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Growing Potatoes in North Carolina

johnmblacker7ndqY0lOUjohnmblacker7ndqY0lOU Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg
I like potatoes. i grew some last year by just planting them in the ground and covering most of the plants with compost as they kept growing. The results were decent but not great. I remember reading that potatoes really love hugel beds and i'm in the process of making one but i have hard time imagining ho that works. Can someone please explain to me how it is done?

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Many people grow them in raised beds @johnmblacker7ndqY0lOU, and that should be easy enough to do if that would suit you. Timber, sleepers or brick/block will all work if you want to do it.  I don't grow potatoes as we rarely eat them, but they can be grown in bags/pots/containers.  :)

    I'm sure someone will help though. Most of the forum members here are UK based, and your climate and conditions will be factors, but if you've had success already, it shouldn't be too difficult.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    I had never heard of hugel beds @johnmblacker7ndqY0lOU until reading your post which proves that we can learn something new every day. It prompted me to have a quick search of the internet and it looks much like roman road building but with vegetation instead of rocks and gravel. I am sure potatoes would love the conditions but came across a warning about planting them in a new hugel bed...."It may be wise to avoid planting root vegetables in a hugelkultur bed during the initial seasons. This is because they might become entangled in the branches and other organic materials within the mound, making it difficult to harvest the entire crop." https://www.hugelkulturworks.com/which-vegetables-to-plant-in-hugelkultur-beds/
    I used to grow potatoes back in the dark ages and always stuck to the tried and tested earthing up method. In a hugel bed you would still have to ensure that your potatoes were not exposed to light because as we all know, green potatoes are not good for you. I'm not sure how this could be easily achieved as the potatoes would be growing on a mound and earthing up would be well nigh impossible. Hopefully someone can come up with a solution to this.
  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    edited July 2023
    Hugelkultur beds are nothing new. Many of us have tall raised beds and/or large planters have been unknowingly making them when seeking fillers to bulk up the low soil/compost levels for those said containers.  

    Here are my common sense deductions of why they work and where you would use them.

    Hugelkultur beds are effectively soil mounds with organic amendments (branches, leaves, grass clumps, weeds etc).

    A mound, since the soil is piled up above ground level, helps with drainage. It has more surface area than the strip of ground they are built on top of, especially if the mould is shaped like the triangular roof top of a conventional house, so it catches more sun light.

    I can't say whether or not a mound heats up faster because it catches more sun light but what is certain is that any thing planted on top would be elevated above the height of any potential weeds growing at ground level.

    Organic amendments help to raise the height of a mound especially if there is not much soil around or if the ground is very difficult to dig.

    It may also contribute nutrients and moisture retention to enrich the soil mound. As rotting organic matter generates heat then it may contribute that as well.

    However, in order to harness the benefits of a mound with organic amendments (ie a hugelkultur bed) you need to consider location and timing.

    If, at the time of planting your crop, you notice that the surrounding area is lush and green and that it is still more or less lush and green throughout the potential lifespan of your crop, then you probably won't need a hugelkultur bed - a normal soil mound will do.

    In hot arrid locations, you would need to build the hugelkultur bed several months before planting the first crop in order to take advantage of the nutrients and moisture retention but not the heat generated by the organic amendments.

    In temperate location like europe and the UK, build the hugelkultur bed around late autumn or early winter for planting in early spring. This will give the rotting process enough time to get going to produce heat during the cold spring time. Then, later on in summer, the plants will benefit from the moisture retention of the bed.

    Whether or not you can grow deep rooted fruit and vegetables atop an hugelkultur bed would, I suppose, depend on how high you pile up the soil.






  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm so sorry - I completely misunderstood the query!
    I thought the word was 'huge' not 'hugel'  :s
    However, it sort of amounts to the same thing. A raised area, contained or otherwise, is ideal for potatoes. It would depend on how you did it in the hugel method. You wouldn't want anything which could block the potato growth.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CrankyYankeeCrankyYankee Posts: 504
    pinut said:
    Hugelkultur beds are nothing new. Many of us have tall raised beds and/or large planters have been unknowingly making them when seeking fillers to bulk up the low soil/compost levels for those said containers.  


    This is the method I use for my deep containers.  I did start a hugelkultur mound at my previous house but moved before it was ready for planting.  I currently have a 100-gallon stock tank I set up 5 years ago using hugelkultur layering basics (logs, sticks, leaves, grass, waste hay, manure, garden soil) that I'm growing potatoes in.  So far the tops are looking fantastic, but I have no idea what's going on below.  It's my first time growing potatoes and I'm really hoping this works! Last year I grew carrots in the same tank and they were phenomenal.
    New England, USA
    Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
  • pinutpinut Posts: 194
    edited July 2023


    I am not growing potatoes like CrankyYankee is doing or johnmblacker7ndqY0lOU hopes to do but I can confirm that it works very well for other veg.

    I've got dwalf french beans, lettuce, radish and rogue celery growing in one planter and just coriander (cilantro) growing in the other. I've been cropping the lettuces for about four weeks now and the coriander is on its second sowing.

    The crops are growing in approximately 8cm of a spent compost/top soil mix with two handfuls of fish, bone and blood fertiliser. The remaining 2/3 of the height consists of the remnants of the old rotted pallet wood planters, tree branches, unrotted bush clippings, grass, leaves, nettles and kitchen scraps.

    As the planters are self contained, disconnected from the ground, I added two scoops each of vermicompost from our wormery (for the worms and worm eggs) when I layered up the planters hugelkultur style.

     





  • debrartinVOMz9Nz0debrartinVOMz9Nz0 Posts: 2
    I'm trying 3 different potato planting techniques this year.
    1) potato tower made out of tires.
    2) Potatoes put in raised bed and covered with nothing but straw.
    3) potatoes in berms
    So, I haven't dug them up yet but going by green growth the potato tire tower is the best right now. I just put a second tire on in fact. The raised bed potatoes are doing fantastically as well but the greens on them aren't quite as tall. The berm potatoes are getting eaten by voles, I can tell. But they're still growing.
    Read this article hope will be helpful for you-
    https://foresttofood.com/2023/06/29/harvesting-potatoes-in-north-carolina-how-to-know-when-theyre-ready/
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