[Goneterseed]

I usually dig a trench a spit, (spade depth) deep. Put a layer of compost in the bottom together with a sprinkling of chicken pellets.  The seed spuds are placed on this leaving them around 9" below the soil surface.
I've been told by my plot neighbour that I'm wrong and that they should only be 3" below the surface.

What do the members think?

[jaydig]

I think that we all do things differently, and if what you do suits you, and your potatoes all come up and provide you with a good crop, then it doesn't matter.  I daresay you don't have to bother earthing up as much as if they were planted at a shallower depth.

[m1ckz]

with the earthing up mine must be about 12in  under ..but i find potatoes seed to grow up not down

[Trikidiki]

I used to dig a shallow trench (roughly 9") then using a bulb planter make a hole in the bottom of the trench then plant the tuber in the bottom and cover in the hole. As the potatoes grew I would fill the trench then as it continued to grow I would earth up above the natural ground level. I think I go the idea off Geoff Hamilton

I now just use the bulb planter then earth up as they grow.

I guess you might consider is how wet your soil is below ground at planting time, no point putting them in deep if they're going to sit in saturated soil.

[Growster...]

I tried using a bulb planter from the surface one year, and the soil eroded so much that there were far too many spuds going green at the top, and we lost a lot!

Trenches are the norm now, and they went into a depth of about six inches, and we're earthing up now as they're emerging!

[Robster]

I like Jaydig's philosophy.  I've got some about 4 inches down on the flat, earthed up if necessary as frost protection.  I've got others (main crops) earthed up from the start, I guess these will be nearer 8-9 inches down.  Only thing I'm doing differently this year is putting a few chicken pellets at the bottom of the planting hole.  My plot neighbour does the chicken manure thing and I thought to try it.

[New shoot]

I've done exactly the same as you Goneterseed, so we are both wrong together    The trenches on mine have already been completely filled back in as the foliage was just emerging as the frosts descended.

Its the same as I usually do and I get good results, so I would smile and nod and take your plot neighbour's advice with a tiny pinch of salt. As Jaydig said, we all have different methods and most of the time, they all work   

Only thing I'm doing differently this year is putting a few chicken pellets at the bottom of the planting hole.  My plot neighbour does the chicken manure thing and I thought to try it.

I always add some chicken manure pellets.  I think it does make a difference and gets the foliage off to a good start 

[snowdrops]

After hubby has rotovated to a goodly depth I create a trench with my adz(sp) then use my potato planter to create the hole for the potato followed by a sprinkle of chicken pellets,then cover the trench level, so mine must be a good 8" or 9". Seems to work fine. As others say everyone does things different. The old phrase of ask 3 gardeners & receive 5 answers springs to mind.

[3759allen]

i think the whole shallow planting and earthing up is more for easier harvesting.

i dig a hole with a hand trowel for planting mine, so i guess the top of the seed is 2 - 4 inches below soil level. then earth up as much as pos (prob 10 inches or so).

as you earth up you also effectively reduce the soil level so the seeds are actually level or slightly above the soil level, for easier harvesting. i hope that makes sense.

[BabbyAnn]

I probably plant mine about 4-6 inches deep.  Bear in mind the size of the tuber - it is a food source for the growing shoots until they emerge, so if all the energy is spent on trying to reach the surface and then killed off by a late frost ... smaller tubers are less likely to recover well than say a big one.  Having saying that, even the pea sized rogue spuds seem to survive 

[Vagabond]

Fascinating to read this thread. As a newbie I am trying to take everything on board as I embark on my first attempts to grow veggies in raised beds.
I bought seed potatoes and read in my gardening book that I shouldn't plant them in manured soil - only fertilized.
One (experienced) friend told me to plant them a good 12" deep and another (equally experienced) friend told me that three inches would be plenty.
I split the difference and planted them about 5-6 inches below the surface. (In fertilized - not manured soil.)
Now I wait and see...

[Thrutchington]

Interesting too reading about the non manuring, I have been recommended many times to get some well rotted stuff in with the potatoes.

[Growster...]

In one of my gardening 'bibles', by C.H.Middleton, he mentions an old gardener who trenched and sowed his spuds with just one chitted shoot, and two ft apart in the row, with some considerable space between the rows! His plants sometimes got to six ft above ground, and he used to wire them up! The crop was huge!

We're trying this spacing now, (not the wiring or single shoot), and although it seems to be a waste of space, it's easier to earth up the spuds as they emerge. We're also tilling either side of the rows to make earthing up easier with the looser soil, and so far it all seems to work...

[harry]

We make a trench about 4 inches deep, by pulling my Mantis backwards, then make hole at the bottom and pop the spuds in at the correct spacing. I always put a few slug pellets round each one then cover and earth up as necessary. My earlies are already through.

[Ivor Backache]

Couple of points come to mind>
You don't need to do any trenching if you grow under a black membrane. I have never done it, because I believe it impairs feeding during development.
Farmers drop a potato onto the surface and the furrowing buries it.

With regards to manuring, that is one of the main ways of improving the soil. I still add fertilizer.

Growster's point of spacing is something I was taught by my Grandfather. Not for a better potato crop but to get the winter brassicas well established. They were planted between the rows.