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This may seem inane to most of the vines, but how do you earth up potatoes? do you just cover the leaves or pull them off? how much of the shoot do you leave showing?
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I'd love the answer to this one too. for me all my tato's are in bagss on the patio and last year and this I'll be topping up little and often just under the top foliage as I did last year which worked well for me. My dad covered his plants over the tops and it just slowed his plant right down and he ended up with nothing for his efforts. -
I suspect there are as many answers as gardeners! I draw up the soil around but leave a little bit of the top growth showing. However, if there's a frost warning I will cover them completely. They still 'get out' and keep growing.Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.
www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - SpringComment
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Right, I have 8 Rocket in 8 pots. I have earthed four of them up so that the growing tip is still showing, and I have completely covered the other four, wait and see!!Comment
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I wonder if they need some light for a day or so before adding more compost as they ARE meant to be covered completely. Maybe your dad covered them as soon as they popped through the soil? Would love to know the answer to this as I have some pots in a bag and will be gutted if they don't come through because I'm earthing up too early.Originally posted by fiskies View PostComment
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checked youtube out, and all the answers seem to contradict themselvesComment
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As I'm further south, we rarely have a very hard frost after the plants have come through, so I only every cover to just below the top growth. Sometimes the top growth has had a little frost damage, but it doesn't affect the potatoes. The tops just keep growing and growing!Life is too short for drama & petty things!
So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!Comment
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Last year I buried my seed spuds about a foot deep, ridged the soil over the top and left them to it. I'm not doing that this year as some never showed, but those that did gave a decent crop.
Those around me on the site tend to bury them over the top while they can and then either use plastic tunnels to keep the frost off or - if the frost gets on them - water it off before the sun comes up.
One of them (who gets great spud crops) told me it's when the sun hits the frosty tops that they get damaged - he watered frost off them before dawn every day for a couple of weeks last year after a strong wind destroyed his plastic covering and they did really well.
Davy - please let us know if you notice any difference between your pots. I'm always interested to see those side-by-side comparisons.Comment
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If there is a frost warning cover them with fleece the day before.Gardening ..... begins with daybreak
and ends with backache
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Think about why we earth up
It's to protect the developing tubers from light and frost. It can also increase the yield in maincrops.
You don't actually need to earth up at all: you can just make sure the tubers are protected from sunlight (by mulching: I use wet newspapers & grass clippings).
Frost is a different matter. Spuds are tender (they're from S.America) and won't survive a frost. If one is forecast, you must cover any leaves, with fleece or newspaperAll gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.Comment
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Beacause I plant my spuds in pockets I don't usually earth up at all. I get reasonable crops in fact I was preparing a spot for something else and dug up a shy of kestrel I'd missed from last year. All were still perfectly edible!
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)
Diversify & prosper
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Snadger... "pockets"?
Wassat, then?
Where do I read more?Last edited by BigShot; 10-04-2011, 07:58 PM.Comment
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I grow my main crop in dustbins so frost is not a problem if a cold night is forecast I pop the lid on at last light and remove it again in the morning when the danger has past.
As to earthing up last year I had two bins side by side one was earthed up to completly cover the growing shoots, the other earthed up leaving the topmost shoots showing. To try and ensure a good trial both bins were black plastic and both were fed and watered identically. The result no discernable difference in the crop.
I do think earthing up properly in containers pays dividends purely from the fact you will often find spuds just below the uppermost surface of the compost when you harvest.
ColinPotty by name Potty by nature.
By appointment of VeggieChicken Member of the Nutters club.
We hang petty thieves and appoint great ones to public office.
Aesop 620BC-560BC
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That's what I'm always being told by the locals here and this is (or at least, used to be) Potato Country: DOriginally posted by BigShot View Post
I've never actually had to deal with a hard frost on my early spuds although I suspect a couple of mine that were in a cloche got a bit singed around the edges a few weeks back.
When earthing up, I think that the tops should always be uncovered (unless frost is imminent) so they can get their "light" fix and continue growing strongly.Jiving on down to the beach to see the blue and the gray, seems to be all and it's rosy-it's a beautiful day!Comment
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