HI . Ive planted potatoes on top of manure (not fresh) in trenches i got it from a farm in the beginning of January will they be OK? or should i have put some soil on top of it first , the have been in about 2 to 3wks. :-\
Most of the old boys at my place do it that way so I should say they'll be fine.
I rotorvate barrow loads of manure where my tates are going and they was fine last year.
yes they will be fine. i do it that way. its actually pretty hard to do much wrong with potatoes. ;) they can take a good two to three weeks to come up if the weather is chilly and if you have planted them a bit deep. panic not. :D
Patience is a virtue my good man. All in good time ;)
Quote from: compo49 on April 17, 2008, 20:53:52
HI . Ive planted potatoes on top of manure (not fresh) in trenches i got it from a farm in the beginning of January will they be OK? or should i have put some soil on top of it first , the have been in about 2 to 3wks. :-\
A thought, why put the manure under the potato set when the tuber grows upwards and you have put the feed is below it
Moisture retention?
I only have fresh manure (well, it is dryer than fresh, about 2 months old).
If I chopped it up and mixed it say half and half with soil would that still be too strong for potatoes?
spuds love manure - my spud beds get copious amounts of new manure in the winter and I don't dig it in just leave it as it gets slightly dug in when I plant the spuds - I also think all the manure helps keep the soil warmer as well as keeping slugs away - it all magically disappears by the time I come to pull the spuds :)
I mispent my youth working on an old fashioned farm in the 1950's during every school holiday, driving the tractor by the age of 10 (no anti-roll bars on the old Ferguson), mucking out pigs, milking cows by hand, and tending the land.
The potatoes were planted in ploughed furrows into which copious amounts of cow manure has been added. The potatoes were placed by hand into the manure before covering up with soil.
It was part of the farmers livelihood and they always grew well!
Happy days without TV or money!
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_potatoes.html
That was proper farming which cared for the land instead of mining it.
Yes a gentler age. You wouldn't make any money doing it that way now.
How very sad.
Progress, we are all the worse for it i fear.
Thank you for those answers. yes, it is sad that the health of the land is often forgotten.
My husband just finished reading a book called Collapse which covered the demise of various societies around the world due often to poor land husbandry. Not an inconsequential act.