Earthing up potatoes...

[21again]

I have some potatoes in the veg rack that have got green shoots on and when I say green I mean leaves are starting to grow out of them!

Shows how often I venture into the bottom of the veg rack.



Will they be ok to plant in a grow bag?

[Creemteez]

i was told not to use grass clippings as the turn into a slim and are wet and then the tubers rot. i'm not sure if i should now or not?

As long as you don't put 'em on too thick - a couple of inches is fine - and let them dry out a bit before covering with some soil or compost it should be fine. I've been doing mine in alternating layers of soil, clippings, compost, and they're doing just dandy!

[jacob marley]

I have some potatoes in the veg rack that have got





Will they be ok to plant in a grow bag?

They should be ok not a problem....jacob

[21again]

They should be ok not a problem....jacob

Thanks very much, I planted them this morning after watching tattiemans vid so hopefully they will be ok.

[tattieman]

Thanks very much, I planted them this morning after watching tattiemans vid so hopefully they will be ok.

Here are mine now after being topped up 3 times. They have just popped through the top surface. They have been outside all the time since planting.
Everytime the shoots popped through I gave them a good watering then added 6" of DRY compost on top and left them. When they popped through that layer I watered and added the final 6" of DRY compost and the job was finished. Really easy. I never added any extra water apart from the 2 times I topped up.

[tattieman]

Here are my pride and joy exhibition spuds 2 weeks apart.

[Lazgaot]

Tattieman, some questions for you that I've been pondering on....do the potato tubers below the soil grow at about the same depth/level as the seed potato that was planted? Or do they grow off the stems of the potato plant and therefore at different levels in the soil, hence the need to earth up??

Are commercially grown potatoes earthed up at all? On the lottie I planted them about 6" deep in trenches then piled all the soil over the top in a mound. I'd say the top of the mound is about 6-8" above the potato below. I was hoping to not have to earth up as I was hoping they were planted deep enough that any tubers would develop well below the surface.

[tattieman]

Lazgot that is how we do it. We never earth up after they are planted. I have video's if you click on the links in my sig. You can see the beds before and after planting. Potatoes grow upwards hence the need to earth up.

[Lazgaot]

Thanks tattieman

[21again]

Thanks tattieman, I haven't grown spuds before so your vids are really helpful.

[south cambs grower]

OK, so what do I do now...

Tried to plant early potatoes this year for the first time. I read the books on earthing up. But the mistake I may have made was not earthing up sufficiently and covering the greenery emerging from the soil. I earthed up leaving a few inches of shoot at the top, and I have done this twice.

But now I have green shoots that are about 20 to 30 cms high from a pretty high pile of earth. At the moment no tubers are showing through - I'm aware that if they see light they turn green and are poisonous.

I can't put any more soil on as I am running out of space. I'll try grass clippings or straw but the green shoots are too high to cover them over. Shall I just keep watering, keep the tubers hidden from daylight, and pick as soon as possible even though the spuds will be small. Or abandon the project and grow something else before it is too late.

[Potstubsdustbins]

SCG sounds just about right to me, the haulms will grow to that size above ground, so long as no tubers are showing thats fine.

Keep them well watered in dry weather and they should be fine.

If they are main crop they do say that when the haulms die back this goes back into the spuds for a better crop.

Colin

[fiskies]

All my tatoes are in bags in the garden and now I've earthed up to the top of the bags the foilage above are at least 40-50cm high, just gonna let em grow till they die off then see what I got.

[Davyburns]

Daft question when you earth up do you cover the leaves? Or just round the stalk?

I have been running an experiment whereI completely cover 4 containers, so no green at all shows, and cover another 4 so the top 4" of leaves show, and up to now, I can see no difference at all. Wont really know till they have been lifted

[Potstubsdustbins]

Davy,

I did exactly the same with two black dustbins a couple of years ago. 4 sets of Lady C in each, both watered and fed at the same time with the same amounts, both bins turned through 180`s at the same time.

My result was no difference, if you get the same that would be good as we could class it as a true result.

Colin