How high to mound my potato plants?

BrotherNorm 5/14/2012, 11:23 am

Greetings.....

So, my French fingerlings and Yukon golds are growing like a herd of turtles. I added another 2x4 to the box bring the height up to 10 inches. My MM is just about level with the top of the newly added board and the potatoes are still towering above that.

The question is, is a ten inch tall bin high enough or should I keep building it taller and adding more MM???

Cheers

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 3170584802

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 3170584802

**gwennifer** 5/17/2012, 12:06 pm

Hey BrotherNorm! So I've always read that 18" is a standard ultimate depth for potatoes. They will grow like weeds and continue growing up and up if you keep burying them, but it's deceiving - don't expect to get more potatoes in all that extra depth. I don't know about the French Fingerlings, but we've had forum members (including myself) find that the Yukons only set tubers in the 6" above the seed potato. They aren't known for continuing to root along the stem. So I bet you can leave them alone as-is.

hruten 5/17/2012, 12:21 pm

I do not know about potatoes, but I am interested in growing them and researched past threads on this site for information. If I remember those past threads, they agreed with the yukon gold 6" theory, but other potoatoes aparently keep producing the more MM you pile on.

Do a search for growing potatoes and you will find lots of threads about potato towers, how to add dirt, etc. Lots of info, I'm still reading

kbb964 5/17/2012, 12:30 pm

I have mine in towers, therefore I will keep adding dirt, straw till they reach the 3 foot level.
Your fingerlings should keep setting tubers if you cover them. I dont know about yukon golds

**rowena___.** 5/17/2012, 1:08 pm

i cover mine continuously until they start to bloom, regardless of height.

BrotherNorm 5/17/2012, 1:29 pm

Great feedback. Thanks everyone!

Cheers

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 3170584802

gregrenee88 5/17/2012, 8:54 pm

Good to know we are on the right track! We planted 2 squares of red potatoes, 4 per square, and they are going nuts! Our boxes are 8" deep and some of the foilage are about 3-4" inches above the edge of box. I just keep piling on the mix...no buds for flowers yet.

Renee Wink

JennAndCompany 5/18/2012, 12:09 am

gwennifer wrote:Hey BrotherNorm! So I've always read that 18" is a standard ultimate depth for potatoes. They will grow like weeds and continue growing up and up if you keep burying them, but it's deceiving - don't expect to get more potatoes in all that extra depth. I don't know about the French Fingerlings, but we've had forum members (including myself) find that the Yukons only set tubers in the 6" above the seed potato. They aren't known for continuing to root along the stem. So I bet you can leave them alone as-is.

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 728280

Gwennifer - this is my first year with Yukons and they are already in 18 inches of MM (in the 12" SFG with another 6" hightop sitting upon that). They have grown so quickly I thought I might have to consider mounding more MM, but I am not going to worry about it now potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 833560

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 833560

**gwennifer** 5/18/2012, 2:43 am

Well Jenn, be sure to pay close attention when you dig in to harvest those Yukons. Let us know if you find any up high, or if they're all down at the bottom. The more notes/experience we all share, the better! Mine are currently in 18" and still growing like crazy too. We'll see what happen!

curio 5/18/2012, 8:16 am

The fingerlings will continue to produce all along the buried stem, as it is a long season/indeterminate potato. The Yukon Gold is an early/determinate variety, setting "fruit" all at once, with it maturing at roughly the same time.
We plant the mid and late season potatoes in towers that are 4' tall, and usually end up filling until they are at least three feet filled. We will later harvest potatoes of various sizes all along the depth of the tower. We generally start at the bottom, pulling off one or two boards and digging in to harvest, then replacing the soil and board.
Our potatoes are going gangbusters, with the indeterminates ranging from about 12" to nearly 2' tall now. The Yukon Golds are probably 16-18" tall now, and are buried to the 12" mark.

kbb964 5/18/2012, 10:06 am

Mine are growing like crazy also! I cant keep up with them. I go to make a cup of tea, come back and I swear they have grown half an inch...

I am struggling finding straw to mulch them with. Searched high and low.
So far I have earthed up with mels mix, extra peat and compost. Today I might have to resort to shredded bills which is the only thing i have left!

BrotherNorm 5/18/2012, 10:14 am

Good news on the fingerlings. Looks like I'm heading out to get some more 2x lumber and MM ingredients. I think for next year I'll build the towers because I think it will be easier to manage.

kbb964 5/18/2012, 12:09 pm

**NOTE - EDIT** Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte.

bookmark this link for when you do get around to making those potato towers! I used cedar wood fence pickets ! cheapest option.

http://www.veggiegardener.com/how-to-build-potato-tower/

these are mine
[url=https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-kbb964/img-0359-pic_3080.htm] potato - How high to mound my potato plants? Img_0335

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? Img_0335

plantoid 5/18/2012, 8:22 pm

It will be interesting to see eventual out come of what I've planted .

The glasshouse containers are on their fourth earthing up with MM .. Have to gie them more tomorrow . I have extended the sides of the bags with fairly rigid poly prop sheeting , the tops are now almost three feet tall .

The outside potato bags have had their first five inchs of earthing up , one with MM ,the other plain old garden soil , they are also getting another layer tomorrow. The MM ones are well ahead of the garden soil ones in leaf size , height and colour.

JennAndCompany 5/18/2012, 11:36 pm

gwennifer wrote:Well Jenn, be sure to pay close attention when you dig in to harvest those Yukons. Let us know if you find any up high, or if they're all down at the bottom. The more notes/experience we all share, the better! Mine are currently in 18" and still growing like crazy too. We'll see what happen!

I will update about my Yukon Golds (on this thread) when harvest time arrives Very Happy

Tomorrow (in the daylight) I will get a photo of the crazy growing going on with my potatoes.

potato - How high to mound my potato plants? 385266

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