Helloooooo

[Gav from Dav]

hello I am gav from Daventry, Northants

I found this site whilst looking for advice on growing potatoes. Anyone tried no dig? looks like a pretty big site.

[Andy Hamilton]

Hi Gav

Daventry is just down the road from where I used to live in Northampton. Nice to meet you. Have not tried no dig though, sorry

Andy

[leedarkwood]

I tried no dig. By the time I found and spread tons of manure / compost on and managed to stop the cover blowing off, it was more work than digging. Very few, very scabby potatoes for a lot of bother. No dig = no potatoes! Wouldn't go that route again. Also you need to dig it over for the next crop anyway. Dig a little each day, use a fork if you can rather than a spade, make sure your spade or fork is the right height for you, and warm up first.

lee

[judyofthewoods]

If you have access to lawn clippings, here a novel idea, I have not tried yet, but will. Its a self-earthing way of growing. Just hammer a crowbar 9" deep into the ground, wiggle it about to form a conical depression 6" diam, fill with grass clippings, put your seed potato on top, a little more covering. As the grass rots down, the potato descends down into the hole, add more clippings and harvest. The grass is supposed to add nitrogen and prevent scab.

[leedarkwood]

Maybe that would work on a very light soil? Here on a loam and clay mix, we find that unless the ground is opened up, the potatoes don't grow much sideways, and you wouldn't I thought have got many tubers growing in that sort of space. Our plants usually have a spread of about 18" underground. As it is, if we don't earth up the plants we only get half the crop, so I can't see that no dig or other short cut would be worth it?

If you really don't want to dig, grow them in half 40 galleon bins. Just keep piling on the stuff as the plant grows.

[judyofthewoods]

The source where I read it mentioned that he did it in clay, though the crop was a bit less than conventional methods, but with a fraction of the work. I suppose the potatoes do grow into the ground around.

[Wombat]

G'Day Guys,

I suppose the problem that I have with no-dig, is having to go out and buy all the straw, hay, chook poo etc. when perfectly good soils is available. The lawn clippings idea sounds interesting though, If your soil is very clayey, wouldn't drainage be a problem with that system. (I lost a whole stack of spuds to rot due to poor drainage years ago )

Nev

[judyofthewoods]

I havn't tried it myself, but it probably depends on how solid the clay is, and if there might be a pan. But I had some pigs in here about 12 years ago, who poached the land quite badly in that area. And yet, I discovered last year a couple of potato plants growing where they used to be, which only could have come from a potatoe left behind by one of the pigs. It had no blight, and was growing in heavily poached land, despite being in effect a potato not grown from a seed potato, but continuesly from the same stock, and this is only 70 meters above sea level! The crop was very small though, but it was also in very rough ground with lots of trampled in conifer branches, not to mention severe shade. What a survivor. I saved the single fruit in the hope of getting seeds from it. Hope they will work.

[Wombat]

Good luck, I hope they do well for you! Who knows, you may start your own variety

Nev