Topic: A couple of lessons here?

[tim]

1. It does not pay to be lazy. I just couldn't get the urge to earth up the potatoes more than twice - poorly. And now the blight has already got into the tubers - mush!! Never had this before.

2. And I say again - my preaching about leaving PFA until October?  - well, it has been a funny year?

[saddad]

I know what you mean about getting that earthing up done... I'm considering a no dig/ deep mulch/ lazy bed trial with a few next year...
 :-\

[Fork]

Do farmers grow their crops in no dig deep trenches?

I dont think its a good idea.Would they not be prone to even more rot etc in wet weather?

But if it works for you then go for it.

[tim]

At least it would be Wet Rot - your fault, rather than Blight Rot - their fault?

[Barnowl]

We had a few PFA last night (with their ends cut off) which had stuck their heads up through the soil without my spotting them in time (might have to earth up a little more).  Anyway, like yours Tim, they were a decent size.

[norfolklass]

a complete newbie, I grew potatoes for the first time this year. when I planted them in April I put them a good spit down on a bed of manure, then covered them and earthed up afterwards rather than worry about having to earth up as they grew.
I was worried that they were far too deeply buried and would never make it up into daylight but they were all absolutely fine. beginner's luck?!?
but I do have light sandy soil on my site, and April was very dry, so that probably made all the difference – if they'd been sitting in wet clay they might not have made it... will be doing exactly the same next year so will see if they do as well.

[Kepouros]

norfolklass, I am in full agreement with your deep planting (especially in sandy soil), but by earthing up immediately you actually defeated the main purpose of earthing up which, apart from providing cover for the developing tubers, is to encourage the plant to produce additional tuber bearing stolons from buried stem/leaf axyls.  Every such axyl which becomes buried will produce either another stem or a stolon, but it is usually stolons which are produced, particularly when the plants are nearing tuber initiation stage.

However, the stem/leaf axyls only form above the soil level, and burying the seed potato deeply simple means a greater length of etiolated and unproductive stem before the stem/leaf axyls can form - wasted time and effort from the plant`s point of view, and a reduction in the crop.  The ideal is to cover the seed as lightly as you reasonable can and then earth up when the first few axyls have formed.  I simply cover with an inch or so of good compost plus a double layer of fleece for late February planting.

[tim]

Wow!!

[Barnowl]

  The ideal is to cover the seed as lightly as you reasonable can and then earth up when the first few axyls have formed.  I simply cover with an inch or so of good compost plus a double layer of fleece for late February planting.

Presumably then it would be easiest to start at the bottom of a trench and drop the sides in as they grow (assuming sandy/free draining soil)?

[norfolklass]

  The ideal is to cover the seed as lightly as you reasonable can and then earth up when the first few axyls have formed.  I simply cover with an inch or so of good compost plus a double layer of fleece for late February planting.

Presumably then it would be easiest to start at the bottom of a trench and drop the sides in as they grow (assuming sandy/free draining soil)?

might try that – it'll give the old boys something to talk about next year ;D

[tim]

Just to rub it in a bit -

- had I not been so set in my ways, I could have checked the size of the PFA weeks ago - before the blight hit them - & found them quite adequate for lifting.

Oh, dear!

[Kepouros]

Barnowl - that is precisely what I do.  The soil from the trenches is simply piled into ridges between the trenches, and as the plants form the leaf axyls I simply pull it back 2 or 3 inches at a time.  Using this method you can finally earth up to a good 12 - 15 inches above planting level, and get several additional tuber producing stolons on the plant.

Norfolklass - Attagirl !

[Barnowl]

I'm up for it as well - the trouble is that now gives a minimum of four methods of planting to compare...

1. Traditional plant then earth up.
2. Deep Trench fill and leave / Deep Dib and leave
3. Trench and gradually fill in, then earth up
4. Potato Bags (gradual fill method)

We don't eat enough potatoes to try these for each variety at the same time!

[Kepouros]

Try it on an early (mid Feb) planting of First Earlies, Barnowl, and grow them on the multi-cropping principle.  The additional stolons produced are particularly ideal for the production of large numbers of the egg sized tubers which can be obtained by the multi-cropping method of growing:-

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,32869.msg329915.html#msg329915
and the follow up thread

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,33428.msg334144.html#msg334144

The third photo in this thread shows the large number of stolons produced by the growing method I described above

[Barnowl]

Thanks Kepouros - found those threads very interesting: well worth giving the technique a go. With our light soil, it shouldn't be too difficult to take up the plants without too much root damage.