant amount of fertilizers?

About the pros

Gardeners argue that the Mittlider method is very well thought out and really facilitates physical labor, especially if a person is no longer young or simply does not have enough time, and he wants vegetables from his garden.

A plus is considered the appropriate breakdown of the site, a completely normal distance between the plants, which allows you to significantly save soil and at the same time increase the yield from a unit of soil up to 40 kilograms, depending on the area of the site.

The gardeners like the wide aisles between the beds, the fact that the beds do not need to be done every time in a new place and in fact there is no need to care for the aisles.

Thanks to narrow beds, sowing can be carried out earlier by building a small arc greenhouse, and again wide row spacings will help here.

As for the box beds, there are some advantages - on substandard soil, this is almost the only way to get at least some kind of harvest.

In general, if we exclude the introduction of a significant amount of fertilizer, which Mittlinder recommends, then his method of growing vegetables is only spoken of positively.

What do you think?