Author Topic: The point of earthing up (Read 2823 times)

David R · « **on:** May 13, 2005, 15:36:56 »

Right then,

Been looking round my allotment and I can see almost everyone has their spuds growing at the tops of mounds.

Surely, they should be put in the bottom of the trench, then as the stems grow, the soil is earthed up from the soil in mounds either side, eventually leading to mounds building up where the stems are, ensuring long stems and lots of spuds.

I can only think that if the spuds are first planted at the top of a mound, it makes subsequant earthing up more difficult?

A bit confused really...... ???

tim · « **Reply #1 on:** May 13, 2005, 15:47:03 »

Have a look at 'Frosted Spuds'??

They started in a 4-5" trench & the soil grows up as the haulms grow.

Svea · « **Reply #2 on:** May 13, 2005, 19:15:58 »

different people, different methods.
on our site, it's half and half
some people have made big burial mounds - wonder who is under there ;)
then put the potatos very deep into them.
we started ours flat in a trench (flat on top) and earthed up twice already. another one time to follow this weekend.

what i have only just learned, is that the potatos grow between the seed potato, and the leaves/stem of the plant. the higher the mound, therefore, the more pots you can hope for. :)

svea

chrispea27 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 13, 2005, 19:33:39 »

has anybody got any tatties in flower yet?

tim · « **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2005, 19:39:12 »

Good thinking, Svea!

cleo · « **Reply #5 on:** May 13, 2005, 19:44:57 »

In flower?-so cold at nights here recently I am glad I am well behind lol.

Stephan

legless · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2005, 20:41:35 »

i've got buds but not open yet. (north east england by the sea)

Columbus · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2005, 21:37:22 »

Hi David,

I put some of my spuds at the top of the mounds "in the mountains" and some in trenches "in the valleys" They broke through at the same time and I`ve earthed up both twice. It doesn`t seem to make too much difference at this stage, but back filling the trench is a lot easier than making mounds when earthing up.

I think that burying them too deeply could cause problems if your soil is very shallow especially as in my case there is a risk of bringing up chalk if you dig too deeply.

Col

Rose.mary · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2005, 22:30:20 »

I am so glad this question came up,as this problem has been bothering me also.
I went on the potato website and they said bury potatoes 4" deep, which I did and I ended up with flat ground. No mound. Now after earthing up 3 times I have finally got my mounds. I just hope the potatoes don't mind.
Rosemary

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2005, 23:17:37 »

They won't; I grow mine on theflat with no problems. You just have to ensure that the tubers are going to be well buried by something so that they don't go green.

johcharly · « **Reply #10 on:** May 14, 2005, 01:14:05 »

Usually I grow my spuds 6inches down and dont bother earthing up much but this time I have planted shallower and am earthing as an experiment.

supernan · « **Reply #11 on:** May 14, 2005, 07:00:21 »

:) I have planted about 6" down and as I am on thick claggy clay that has not been worked for about 4 years I am earthing up with mushroom compost. Spuds seem to like it they are busting through each day.

I have twelve rows, also looking like burial mounds, tall people though about 12' LOL

Am hoping that the mushroom compost will help break down the clay. I have moved 2 tons so far. And back is protesting.

Anne Robertson · « **Reply #12 on:** May 14, 2005, 09:09:31 »

svea, you have switched on a light in my dim little brain, thank you ;D The earthing up etc makes so much more sense now. I thought/presumed the tatties grew downwards from the seed potato!

Andy H · « **Reply #13 on:** May 14, 2005, 10:47:36 »

We didn`t trench last year,(1st time) just smoothed off bit of 2x2 and made giant dibber! Dropped spud in and covered. The other day ours were about 3 of 64 plots with no frost damage!
Maybe that nasty tree is good for a bit of protection...

tim · « **Reply #14 on:** May 14, 2005, 17:29:07 »

This puts it quite nicely?

http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg9.htm

David R · « **Reply #15 on:** May 15, 2005, 12:13:59 »

thanks Tim, I did ok I think :)

pixelated · « **Reply #16 on:** May 15, 2005, 15:29:27 »

So you are suppost to earth up when shoots appear? I planted and earthed up straight away. Will this affect them growing?

Andy H · « **Reply #17 on:** May 15, 2005, 20:51:34 »

Shouldn`t do. I put 6" compo in pot about 16" high and put spuds in and filled it up ;)
Growing ok.....

philcooper · « **Reply #18 on:** May 16, 2005, 15:04:57 »

Svea is absolutely right. Seed potato tubers make a small amount fine root below themselves and then produce shoots which head rapidly upwards. On the way up roots are put out and on each of these a tuber (just a fat bit of root) forms. The longer you can make the shoot (underground) the more potatoes you will get - this is why potatoes do so well in deep containers. BUT to do best the plants need energy which they get from the leaves, so just burying the seed tuber very deep is not the answer.

The reason why you only dig a shallow (6") trench to plant potatoes is that this is the normal depth of topsoil, where the majority of the nutrients are. If you go deeper, it may be easier to fill in later, but you are planting the seeds in poor soil.

On earthing up, as Tim pointed out elsewhere, if you want maximum growth (and hence most potatoes) only earth up to the stems, leaving the leaves clear of the soil to collect sunlight and feed the plant. The exception to this when there is no other form of protection (such as fleece) and frost is threatened, soil over the leaves will protect them from being burnt by the frost.

The creation of a mound in which to bury the tubers causes 3 problems:

You spend effort building it up and then effort digging down deep into it.

The sprout has a long way to reach the surface before it can produce leaves which will provide energy for the plant

You miss out on the weed killing which rersults from the 2 or 3 earting ups, each of which acts like a very vigorous hoeing.

But - if it works for you use your own favourite technique!!

Phil

Lizard Man · « **Reply #19 on:** May 21, 2005, 08:37:33 »

I was reading through this thread and getting ready to respond, but Phil has replied admirably (and even more comprehensively than I was going to). Planting the potatoes deep will mean the poor plants will need to put all their energy into getting the leaves to the surface in order to be able to photosynthesise, and so new potatoes will not grow/grow very slowly initially. When earthing up, one should always make sure that the topmost leaves are still protruding so the plant can continue to catch light rays (as I noted was done on Gardeners World yesterday evening).

As for planting tatties at the top of a mound and then earthing up (thus creating a mound on a mound), this seems counter-productive. Are people actually doing this? Maybe there are benefits?

The old, tried-and-tested method of planting on the level and then earthing up seems to be the best bet (though I'm sure all methods work to some degree).

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Author Topic: The point of earthing up (Read 2823 times)