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Growing potatoes
Xyz123
Posts: 53
in Fruit & veg
Hi Couple of silly Questions here I planted second early potatoes in pots two weeks ago. I am planning to plant couple more containers this weekend. We live down south but frost still formed yesterday. 1. When can I expect to see shoots from ground from first container planted two weeks ago ? I am worried if tubers can be frost damaged. 2. I know about earthing up potato growth but question is, do I add compost as soon as some foliage emerges above ground or do I let foliage grow say 4 inches and then keep adding 2 inches of compost? Ta
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No such thing as a silly question here. We were all beginners once.
Q1. - soon. Can't be more precise than that, as it depends on the temperature, how big the shoots were when they were planted, how deeply they were planted and what variety they are. If they haven't appeared in another couple of weeks it's time to start ferreting around in the soil with your fingers - carefully! The tubers are unlikely to be damaged by a light frost if they're at least a few inches underground - it's the foliage in the cold air that gets killed off.
Q2. Opinions vary. The more you cover them up the safer they'll be from frost but the slower they'll grow (as they can't photosynthesise without light!). What I do is leave them open for a few weeks till they're about a foot high, then earth up by about half. Frost protection o/n from fleece or newspaper when necessary. If the containers are near the house they may not be frosted - you can move them somewhere sunnier later on, if necessary.
How big are the containers? Potatoes need plenty of space otherwise you get tiddlers.
Enjoy your new potatoes in July
Morning!
I don't earth up anymore, I tried it one year and didnt see a noticeable difference so now I just throw them in at the bottom of a low raised bed after chitting and wait for the potatoes. Saves time and effort and still produced loads of potatoes. And I use the square foot gardening method in the bed (Plant 1 pot per sq ft) to make use of space.
For me the major factor is space as Steve says. Growing them in the ground rather than those potato sacks you see online produces loads more potatoes. We couldn't eat all ours fast enough from last year and when I stored some a local mouse ate them, which wasn't in the plan...
Does anyone else on the forum not bother earthing up or is it just me?
I always do - and always find loads of spuds in the earthed-up bit. And it stops them going green and poisonous.
Mice are the bane of stored crops. My friends have spent considerable time, effort and money in mouse-proofing their shed, and I'm always reminded to shut the door after me. They have 100lb or more of apples to store every year as well as spuds, onions and what have you; last winter it seems to have worked.
I have 2 spuds in 50l compost bags. I had about 6" of soil in the bag, spud, then just cover them. I've waited until they're about a foot and covered about 2/3 of the foliage.
Much as Steve does.
Useful info from all
I've been trawling through old threads about earthing up potatoes and this one has incorporated a few things I've read and just want to clarify.
I've got rocket, charlotte and maris pipers on the go. The Charlottes are in 5L bags - purchased as one of the GW offers and specified in the instructions as not to earth up, just fill the bag full of compost, so I'm not worried about them.
1. What height to earth up? I read that early potatoes don't need to be earthed up, but the rockets are quite tall and bushy, over a foot tall so I'm wondering whether some earthing up would be beneficial. The Maris Pipers are between 9" and 12" tall and ideally I should have done something with them by now. I read that as the stems grow, each nodule on the stem will either become a leaf stalk or a potato, so if the stems are already tall with leaves, will any of them turn into potatoes if I earth them up?
2. Earthing up with grass cuttings or other material. I read elsewhere, and iGrow above suggests that this is an option where you don't have much soil available but it came with a warning not to put the clippings too close to the stem but I'm not sure why. What's the risk with this and how careful do you have to be?
Also if you can earth up with grass clippings or straw, presumably the earthing up material doesn't have to be nutritious, just capable of blocking out light. I am thus thinking of using some of my compost that is proving slow to finish breaking down. It is still a bit lumpy and has quite a bit of woody stuff in it but would do the job of keeping the stems in the dark, so would that be ok?
3. Leaving some leaves showing. Presumably I need to leave some foliage showing and shouldn't cover it all up?
Apologies for the questions - I had hoped that reading old threads would provide the answers but it seems a little reading can be a dangerous thing!