potato planting in poor ground

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Rosendula
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potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149346Post Rosendula »

I didn't manage to get all my plot dug over as it was a horrendous job trying to pull out all the couch grass roots as I went along. Now, I have all these potatoes to go in and I haven't enough dug space. My earlies are already in some of the good dug ground, but I still have second earlies and main crops to go in. Some of the area that's dug is still in big lumps and hasn't broken down - it's just big hard lumps. I never managed to get all the roots out, despite my best efforts, so I don't want to rotovate it. The rest of the potato patch hasn't even been dug. If I plant them in the un-dug ground, do you think they will do anything? Or would that just be a waste. It's heavy clay.
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149420Post snapdragon »

I found that spuds broke up my compacted ground (had been used as parking prior to us moving in)
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149421Post Rosendula »

Thanks, snapdragon. I was aware of the belief that potatoes are good for starting a vegetable patch, but I wasn't sure if that's because it gets dug over for them to go in and then dug over to get them out again. If you say that the potatoes will break the ground up for me, then I won't fret too much about getting it dug first. I'll do what I can and not worry about what I can't do. :cheers:
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149430Post Millymollymandy »

I don't think the spuds do the hard work :lol: it's the gardener who does the hard work whilst growing the spuds. They are the most labour intensive and backbreaking of all veg to grow! They won't grow down into your hard soil but will grow up as you earth it up! My spuds end up being at least 6" higher than where I planted them.
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149442Post Annpan »

I kind of agree with MMM, the potatoes don't actually do anything (despite how it comes across in the books)But you only do a little bit of work now (and the ground needn't be as tilled as for some other veg) and then you do more work in 2 months, then more work in another 2 months, and so on... until you dig them all out. By that time you will have turned the ground 5 or 6 times.

So your ground does get well broken up and you space out the work that needs doing, but they don't have magical powers that blast your clay to pieces leaving a fine tilth.... sadly.
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149447Post Odsox »

There was a fad a few years ago about growing potatoes under black polythene. Maybe you could try that if you can't get your plot dug Rosendula.
As I remember you laid straw/grass mowings/shredded paper or similar on the surface in rows, covered the lot with black polythene and planted your potatoes in holes made in the polythene.
I have to say I never tried it, but it has the advantage of being able to pull the polythene back to pick the biggest spuds and leave the rest.
Plus I suppose it's warmer then those in soil.

Edited to say the polythene is about 2' wide ... possible silage wrap would do if you have a farm supplies shop near you.
(something I always have a roll of, silage wrap is a bit like thick black clingfilm and has a multitude of uses)
Last edited by Odsox on Sat Apr 04, 2009 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149448Post Annpan »

Leaves plenty of opportunity for slugs to take hold though :puke left:
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149489Post snapdragon »

Annpan wrote:I kind of agree with MMM, the potatoes don't actually do anything ........................
Well Thats odd - cos I dug a small hole for them (chips of eating spuds) and covered them up, and they did break up the compacted ground
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149498Post Rosendula »

No worries. I've no chance of getting it all dug over properly in time for them all, so although I'll do my best, I will have to plant some in un-dug ground. There's a skip coming to the site next week so I'll have a nosey for cast-off black sheets and hopefully give that a try too. I guess we can call it an experiment :wink: I'll let you know the results in a few months.

Thanks for all the words of wisdom everyone. :cheers:
Rosey xx

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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149540Post Millymollymandy »

I stand corrected Snapdragon as I've never tried planting spuds like that. It will be interesting to follow Rosendula's experiment. :mrgreen:
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149546Post JulieSherris »

Personally Rosie, I'd dig over the top 6 inches or so - just a quick turn & plant those spuds.... when you have a bit more time, take the soil next to the turned area for earthing up & that way, you won't feel so time-pressured, and the area gets dug anyway, bit by bit.

As the year unfolds & then you move into next year, you will still have done the work, just NOT all at once & not right now!!

I've got a box full of spuds that need going in as well as a few small oca tubers... and I've used all my tyres & bags :angryfire:
So, I am going to shift some of the remaining soil mountain to make a layer on the top of the grass - pop the spuds on, cover them over & then move some more soil into a heap for further earthings later....might work, might not, but as it's an extra space in the far back corner, I don't mind!
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149558Post snapdragon »

Millymollymandy wrote:............. It will be interesting to follow Rosendula's experiment. :mrgreen:
It will MMM :drunken: I have no idea if it would work in a different type of soil, I'm on chalk and flint.

Whilst we're talking spuds - I wonder how they'll do if I plant up the bit in the shade of (a metre from) a north facing wall
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149644Post Annpan »

snapdragon wrote:
Annpan wrote:I kind of agree with MMM, the potatoes don't actually do anything ........................
Well Thats odd - cos I dug a small hole for them (chips of eating spuds) and covered them up, and they did break up the compacted ground
I tried too, on uncultivated clay/ish ground - I covered the area with cardboard and dug a hole, and planted the potato.... they did nothing.... I don't think I got even 1 potato off of the 8 or so old totties planted. :scratch:
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Re: potato planting in poor ground

Post: # 149646Post red »

there is the lazy bed system of potato planting.. something about digging back the turfs and covering the spuds.. google 'lazy bed potato' and parts of Scotland and Ireland still show the marks of this style of planting
- so it must be possible to grow spuds without weeding..?

dunno though - never tried it.
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