Planted too deep...

[Vixen218]

Hi all,

Planted my potatoes a bit too deep I think. I planted them about 1 1/2 feet deep by accident and they have not started to break through yet, so I have now put some holes in the ground about 1/2 - 1 foot deep to encourage them...

They went in about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I put the holes in about 1 week ago.

Do you think they will grow or do I need to start over...

Really not doing well this year...

[polc1410]

I planted mine 3-4 weeks ago 9-12" deep and only one of about 50 has poped its head out (I guess it wasn't planted deep enough!) I don't really want to see their heads for at least 3 or 4 more weeks when all the risk of frost has passed...

I also planted in a bag with paper ontop. Can't be more than 6" of soil then 6" of paper. Had a sneaky look and no sign of them coming through the soil yet...

[Bigmallly]

They'll come through once the weather warms up a bit, you could always put some more in your new holes. Double Crop.

[rustylady]

That's some accident. How on earth did you get them that deep?

[Bigmallly]

That's some accident. How on earth did you get them that deep?

Trying to spy on Feral..............

[veggiechicken]

..........Yep - spuds have eyes..............

[Jamesy_uk]

Well yeh if the seed spuds were large they may have the energy to grow that tall and punch through but if they were small maybe not.

[kathyd]

They'll come through once the weather warms up a bit, you could always put some more in your new holes. Double Crop.

Can you really do that BM? Plant one crop on top of another? Wouldn't they be overcrowded if they all came up?

[Two_Sheds]

I also planted in a bag with paper ontop. Can't be more than 6" of soil then 6" of paper. .

What kind of paper, and why ???

[Vixen218]

That's some accident. How on earth did you get them that deep?

I dug down into the compacted soil only about 1/2 - 1 foot deep, but when I put the soil back on it wasnt compacted and didn't realise what I had done... I was going to try the method where you only plant the spuds about 6" deep and then cover over with black plastic (no dig method)... But think I got a bit carried away... Oooops...

Think I might plant some more in my new holes... Just realised that I have eventually got to dig up that 1 1/2 foot of soil... So much for my no dig season... Lol...

[rustylady]

How many spuds did you plant Vixen?

You say you planted them and backfilled with loose soil - I presume you now have a ridge over the potatoes. Instead of digging holes why not just rake some of the soil away?

[Vixen218]

I planted about 20 potatoes... Dug out half of my raised bed, layed 3 month old chicken manure and then put potatoes in... Then covered over the top with the soil... No ridges...

Not a great start lol... Will just put more on top

[polc1410]

What kind of paper, and why ???

Ah - when you re-read that and you don't know what I meant that sounds even crazier than the cray experiment it already is!

So I got a delivery the other week which came packages with brown paper as a packing material that seems to have been through some sort of machine to 'rumfle' it. Never seen it before. The package was chemicals so I assume the idea is that it might absorb a leak better than foam chips or giant air bubbles and also be more environmentally friendly. They are curled up a bit like swiss rolls and stacked on top of the soil to (a) add some insulation - its still freeing up here (b) act like earthing up (c) act like a mulch.

Well thats my theory at least. So it meant I was able to lift the paper bits off and look underneath for growth...

[rustylady]

See what you mean now Polc. Be interesting to find out whether it works. I presume you've only put the paper on the spuds that are in the planter bag.

By the way, whereabouts are you - You say it's still freezing up there? If you add your location to your profile it will show up on your posts.

[polc1410]

Yes - just the ones in the bag, they'd blow away on the ground... The hope was by insulating it that they would pop up sooner, be my first crop then a week or two later my ones in the ground would be ready...