Me again with a Tattie question....

[mew]

Can I use well rotted manure to continue earthing my potatoes up?

So far I used compost, straw (thin layer of compost on top to shut out the light) and some conifer clippings (again with a bit more compost on top).

They're shooting up at a rate of knots and I cant keep up with the earthing up - im running out of stuff to use.

Ive got a bag full of well rotted organic manure and wondered if I could use this?

thanks again
MEW

[ina]

Yes, you can. My friend never got round to digging in manure last year, so she just did exactly what you are proposing to do - no problem.

[mew]

Great news many thanks

I read somewhere (i think maybe on a previous post somewhere, but not totally sure) that if you leave the earthing up for too long and the plants become quite tall they tend to struggle once you earth them up again..... ive been struggling to find stuff to earth them up with so im quite guilty of that are some are probably about 16 - 18 inches tall from the last earthing up session. Is this likely, am I probably not going to have a very good bounty from leaving the earthing up for too long a period each time and when do I need to stop earthing them up?

I also read some where that once the potatoes start flowering you should stop watering them. Again is this right?

First time grower so I have all sorts of weird, wonderful and many silly questions floating around my head.

Thanks as always MEW

[ina]

Well, basically you can stop earthing up whenever you like - you might not get the top yield, but there'll definitely be tatties! And yes, I wouldn't let the plants get too big before earthing up. And maybe not earth up too high if the plants are already quite large.

Don't know about watering - after all, the rain won't stop just because it sees a potato flower? You definitely don't need to water once the plants start dying back!

[Muddypause]

I think I read somewhere that, left to their own devices, the tubers would naturally grow through the surface of the ground (I suppose a bit like beets and neeps) and would go green, making them no good for eating. Earthing up is primarily to stop this. But if you keep earthing up as the plant grows, it grows more roots, and so you can get more tubers.

But basically, once you have earthed up so that you stop the tubers getting any light, then any further earthing up is optional.

[Thurston Garden]

I only earth up once but that's because I have 1000 tatties and it is unthinkable to do that number by hand on my heavy soil. Last year I did have less, but pulled in a favour from a farm contractor friend.

http://thurstongarden.wordpress.com/200 ... p-tatties/

I will definitely be pulling in another favour this year!

My Dad commented on Saturday when he was over 'inspecting' that my tattie drills were too far apart. I have to plant my drills at 36" purely to suit the tattie ridger and the wheel spacings on the tractor.

Commercially, tattie seed is planted within the ridged up drill. Earlies being planted higher in the drill than lates.

An former work colleague once asked why, once bought from the supermarket, tatties quickly sprout when in the kitchen cupboard. She was unhappy when I told here it was because they were last years tatties which had been held in a cold store (on the farm! Can't expect the supermarket to pay to keep them cold, or for any to go bad in storage, so the farmer has to do it for them!). When they are in the warm, dark kitchen cupboard, they start to sprout just like when we chit them. The answer is to keep them in th fridge......