planted my 1st earlies on Sunday (a root day ;D) but am worried that I've planted them too deep.
I followed the advice of a plot neighbour and dug 8" deep trenches, put a layer of well rotted manure at least 2" deep in the bottom, put the spuds on this then covered them with soil. but, I had loads of soil left over, so I earthed up the trenches to make ridges: the spuds must be covered by at least 10" of soil in total â€" I was thinking that the soil would settle down a bit after a few days but now I'm worried that my spuds will never see the light of day!
should I take off some of the soil, or will they be OK?
also, should I have watered them in, do I need to water them now, or do I wait until they've reached the surface?
(why is it that the more you think or read about things, the more complicated they become?!? ::))
everybody finds their own way. when i plant mine i leave the soil flat and only start earthing up when the potatoes show, leaving the tops showing at all times
That sounds fine. Your neighbour is right. It will be about 4 weeks before you see them poking through, but that is normal. I also add a layer of manure over the top of the potato prior to the soil (but this is persoanl preference).
That is what I did last year and had a bit of a panic as they took forever to come through. But up they came in the end.... don't worry, they will be fine!
thanks all for the reassurance, it's very much appreciated ;D