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Earthing up potatoes

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  • 15-06-2020 9:29am
    #1
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,429 ✭✭✭✭


    I have never grown potatoes before (in some 50 years of gardening!). My spuds look really good, and I have earthed them up, but the ground is very stony, fertile but stony, so I brought in some extra earth to earth them up. How do you know when they have enough earth on them?


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    #2
    ednwireland
    Registered Users Posts: 14,377 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    i always thought the main reason for earthing up was to make sure the tubers remained buried as they go green when exposed to light and green potatoes are poisonous.

    (im sure a better gardener than me will be along in a minute

    My weather

    https://www.ecowitt.net/home/share?authorize=96CT1F



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    #3
    Danzy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,826 ✭✭✭✭Danzy


    ednwireland wrote: »
    i always thought the main reason for earthing up was to make sure the tubers remained buried as they go green when exposed to light and green potatoes are poisonous.

    (im sure a better gardener than me will be along in a minute

    It is but it also gets the plants making new tubers higher up.


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    #4
    Danzy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,826 ✭✭✭✭Danzy


    I cover them to 6 inches of plant above ground and keep recovering to that as they grow.


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    #5
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,429 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Yes, I get the reason, thank you for your replies though. I was just wondering how you know there is enough covering (is it that you cannot see potatoes peeping through?)


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    #6
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,429 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Thanks Danzy, that pretty much answers my question, I will put some more on!


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    #7
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    The earth/compost is the growing medium so the more there is the bigger/more the Spuds - but this only works going up, not down - ie don't plant seed potatoes 3 feet under!


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    #8
    Hocus Focus
    Registered Users Posts: 754 ✭✭✭Hocus Focus


    Harry Palmr wrote: »
    The earth/compost is the growing medium so the more there is the bigger/more the Spuds - but this only works going up, not down - ie don't plant seed potatoes 3 feet under!
    This year I dug drills about a foot deep and continued to earth them up as they grew. I have now got to the stage where there is no more earth available to pile up on them, but they now have flowers on them so it will soon be time to start digging them up.
    I have realised now that if the drills are spaced further apart the more soil will be available for earthing up, hence, rather than trying to crowd too many drills into a given plot, it might be be more productive to view less as more.


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