Weeding and
hoeing potatoes
Recommendations for hoeing & weeding technology for a weed-free potato ridge.
Precise, adapted to the shape of the ridge, gentle on the crop, but still aggressive against weeds – these are the requirements placed on modern tined weeder and hoeing technology for a professional mechanical weed control in potato ridges. The AEROSTAR-FUSION, the ROLLSTAR as well as the HILLSTAR enable optimal potato care.
Growing potatoes on ridges has its advantages especially in summer when the soil warms up and brings plenty of air into the soil. It leaves the soil porous and well aerated, providing ideal conditions for wheat, for example, as the next crop. The plant prefers slightly acidic, well-drained, fertile soils.
Optimum mechanical weeding, without compacting or clogging the soil, is a prerequisite for satisfactory yields!
Mechanical weed control of potatoes fields:
- Blind weeding approx. 2–5 days after sowing. Important: “Weeding off” the ridge – the ridge bottom does not necessarily need to be weeded/cultivated.
- Shortly after: First pass of hoeing using the ROLLSTAR cultivator to mound up the ridges again and to cultivate the flanks of the ridges.
- If necessary, make a second hoeing pass with the rotative row-crop cultivator and the hill-weeder. Hoeing of the ridge and weeding of the plant in one pass.
- Third pass of hoeing using the ridger. To ensure the ridge flanks are not cultivated too intensively, which would damage the potato roots, the ridges should only be lightly mounded up, i.e. the flanks should only be cultivated lightly. The plants themselves should be weeded off using a guided hill-weeder.
Technology for potato care
The premium tined weeder AEROSTAR-FUSION is equipped with independent indirectly spring-loaded tines, which enable a constant tine pressure, even on ridges or beds. Thus, the contact pressure and consequently the aggressiveness of the 530 mm long tines on the top and bottom remain identical.
The rotative row-crop cultivator ROLLSTAR has star-shaped discs and is the perfect solution for hill crops. The sweeps on the vibro tines loosen the soil so that the stars can easily penetrate the soil. The stars break open crusts, mound the perineum and leave an open soil structure, which has a positive effect on methanization and water absorption. This creates optimal germination or development conditions for the potato. A hill-weeder mounted on the row-crop cultivator also ensures that the ridges are perfectly weeded in addition to the top ridges themselves.
In addition to the rotative row-crop cultivator, the ridger HILLSTAR ensures optimum ridging without interfering too much or too deeply in the soil – which is particularly advantageous in the later growth stage of the potato roots.
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