Potatoes in the ground?? Seriously??

[seedcorn]

New wave!!! Yeah, right. How about the way my Granddaddy's Granddaddy did it.

Something important to remember. The potatoes form above the seed potato.

Make a shallow trench, maybe 2" deep at most. Put your seed spud in that maybe 12" apart. Cover it with a few inches of dirt.

When it is maybe 4 to 6" high, rake dirt in from the sides to bury the bottom of that plant. Leave maybe 6 to 8 leaves exposed. As it grows do that a couple of more times. Stop doing that when it blooms. When it blooms it is setting potatoes so more burying is a waste*. You should wind up with a mound maybe 9" to 12" high. The area between rows will be lower, so factor that in. The potatoes will form above the seed potato, so they will be in this mound. You could bury the seed potato deeper but that makes them harder to dig.

*If the potatoes are exposed to the sun, they will turn green and form a poison called solanine. Sometimes that mound cracks if the weather turns dry and exposes the potatoes. If that happens drag more dirt over them to cover them and don't eat green potatoes.

Instead of just dragging dirt over them, some people use straw or something like that. I never have so can't speak to that method. Maybe that's the new wave your thinking of.

Good info. Never successful with potatoes. I'll try it this way

 

[digitS']

My potatoes are all up!

It's surprising to me because the ones that I bought thru Irish Eyes ( Peter Wilcox & Daisy Gold ) had no visible growth when they went in very cool soil on April 7th.

Anyway, they are all above ground and growing.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

I found the first of my spuds up today as well. Certainly a long way from all up, but good to see nonetheless.