earthing up potatoes
adamadamant
Posts: 278
I have planted potatoes in a container for the first time, and am finding conflicting advice about earthing up, as the rules seem to be different for growing them in a container or in open soil. is that right? They are growing fairly swiftly so they poke an inch or so of stem/leaves above the soil every couple of days at the moment. Do I earth them up immediately they poke through the compost, or should I allow them to develop a decent height of stem first, and then put in enough to completely cover them again?. If so, how tall roughly should I let the stem grow before putting in more compost?
Also, am I right in thinking that once the container is full I allow them to grow into full leaf and flower, and then harvest the new potatoes? Thanks for the advice.
Posts
you can bury the leaves and stems under compost and they'll grow through quite easily.
once the container is full wait until they flower, or after about 12 weeks of planting you can have a little dig in the soil to see how the tubers are fattening out.
You seem to have the right idea already. Trying not to get too technical....
The rules shouldnt be any different for container/ground as its the same process. The act of hilling up is to ensure the developing potatoes are never above ground as they grow as otherwise exposure to sunlight causes them to turn green (and start producing the poisonous solanine).
Generally unless I actually see a potato popping above ground I leave hilling/topping up until they have gained about 10cm of growth then top up until there is a set of leaves above ground.
Depending on the variety, the flowering stage is where they set all their first set (indeterminate) or all (determinate) their tubers and are in the process of bulking them up so I prefer to give mine a chance to bulk up first so I wait until the flowers have died back before I start harvesting the early varieties and I'll wait for full yellowing/dieback before harvesting maincrop types.
Brilliant responses, thank you both!
Regards