[Brushcutter]

I have two and a half rows of early and second early potatoes.
I have messed up and planted the rows 12"/1foot apart instead of 24"/2foot as they should be!
This is going to make it very difficult to earth up! 
If i just leave them will they be really small because of the spacing?
Is it possible to dig a row up and replant them at the right spacing? they are just poking through now.
I have a load of stable manure i could earth up with, also some landscape fabric i could utilise.

What should i do? 

[Salmo]

I would think that if you try and move them you will damage a lot of the shoots.

Many commercial growers now plant two rows close together in an  enormouse 3 ft wide mound. You could copy them and just fill in the dip between and then earth up the outsides. May sound crazy but I am sure it would work.

[Jabberwock]

Hi,
to be honest since they have started to show through the soil I wouldn't try and move them now.  Don't worry they will still grow to a decent enough size but as you rightly say earthing up is more difficult, manure would be fine (as long as it's not too fresh) and anything else you can get your hands on, ie grass clippings, straw.
I'm sure they will be fine, I've played around with the spacings of my earlies over the years and really can't say there has been any noticeable difference in size or yield.
Cheers
Jabberwock

[Brushcutter]

Thanks,

So all is not lost and when the old boys take the mickey ill tell them this is how its done these days

[Plottered]

I dont ever understand this spacing lark cos people who grow spuds in containers (me) plant 3 or 4 within 6 inches of each other?

[Aunt Sally]

Feed and water them well and you should get a reasonable crop.

[sazhig]

I grow all my crops in beds, planted in grids or staggered, depending on the spacing and that includes potatoes which get planted at 12" apart each way for earlies and slightly more for maincrops. To earth up I just covered the whole bed with a few inches of compost. I've had lots of jokes from the old boys on the site about my 'graves'  but have a very decent crop to show for it 

[katiekate]

Could you harvest every other plant earlier than the one next to it, sort of like thinning, and enjoy baby/miniature new potatoes (like the ones sold in supermarkets), leaving the neighbouring plants either side to get a bit bigger?

I don't know how much/if this will disturb the other plants..

 

[Zippy]

If you are worried that your spuds might turn green due to not being earthed up, use a mulch of lawn mowings which will exclude the light and break down to feed the crop. just keep topping the mulch up with lawn clippings every time you cut your home lawn or collect from your friends - provided they do not use herbicides on their lawns.

[kevinp]

Many commercial growers now plant two rows close together in an  enormous 3 ft wide mound. You could copy them and just fill in the dip between and then earth up the outsides. May sound crazy but I am sure it would work.

This is how they grow their spuds on the estate here, the mounds here are around three and a half feet tall and around the same in width, you could lose a small child or dog between them

[JayG]

If you have unplanted soil alongside your "double row" you can use that to earth up from each side (just treat the double row as a single one.)

Earthing up improves the yield by partly burying the stems and ensures the new tubers aren't exposed to light. Most importantly, it protects the tender foliage from frost; you would need an awful lot of compost/grass clippings to substitute for that, although it no doubt could be done that way if there were no alternative.

[Robster]

Like Plottered, I have been confused by this spacing business when comparing those in the ground and 18 inches or so in my case and the crowding going on in the tubs I use (plastic newspaper recycling boxes) 7/8 Inches at most.  So I have both going this year to get an answer.

[someoneorother]

At a guess, closer spacing reduces the yield per plant but increases the yield per unit area of ground. Hence, closer spacing in containers where you are trying to maximise the return on the input you are most short of (space). On the plot, maximising return on your money spent on seed is traditionally considered more important, since space is less of a concern. Plus, on the plot/field wider spacing is needed to enable you to work the ground properly, getting between the plants to earth up/weed/whatever.


Just a guess though, I don't actually know.

[Brushcutter]

Thanks everyone,

I have enough ground on one side to earth up with earth, the other side is next to the asparagus bed so ill raid the compost bins and get some manure mixed in for it. It's going to look a bit odd but as long as we get some spuds.

Cheers