Have I earthed up correctly? (with pics)

[Cosmo and Dibs]

This is how they were:


This is what I did today:


How's that? It looks a bit messy, and I would have preferred ridges, but I just did circular mounds around each plant. Is that ok?

How many more times should I need to do it?

Thanks.

[shirlthegirl43]

How deep did you plant the seed spuds? That will help with how much to earth up. Remember, farmers don't earth up their spuds - they just bung em in deeper.

[Lazgaot]

Ideally you should have planted them in rows. Its my second attempt at potatoes and having observed how farmers do it I thought I'd try it. I also did a "normal" bed and I've been earthing up this afternoon. Here are some pics hopefully to show you.
The first two are of the a bed I'm trying to emulate commercial farmers. The trench is about 6-8" deep and then I covered everything up and made a large mound. Hopefully I shouldn't have to earth these up.

The last three are of a bed I rushed through with some friends. I planted the potatoes in a trench but it wasn't that deep and I didn't mound up the soil afterwards. I started earthing up today and you can see the two mounds and the trench in the middle. I've planed some squashes in there!

[Gwyndy]

The traditional method is to plant in rows and earth up in a ridge which is fairly quick and easy. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way that you have done it. The purpose of earthing up is (a) to protect the shoots from frost as they emerge from the ground, and (b) to encourage the development of longer underground stems which will bear the potatoes.

[james747]

are you supposed to earth up around the leaves or completely cover them??

[digthatchick]

Some do and some leave the leaves showing - I completely cover the leaves.

[Iamhanuman]

hey can i just say WELL DONE C&D!!!!
congrats on getting that far, and i bet you'll get a bumper crop!
people earth up in different ways, so it will just be a waiting game

[zazen999]

Ideally you should have planted them in rows.

May I ask why?

I plant mine in mounds, and earth up round them. I'm just interested in why rows are better?

[Nicos]

I've thought long and hard about rows vs mounds........( about 3 mins!!!!)

The only benefit I can see for rows is that if you wait for the haulms to completely die back, then it's easy to 'find' the crop along a row- cos you just start digging where you left off after cropping the previous plant
I wonder if , with mounds, it's more difficult to locate the next plant if the mound has flattened down a bit???

Just a thought.
I suppose when you dig the whole patch you'll find them anyway- but i like to lave mine in the ground for few weeks to help with their 'storage'

[Two_Sheds]

personally, I wouldn't bury the leaves unless a frost was due.

The leaves need to photosynthesise, and they can't do that underground.

[jackie j]

I have done mine in rows but only cos I thought this was the way to do it, so I guess there is nothing wrong with mounds. Didnt think to put squashes in amongst them though, would this be ok.

[Iamhanuman]

squashes and potatoes.... interesting
i like it

[Glutton4...]

I can't wait for my earlies to be ready, I need the ground for more 'stuff!' I haven't earthed mine up quite so much, as I've run out of soil, and can't really afford to buy any more compost atm (bought too many spuds so got loads in tubs too!)

I did mine in rows, so I knew where they were, and that's the way I've seen it done before. I had to dig out two more spuds before I planted my Runners yesterday They haven't been in that bed for two years, my Dad's dug it, I've dug it and so have the Chooks - how did we miss them?

[Matt.]

Planting in rows is more likley to maximise your ground use. You can plant an even distance apart along the length of the row and the width. Also if you prefer to dig a trench prior to planting all at once.

I think you've done great and it doesn't matter its not in rows. Earthing up is fine as you've done but as two sheds says you do need to allow the leaves exposure to light. Don't worry you'll soon get new leaves above ground. Rembember you can only practically earth up so high and the spuds will grow taller than this!

I earth up at the same time as planting. Although I plant in rows this helps to identify exactly where the row is.

[pdblake]

I don't usually plant spuds in the ground I usually do them in buckets and rubble bags, so don't have the rows vs mounds problem. But I must say all those mounds make it look like you have moles

I earth up the first time with a bit of compost, this year I'm trying grass clippings for any subsequent topping up, until I reach the top of the bucket/bag.