Potatoes, peas, spacing etc info please

[Lisasbolt]

I have decided to make raised beds everywhere on my 5th this week and 10 more planed
Well I have made a very long L shape bed just for potatoes but the thing is they are not ready for 4/5 months.
I have always done the earthing up process and has mixed results, so anyway......
Can i plant my seed potatoes roughly a foot - foot and a half ish deep so I don't have to earth up
And then
Plant some peas or similar which will be done a lot sooner, especially when peas give up quickly in the heat here, so they would't be around for long.
Don't want to use all the space and expensive compost etc just for my potatoes.
I find mixed results on web searches
Thanks grapes

[WendyC]

That seems very deep planting to me. I think the seed potatoes would have run out of steam by then. Assuming they did grow, then the foliage is dense and covers the ground, effectively suppressing most weeds, and your peas as well. I'd be thinking more about what can follow the potatoes when they come out. When you say you have a long bed for potatoes presumably that is just for this year. How will you use the bed next year?

[spamvindaloo]

I had planned to do something similar. I hope to build my raised beds this weekend ready for planting in April.

I've read on here that some people plant their spuds deep to save on earthing up. My plan was to place the seed potatoes on the soil on the base of the bed and then cover it with a mixture of around 12" of MPC and topsoil (with a bit of potato fertiliser mixed in) and then just pretty much leave them to get on with it. Would this work?

[kathyd]

Personally I'd plant at a normal depth but through mulching fabric to keep the light out.. I think I'm right in saying (but no doubt someone will correct me ) that we cover them a) to protect from the weather early in the year and b) to stop light turning the spuds green. If you grow under fabric, possibly with a layer of mulch over the top, it keeps the light out and allows the tatties to grow quite near the surface, which makes for easier picking later. You can chuck fleece or newspaper or straw over them if frost is forecast - much easier than earthing up in my view. I've grown under a thick layer of straw (but make sure the soil is warm first, because it doesn;t seem to heat up later...), and under black fabric with a thin mulch on top. I'm using mulching fabric again this year.

[Kristen]

Farmers plant and earth-up all in one process, so I guess the spuds are "deep". personally I wouldn't plant mine deep as they, and their roots, would be in the sub-soil which would have far less air than my (9" or so) of top soil.

I don't see why you couldn't plant and "ridge" at the same time, rather than earthing up later, if that would do?

[Lisasbolt]

Coldness is not a problem here, I am starting off my peas in cells so could leave the potatoes for a few weeks and then earth up.
I will be planting more potatoes, ready for Xmas :-) I am not going to rotate for a while, I will just replace and repair the soil, I have a wonderful supplier who has the best home done compost, mixed with rotted manure, it does wonders for the vegetables.


I was also wondering about my asparagus bed if I can also grow something in there, alongside the asparagus, seems like an awfully big space just for asparagus for a two years before I even get a harvest.

[Kristen]

I was also wondering about my asparagus bed if I can also grow something in there, alongside the asparagus, seems like an awfully big space just for asparagus for a two years before I even get a harvest.

They put up a lot of foliage in the summer - not much may be able to grow near them?

Very shallow rooted too, so might disrupt their roots growing / harvesting (or even weeding) near them?

[Lisasbolt]

Thanks Kristen, you are always very helpful

[spamvindaloo]

Farmers plant and earth-up all in one process, so I guess the spuds are "deep". personally I wouldn't plant mine deep as they, and their roots, would be in the sub-soil which would have far less air than my (9" or so) of top soil.

I don't see why you couldn't plant and "ridge" at the same time, rather than earthing up later, if that would do?

In my case, the spuds (and their roots)would be on my existing allotment topsoil which is clay but it's just starting to be dry enough to rake. It would then be covered with a very light and airy (zero compaction) mixture of MPC and imported topsoil so my concern isn't over the growing medium but whether the haulm could push its way through 12" of the light airy mixture of if I should just add a few inches at a time.

[Kristen]

Either will be fine.

The beenfit, as such, of covering later is that you can do it when frost is forecast (to protect the leaves). Once the plant is above ground it will grow quite slowly, and stockily, so easy to cover (several times if necessary) if frost is forecast.

if you cover it, deeply, the plant will grow rapidly, under ground, searching for, and until it encounters, light

So if you do it all-in-one-go I think the plant will will be above the final mound height sooner than if you did it bit-by-bit.

Which only matters if you are going to need to protect it from frost. If you plant "late-ish", or live Down South, or are planning to fleece them if there is a frost, then neither of those things may matter