Potato planting distance - time-limited question

[T-lady]

Hi All

I'm leaving work early tonight (3.30pm) to plant my main crop potatoes and ... I don't have space to plant them all at the proper distance (rows 30" apart, 15" between spuds = 24 spuds). So please tell me, what's the best way to cheat the system?

Option a) rows 24" apart, 15" between spuds (= 30 spuds planted) or
Option b) rows 30" apart, 12" between spuds (= 32 spuds planted)

I bought about 40 spuds so I'm really not wanting to waste them but can only cope with a couple of bags of spuds on the patio.


Any advice gratefully received!

[srodders]

OOps looks like mine are too close together - rows 12" apart spuds 12" apart. They seem to be growing OK so far. I'd go for option (a) of those.

[T-lady]

Hey srodders

Were yours main crop or earlies ?

[Snadger]

Option a) is about the same as mine maincrops will be planted!

[T-lady]

Thanks snadger

[The Doctor]

I put my maincrop spuds in a raised bed thats around metre wide. I'm not planning on walking on it, so didn't need any space between the rows. I have therefore put three rows in, probably about 10 inches between, and am planning to cover the whole bed with straw when they start to poke through rather than earth them up (an idea nicked from Snadger I think!).

[Flummery]

I'd go for 15" each way but stagger the rows.

[T-lady]

Thanks folks, it's 3.33pm so I'm off home. It takes 40 minutes to drive there, that gives me that much time to pondr what you've said and make a decision ... arrgh!

[bridget mc laughlin]

My maincropers are gettin planted 1 foot apart and the width of the shovel between rows

[jacob marley]

My maincropers are gettin planted 1 foot apart and the width of the shovel between rows

Where are you going to get the soil from to earth them up from jacob

[dasantillo]

We have 1.3x2 metre beds and ignored the distant instructions and planted them with gaps that looked right (3 rows with around 9-10 in each row), but were closer together than they should have been. We got 400 Desiree spuds, albeit 2 months early due to all the rain, which kept us going from July to December.

To answer the earthing up question, this year in the same width bed (but rotated), I dug a trench and piled the earth in the centre, then dug a hole in the bottom of the trench and planted the potato and covered. This leaves enough soil for earthing up. Not sure how successful it'll be, but the first earlies are looking very healthy and the main crop are poking through. The beds are double dug and at least two concrete blocks deep. My only thought is we could be tunneling to Australia to find the spuds ;-)

Dan.

[T-lady]

OK so I hedged bets but realised that, with 52 potatoes to put somewhere (!) I had to break 'rules'. I went for 2ft between rows and 4 spuds per 5ft row. Still leaves me with a dozen spuds left over so I'm going to have to bung them in bags and see how I go on.

Thanks for all the advice folks.

[dasantillo]

I went for 2ft between rows and 4 spuds per 5ft row.

Wow, that's so much further apart than we planted ours last year - I think we had 12-14 inches between rows and 10-12 inches between potatoes. I wonder how many more pots we would have had if we'd planted further apart, or how bigger (and we had some big ones!). Maybe it doesn't make that much difference if you have deep beds.

Here's a couple of pics from last year's crop:
http://www.dansantillo.com/temp/51356.jpg
http://www.dansantillo.com/temp/51338.jpg

[Snadger]

OK so I hedged bets but realised that, with 52 potatoes to put somewhere (!) I had to break 'rules'. I went for 2ft between rows and 4 spuds per 5ft row. Still leaves me with a dozen spuds left over so I'm going to have to bung them in bags and see how I go on.

Thanks for all the advice folks.

Sounds good to me! btw, what variety of maincrop are you growing?

[T-lady]

Thanks Snadger. I've gone a bit OTT with ... Lady Balfour, Cara, Kerr's Pink, Remarka, Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona. Any experience with any of this lot?

Dasantillo - looks like an excellent crop. I think that the huge planting distances are for volume of crop and being able to access it / find enough soil to earth it up without exposing neighbouring tubers (a big problem in my first year of growing spuds - planted far too close)