spud trench - how deep?

[Columbus]

Hi all,

I planted mine (Charlottes which did better than King Edwards last year) the same as Baggy. I did this mostly because I don`t know any better :(.
I have been worried that they may be too deep.
Thanks Baggy I`m a bit less worried now.  :D

I have some others chitting I can`t remember what though,
I`ll be doing them different and making a comparision.

Col

[Columbus]

[simon404]

Phil -  ;D Took me about ten minutes to geddit but I got there in the end.  ;)

[JohnnyLarge]

I planted some left over Charlottes (about 20) from Tesco's last year in some nice deep soil.
I dug a trench a spade wide and deep. I chucked the spuds in about 2 feet apart and covered them up. If the soil is soft enough, they don't want hilling up as they are deep enough.
The Charlottes were extremely prolific and were actually better than the original 'taters I bought in the first place.
I STILL have about 100 for seed to plant soon. This is after us gorging on them all Summer and storing them in my garage in a box all winter.

[bear]

Hmmm! I'm new to all this. I've got a bag of five different varieties from the organic gardening catalogue, so I thinks I'll just put them in six inches deep and see what comes up. Learn by experience!

[redimp]

I planted some left over Charlottes (about 20) from Tesco's last year in some nice deep soil.
I dug a trench a spade wide and deep. I chucked the spuds in about 2 feet apart and covered them up. If the soil is soft enough, they don't want hilling up as they are deep enough.
The Charlottes were extremely prolific and were actually better than the original 'taters I bought in the first place.
I STILL have about 100 for seed to plant soon. This is after us gorging on them all Summer and storing them in my garage in a box all winter.

Hmmm - I am new to this as well but I would not put supermarket spuds in the ground on my lottie - I have had enough warnings here and elsewhere.  Certified spuds are free of blight and other disease which can infect your ground for ten years.  Therefore I only use certified seed potato.  I do not think my fellow plot holders would approve of anything else - rightly - :-o)

[aquilegia]

I think I'm going to go with Tim's method. We've literally just finished digging and sieving the soil (it was gross), so it's all nice and fine anyway.

Planted 10 spuds in various containers yesterday. Most fun. Can't wait to get some in the soil (but I have to leave it due to the coffee!)

[Suffolklad]

Can I put fresh chook muck mixed with wood shavings in the bottoms of the trenches ?
It's something I have plenty of  ;D
Mike

[RobandAlly]

Now I may be asking the most stupid question here   :-[

I have read up and now know about earlys second early and maincrop what i need to know is do i plant potatoes in stages like early say 1st week april then a few weeks more do second and maybe a month longer do maincrop or do I plant earlys seconds and main now

[tim]

The potato tells you when it is ready.

Our earlies have been in for some time, but the seconds are only showing 1/4" sprouts, instead of 1/2 - 1".

[Clayhithe]

Tim,

That's brilliant!

I'll do that,  then cover them with cardboard.

Thanks.

[kenkew]

Chooks; When I kept hens I only used the droppings after storing for a year. It's hot stuff and needs time to cool off. I only ever used it for my onion beds.

[Merry Tiller]

That reminds me, second earlies due to go in now

[Merry Tiller]

Oh and seed pots don't carry blight, it's a fungus carried in the air

[philcooper]

Oh and seed pots don't carry blight, it's a fungus carried in the air

Rant warning

Merry Tiller,

You couldn't be more wrong, blight does overwinter in vegetative matter and reappears in the Spring. Aphids (particularly the peach aphid) feed on the infected haulms and spread the disease. Most outbreaks in the Uk are traced back to infected overwintered tubers.

See http://pestdata.ncsu.edu/CropProfiles/docs/OHpotato.html - they take their potatoes very seriously in Ohio - a large part of the state's income comes from potato production

Please don't save seed if there is any alternative, that's your own and that bought from a supermarket which is probably not grown in blight free areas

End of Rant

Phil

[Columbus]

Hi all,

Today I planted three rows of Maris Piper, not as deep as before and earthed them up a little. So for comparision, I have Charlottes planted in the valleys and Maris Piper planted under the mountains. But not in the same rows. If that makes any sense at all.

I guess they`ll be ok either way.

Col

[thomasb]

I like to plant my potatoes in a shallow trench, but then earth them up significantly at this stage. (see the pics below for an idea of what I mean).  The potatoes certainly find their way up. In a way this mimickes how my father planted potatoes using pipes attached to a plough behind a tractor. The front part of the plough opened a trench into which potatoes were dropped down into using the pipes. Then the back of the plough covered the potatoes and earthered them up at the same time.

Thomas

[tim]

Don't know why, but I've always believed it best to earth up every 4" of growth.

And never cover the foliage. Anything to do with photosynthesis?

[Suffolklad]

thomasb, I do mine the same way. It's how my parents and grandparents did it, with good results - so it's good enough for me :-)
Mike

[Mrs Ava]

I earth up as I see leaves, always leaving the tops showing.  It seems everyone has their own way of doing things, and by the sounds of it, everyone is rather pleased with their harvests.  Tomorrow I have 2 rows of King Edwards to get in.  That leaves me with 2 rows of sante to try and find room for....bit of a worry really as I don't know where they will squeeze in!

[redimp]

Seems to be a case of 'do what you do' or 'try what you see' and then carry on 'doing what you do' when that 'do' works for you. :)