[kentishlad]

Hi all,
I've made raised beds this year, not with solid side just marked out 'mounds' the idea taken from Bob Flowerdew, anyway I planted a bed up with spuds and because they are in a bed planted them with the same spacing all round instead of the usual extra for rows.
Anyone else do the same and what do you do about earthing up? I am wondering if it's necessary because of the closer spacing  / whether it's possible on a raised bed anyone else do it this way?

Ta,

Wayne.

[WG.]

I reckon that raised beds work better for things which send down deep roots.  Potatoes seem to root quite shallowly & the process of earthing them up makes them put out extra roots (and hence tubers) from the buried stems.

Others with first-hand experience may disagree but my recommendation would be to earth-up as best you can with compost, rotted manure or extra soil.

[Sam K.]

HI

I am earthling up and also covering with a membrane as like you I was interested in which would work best with raised beds.

As I have 4 beds with pots in. Two fists one with membrane one earthed and also two seconds as before one earthed the other with a membrane.

Both of the Firsts are just in flower.

Digging under the earthed up crop there are some small pots ready for harvest. Under the membrane many very long shoots run along the surface of the soil with immature potatoes growing on them. When I dug under the plants as before there are spuds ready to be harvested.

I thought that the crop under membrane would be earlier; this was not the case as they are both at the same stage of development even though the membrane crop seemed to take a head start early on.

 Decided to harvest the ridged spuds first as I think the many small runners on the surface will bulk up by the time we have eaten all of the first bed.

There are some slugs under the membrane when I had a peek, I have not put down slug pellets as advised nor added a layer of compost on top of the soil on the firsts. I have gone with the compost on the seconds though.

I should also point out that I planted the spuds under the sheet equally spaced like a 5 on a dice and the ridges run East-West not North-south as this is the longest on the beds. I don’t this is too much of a problem.

Which way worked best?

Don’t know, the ridges look nicer, though the membrane is easier. That being said I enjoy the extra work of earthling up. We have been lucky this year with frost. As you cannot earth up the membrane covered spuds, they would have needed more attention. I only covered them with a sheet twice.

Which cropped better?
I would say the same per plant though there are more plants in the bed with a membrane I you don’t have a trough. Rather than waiting for the membrane to bulk up I should harvest them at the same time and compare. Perhaps I will.

Don’t know how this would work with main crop spuds, I’m not growing them this year as the winter brasicas are following straight after the early's. Also salad type spuds don’t really need earthling up that much as all the tubers are directly under the haulm maybe these would be worth a try.

Hope this helps

[DadBear]

interesting thread that, next year I am going to try the membrane approach, you've answered a lot of my questions !  just one thing, have you harvested allready then?

[Sam K.]

Only decided they were ready last night after poking around under the plants, so just about to start harvest. All we need is to put potatoes on the menu.

[Trillium]

I do mine on raised ground as well. When there's a shortage of soil to mound them with, which is essential due to their growing habit, I use lots of straw or leaves instead. It works provided you use lots and pack it down a bit with water. Doesn't matter what you use so long as the spuds peeking out of the ground aren't touched by light.

[nwalch]

What if you dig out a trench leaving the soil from the trench on either side of it. Plant the spuds in the trench and as they grow use the soil from the trench to earth up.

Never tried it, just an idea!

[kentishlad]

Thanks for all this great info, I should take a peek and see if any of ours are ready to harvest as well.
Interesting experiment with the membrane / earthing up, I think I'll try some compost on the main crop ones but I dont have a great deal left to use.

I think maybe next year I'll reserve some soil for earthing up, must get organised!!!

Thanks all,

Wayne.

[ziggywigs]

I've seen somewhere you can cover with straw does this work well too?

Just curious.

[shaun]

grow them in rows 2' apart no shortage of soil to earth up then job done.