Potato?

thq, Oct 26, 6:27pm
How do you no when to stop covering them up! munting is it (sp)!
mark_g, Oct 26, 6:50pm
Not yet I think.

It's "mounding" - as in literally building up dirt mounds around the plant stem.

You can keep mounding up as long as you want, but I think most folk generally mound about 3 or 4 times through the spring/early summer.

I grew them for a few years, and found that I could mound higher and higher forever if I wanted, but practically you can only mound so high, and also I think there is a tradeoff. When you mound the dirt up, you are covering branch nodes on the stem. Being now covered in dirt, these nodes will instead of growing branches, grow little stems on which potatoes form. That's why you mound up - to encourage more potatoes to form.

BUT, if you mound up dirt forever the plant just puts its energy into growing taller and taller. I think it does not equate to more and more potatoes. It just puts more energy into green growth.

There'll be more experienced spud growers on here somewhere that might have some more definite knowledge than my recollections from a 3-4 year foray into spud growing.
thq, Oct 26, 6:55pm
thanks i have mound! around 4 times and they have been in the ground for 5/6 weeks,do you think i should stop it now! thanks mark-g
mark_g, Oct 26, 8:00pm
I think, if you look at the potato fields that are grown commercially, in summer (Christmas-Jan) they look to be mounded maybe 1 foot high. They probably started with trenches maybe a few inches deep, so mounting height is probably just over 1 foot. I've mounded potatoes up over two feet, but the top foot had no potatoes. Plenty in the bottom foot though.

To make potatoes form on what would have been branch/leaf nodes it is important to cover them in dirt while the nodes are very young. If you wait too long to cover a node it won't do anything. But like I said, I'm sure there are limits to what the plant will do.

5-6 weeks is not that long. If you have already mounded up over maybe one and a half foot high then maybe leave it. If not then maybe mound some more in a couple of weeks time!

Like I said earlier, I've grown spuds, and I've read about growing spuds, but I've only done it for a short few years so I'm no expert. Wait and see what others think.
cantabman1, Oct 27, 3:31am
The idea is to eventually eat them , but not build a pyrimid. I dig a trench 30cm deep, lay out a little straw and place the spuds on top with a sprinkle of soil. As they poke thru I keep adding more soil until I have a mound about 30cm high. That will give you all the spuds you need from one seed. Dont forget to water often if it gets dry, otherwise the potatoes end up dry with less flavour. In CH CH they take a lot longer before you dig them up as its not as warm this time of year, so its about 14 weeks or when the flowers have died off before its best to dig them up.
Someonein the NI said on a thread here last year, that their potatoes only took 5 weeks before being dug up, but I still find that very hard to believe.
gardie, Oct 27, 4:08am
I used to mound but last year just planted them very deep into the soil.Resulting crops were the same. (I have raised beds).The time spent mounding did not mean more potatoes so this year I've just planted deep again.My jersey bennes and a few Heather have been in for 9 weeks - not sure that they are ready yet but certainly were after 8 weeks last year.Early crops don't always flower so if you want to check to see how they are going, gently dig around the base of the plant coming in at an angle and you will soon feel potatoes if they are there.
kaddiew, Oct 27, 6:17am
I didn't realise you could plant as deep as 30cm - must do that next time, as I never seem to have enough soil to mound really high, and the spudsalways seem to be down low anyway.I planted jersey bennes 11 weeks ago and have just stolen enough baby spuds for a feed. YUMMM
lmwheeler, Oct 27, 6:26am
We've tried planting deep this year - hopefully we have success too.I love digging up potatoes, one of the most rewarding things in the garden and our kids just LOVE it! :)
thq, Oct 28, 3:40pm
wow thanks guys you been a great help
shedz2, Oct 28, 3:49pm
anyone planted spuds in tyres !
cantabman1, Oct 29, 3:23am
Heaps of people grow that way, I dont think you will get that much more in spuds, but its a space saver in small plots.I would try adding more seeds as you add another tyre layer so as to have spuds growing right thru the height of yr mound.
lythande1, Oct 28, 2:44am
You don't have to mound them up.