Potatoes in the ground?? Seriously??

[bills]

I dig a pretty deep trench to begin with, and then just drag the soil I dug out of the trench, back over the plants as they grow.
I basically run out of dirt to be able to keep mounding them any higher.
Should I actually try piling straw on at that point..or, should I mound with straw initially, and mound the dirt last?

 

[secuono]

I've tried both and got the same number of potatoes, so I don't see the point. Researching it, looks like it's been proven pointless. But then other's say it does work...

 

[annageckos]

This year I'm growing potatoes in wire bins I made. Digging in the ground is too much for me, even though the ground is very soft. I have back pain, I just can't do it. I did grow some small fingerlings in a bucket and that worked out great, so bigger bins, bigger tators.

 

[baymule]

I have potatoes growing in leaves mixed with horse manure. One is just a big pile, the other is a chicken wire bin that I dumped bags of leaves in and layered with horse manure. The vines are turning yellow, getting ready to dig!

 

[thistlebloom]

I dig a pretty deep trench to begin with, and then just drag the soil I dug out of the trench, back over the plants as they grow.
I basically run out of dirt to be able to keep mounding them any higher.
Should I actually try piling straw on at that point..or, should I mound with straw initially, and mound the dirt last?

I have fairly shallow soil Bill, and run out of dirt to cover them with, so I use straw as a last cover, to keep any tubers that might get exposed in the dark.

@secuono, hilling them isn't necessarily to get more spuds, it's to keep them covered as they grow so they don't turn green from the light.
Some varieties will set more potatoes higher up the stem if they are hilled though, so it depends on what type you're growing.

 

[canesisters]

a lady I met at the discount plant secion of the walmart said to make sure I cut the side wall off so snakes don't hid in there! consider it done!!

I was at the local tire guys a while back - they have a huge yard next to the building with stacks of sets of tires all over it. I asked him if he was ever afraid to go out there in the summer because of all the snakes and he said that he's never seen a snake in a pile of tires because it gets too hot for them. They'll lay on top of the pile though (which is why he wears a pistol I suppose.....)

 

[baymule]

@canesisters isn't piles of tires an EPA thing? Before I quit my job to care for my mother, I was purchaser/inventory/everything-nobody-else-wanted-to-do at a trash company. Used tires on the yard was a big no-no. I called the tire recycler to pick them up, where they were shredded.

 

[the1honeycomb]

I put hay with a little chicken manure around the potatoes in the box, I have Yukon gold poetoes that are getting pretty big and I mounded some durt around them and from now on they will get chicken hay as well! I don't have any leaves right now used them in the compost pile! asked a lawn care guy for grass clippings, no show. Will have to call around!

 

[the1honeycomb]

@baymule send me pics of your potato set up please and the results. I don't have horse manure but my chickens can give a horse a run for it's money in that department!!! i have potatoes in the ground, hilled the first bunch up a little, plan to use the hay I took from the chicken coop to hil up everything from here on. All of my spuds are getting big and I hope that the first ones planted will think about blooming soon!!

 

[baymule]

@the1honeycomb I will dig them this weekend, so I'll take pictures then of what they look like before and after I dig them.