When/how often to add soil arround potatoes

Sunsanvil 6/10/2020, 7:28 am

We've been doing potatoes in our SFG for a couple years now using method of dig-a-hole (~8in deep), plant seed potato, and then fill hole with soil as it grows. I'm just wondering if we are doing that last part right. What we've been doing is waiting for the greenery to grow a bit, then add soil to the hole such that only a bit of green is showing, and repeat every inch of growth or so. Is that the right way to do it, or should we wait until the growth reaches the top of the hole and fill it in all at once?

Thanks.

OhioGardener 6/10/2020, 8:26 am

I would fill the hole when the seed potatoes are planted, and then hill them up when the potato plants are about 6" high or so. That will give the plants another 5" of soil in which to develop roots and tubers.

Sunsanvil 6/10/2020, 9:06 am

OhioGardener wrote:I would fill the hole when the seed potatoes are planted

Do you mean plant them a full 8" deep?!?

OhioGardener 6/10/2020, 9:14 am

Sunsanvil wrote:
OhioGardener wrote:I would fill the hole when the seed potatoes are planted

Do you mean plant them a full 8" deep?!?

Yes, I plant them 6" to 8" deep and they don't have any problem pushing up through the soil as they sprout. Since the tubers develop along the stems, the deeper the stems are the more tubers can develop - that I why they are hilled even more as they grow.

mollyhespra 6/10/2020, 9:42 am

If it helps to reassure you, my MM is about 10" deep, and they go in all the way to the bottom and then get covered all the way back up again immediately. I've never hilled in the sfg, except with a thick layer of straw mulch. My season is so short, and the SFG is so productive anyway that I don't bother with hilling.

**sanderson** 4/3/2022, 11:13 pm

This is the year of my potato experiment. Every year I try something new. I normally grow grocery store reds by planting 4 eyes in 5-gallon buckets. With encouragement by a SFG Certified Inspector and Master Gardener in Texas, I'm growing Yukon seed potatoes in 6-7" of Mel's Mix in a table top bed. The eyes were planted 4"+ deep, 1 per square. Another seed was planted 4"+ deep in a 5-gallon bucket. Here they are on March 17.

Potatoes - When/how often to add soil arround potatoes Potato15

Here they are today, 4-3-22.

Potatoes - When/how often to add soil arround potatoes Potato16

**sanderson** 4/3/2022, 11:20 pm

This is an interesting video of an experiment growing potatoes in towers.

https://www.gardenmyths.com/potato-towers-high-yields/?fbclid=IwAR1oC0PU0ubq0yv38fJ98VsUPsNdTfAUNBJHO2iZP0aM6m4m0RSWuyRcg70

OhioGardener 4/4/2022, 10:09 am

I (somewhat) envy those still growing potatoes. My internal medicine doctor told me to stop eating white potatoes as part of diabetes control, so I quit growing them. I can, and do, still eat Sweet Potatoes, but not the white ones.

One thing I have not seen discussed here, and wonder if others do it, is the storing of potatoes in the totes they are grown in. I've done this very successfully by just cutting the tops off and letting the soil dry. Just put the entire tote in storage, and empty one when potatoes are needed. Anyone else done this?

**sanderson** 4/5/2022, 3:56 am

OhioGardener wrote:One thing I have not seen discussed here, and wonder if others do it, is the storing of potatoes in the totes they are grown in. I've done this very successfully by just cutting the tops off and letting the soil dry. Just put the entire tote in storage, and empty one when potatoes are needed. Anyone else done this?

I haven't left the SP in the totes, but it is something to consider. The Mel's Mix is always so wet at the bottom of the totes that I guess I'm afraid they will rot. ?? I do cut off the vines (aka the jungle) and turn off the water. I probably turn the totes upside down within the week.

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