Need to cover potatoes

Paintedlady 6/14/2010, 3:09 pm

but I'm not sure if I need to strip off any lower leaves? Do you just pile up the soil and leave the top 3" or so exposed? Any advice? I think I need to do this soon!

chocolatepop 6/14/2010, 5:47 pm

Paintedlady wrote:but I'm not sure if I need to strip off any lower leaves? Do you just pile up the soil and leave the top 3" or so exposed? Any advice? I think I need to do this soon!

nope. just pile on the soil/straw!

Paintedlady 6/15/2010, 1:14 am

Thank you! Is there a benefit to adding only straw? Seems it would be so much cheaper than making more Mel's mix. Is it really that easy/cheap? Potatoes - Need to cover potatoes Icon_eek

chocolatepop 6/15/2010, 1:20 am

Paintedlady wrote:Thank you! Is there a benefit to adding only straw? Seems it would be so much cheaper than making more Mel's mix. Is it really that easy/cheap?

idk, this is the first year ive done straw. ive done soil in the past, just cheapy soil because i didnt want to waste my mels mix!

Megan 6/15/2010, 7:01 am

I'm doing part straw, too. Other discussions this spring basically said all you need is something nice and friable that the taters can grow in. My potato plants are almost 2 feet tall now... I hope it is not too late to cover them one more time. (I can live with the 14" vertical root space I already have, but I am greedy and want more taters! Wink

)

Wyldflower 6/15/2010, 11:29 am

I'm with you, Megan... greedy for more taters!

I've got two kinds growing in one 4x4 (non-SFG) patch ... one kind (sangre de cristo) is now about 6" tall above where I'd covered them, and the other (kennebec) is about 10" tall. I'm going to put on one more layer ... I started them in the leaves I had raked up last fall and now I've run out of bagged leaves, so I'll head to the garden center for a bale of straw.

Paintedlady 6/15/2010, 5:33 pm

I'm thrilled that I asked this question and found out about the straw! I was all set to go buy more stuff to make more Mel's mix, which would've equaled a lot of $$$$. Instead I went to the local feed store and bought a bale of straw for just over $5! Wooot! Can't beat that! Potatoes - Need to cover potatoes 53366

Potatoes - Need to cover potatoes 109486

Megan 6/15/2010, 7:01 pm

Wyldflower wrote:I'm with you, Megan... greedy for more taters!

I've got two kinds growing in one 4x4 (non-SFG) patch ... one kind (sangre de cristo) is now about 6" tall above where I'd covered them, and the other (kennebec) is about 10" tall. I'm going to put on one more layer ... I started them in the leaves I had raked up last fall and now I've run out of bagged leaves, so I'll head to the garden center for a bale of straw.

Yay, I am growing Kennebecs too. From what I understand, they produce late in the season so that is one reason why I want to pile it higher and deeper. ;-)

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