Just to be clear...... how many inches should I leave between rows of King Edward spuds?
Thanks.
well i leave at 2 1/2 ft cos you gotta earth em up
I left about 1 foot between my pink fir apples as I thought they were only small. Big mistake, as I think I'm going to have to barrow in earth from somewhere else!
I grow mine on the flat, with six inches of mulch over the top. A foot apart for first earlies, fifteen inches for everything else.
I now realise the reason for the huge gap. I put mine closer this year and am having difficutly earthing them up. I should know that there is usually a reason for the recommended spacing, doh!!! :(
15" to18" for me.......I dont physically measure my boot is about 12" long so its my boot and a bit!
As king Edwards are a main crop and you will probably be earthing them up a couple of times. I would say set your rows at 2 foot apart..
Cut a couple of sticks to this size and put em each side of your row and move your line the width of these.
Or get a pair of Tee Gees old boots and add a bit, probably the size of another one of his boots. ;)
Thanks, guys.
I intend to build up a straight ridge along the row at the time that I plant them, to prevent the need for further earthing up. Is this practical? As this would mean that I am relying on the spud plants growing out at the top of the ridge........?
Following my wife's technique, I plant potatoes in holes at the bottom of 6" deep trenches, earth being heaped up between the rows. To earth up it's easy to gently refill the trenches around the plants, and then there' still enough earth left between rows to pull up more earth around the plants in a second manouvre a few weeks later. About 2' between rows works pretty well for this.
Robin
Welcome to A4A Robin... :)
I've done something similar to BertieBasset (aka robin) this year and so far it seems a lot easier to earth up
I plant just beneath the surface and earth up. That way I dont have to dig to put them in and minimal digging when I take them out. :)
Do you earth up spuds to keep out the light , if that is the case, could you cover them up with something or is it to make more potatoes. A guy on the next allotment planted spuds in his raised bed and perhaps they are a bit too close. He keeps buying compost to put over them but it is falling out of the sides of the bed and has been expensive.
I put mine too close, also but mine are on the flat and the mound is easier to keep in place but am having to get soil from elsewhere as I have found the gap too small between rows. Will not do that again!!! :-[
Quote from: cacran on May 28, 2009, 09:45:42
Do you earth up spuds to keep out the light , if that is the case, could you cover them up with something or is it to make more potatoes. A guy on the next allotment planted spuds in his raised bed and perhaps they are a bit too close. He keeps buying compost to put over them but it is falling out of the sides of the bed and has been expensive.
I put mine too close, also but mine are on the flat and the mound is easier to keep in place but am having to get soil from elsewhere as I have found the gap too small between rows. Will not do that again!!! :-[
yes why not pick up some cheap weed suppressant from poundland, etc and cover the mounds on either sides from the base right up to the plant's stems s snug as you can. it maynot last till next season but it will work this season.
and tell your neighbour next year to start by ensuring the potato bed is filled to the brim, then cover with weed suppressant fabric (the water permeable type), cut a slit for each planting hole, then plant his spuds in his beds about 4 inches deep, when they start to emerge if the weed fabric is lifting up at the hole entrances he can pin the edges down to ensure light exclusion, then he won't have to worry about earthing up at all. He can also cover the fabric with a layer of grass clippings which should help hold moisture in the soil, keep the beds warm and look more pleasing to the eye.
he may also find when come to harvesting a lot may have formed on the surface of the soil under the fabric making for easier harvesting :).
hopes this helps you both, happy growing :).
I know this is wider than the book, but it makes spraying easier/more effective.
Looking good Tim (as per) ;)
I have done it the way Robin/Bertie has mentioned:
(http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o246/cosmoanddibs/100_1848.jpg)
I just hope they grow out of the top now!
Quote from: cacran on May 28, 2009, 09:45:42
Do you earth up spuds to keep out the light , if that is the case, could you cover them up with something or is it to make more potatoes. A guy on the next allotment planted spuds in his raised bed and perhaps they are a bit too close. He keeps buying compost to put over them but it is falling out of the sides of the bed and has been expensive.
I put mine too close, also but mine are on the flat and the mound is easier to keep in place but am having to get soil from elsewhere as I have found the gap too small between rows. Will not do that again!!! :-[
you can use grass cuttings to mound up its free and creates extra warmth
Quote from: daileg on May 28, 2009, 17:07:53
you can use grass cuttings to mound up its free and creates extra warmth
Make sure the grass hasn't had 'weed and feed' on it, it'll kill the spuds.
Quote from: cacran on May 28, 2009, 09:45:42
Do you earth up spuds to keep out the light , if that is the case, could you cover them up with something or is it to make more potatoes. A guy on the next allotment planted spuds in his raised bed and perhaps they are a bit too close. He keeps buying compost to put over them but it is falling out of the sides of the bed and has been expensive.
I put mine too close, also but mine are on the flat and the mound is easier to keep in place but am having to get soil from elsewhere as I have found the gap too small between rows. Will not do that again!!! :-[
The purpose of earthing up is both to prevent light reaching the new tubers, and also to increase the yield. If the leaf axyls on the main stems are earthed over, extra tuber bearing stolons will grow from them, resulting in more spuds.
Making a mound over the sed potatoes immediately after planting will certainly keep the light out, but serves no other useful purpose and simply makes the plant waste time and effort reaching daylight.
In my 60 odd years of growing spuds I have always planted at the bottom of a 9" deep trench, and since the advent of fleece I never cover the seed with more than an inch of decent home-made compost and a double layer of fleece, which stays on until earthing up. This means that the plants are initially short jointed, and merely pulling the piled up soil from the trench edges give a good 6" of earthing up and covers several leaf axyls. With a 2ft gap between rows it is still perfectly easy to pull up another 6" around the plants from between the rows giving a total 12" of earthing up - enough for any potato.
That sounds like a good way to plant them. I will make a note of that and do it next year.
I asked the next plot holder about mine and he said that I had earthed them up enough already, so I guess I was worrying about nothing.
Can't wait to try the new method next time though, I am convinced it will be better than the way I have been doing it. :)