Hilling potatoes...and moles!

[kgall]

So I hilled about half of my potatoes. The other half are recovering from cutworm damage. I am just wondering how high and wide I should be hilling them.

Also...I harvester 4 radishes yesterday...They are beautiful...Then I turned them around and found that two of them had spots that had been chewed. I am assuming that they were the victim of moles. What can I do?

[DoubleDogFarm]

kgall,

Moles are carnivores, they don't eat roots, or vegetables.

Potatoes,
I would hill at least a foot on both sides of the plant and keep hilling up until blossom stage. You should keep 6" of plant above the soil-compost.

Here is one of my rows. I rototill the paths and shovel - hillup the beds.


[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC02190.jpg[/img]

[applestar]

If the chewed spots were above ground or near the soil surface, one likely culprit is slugs.

[TZ -OH6]

Where as Moles are insectivores and won't touch vegetable matter (I.e. garden vegetables, and gopher and mole baits), Voles (sometimes called meadow mice) also make tunnel networks and will chew up root crops. The good news is that you can sometimes catch them with mouse/rat traps baited with oatmeal sprinkled on the trap.

[kgall]

Thanks! Good to know that it's not the mole.
The damage is under the surface of the soil.

Thanks DDF. I hilled them 6 inches and will continue to do so! Thank You!

[gundogblue]

I'm getting ready to hill my taters as well, but I've heard that instead of hilling with dirt straw can be used instead, is this true?
Paul

[DoubleDogFarm]

Paul and Paul

Straw, leaves, compost, hay, weeds, grass clippings. Be careful with manures, they can cause scab. Yesterday, I dumped two wheelbarrow loads of weeds on one of the rows.

[gundogblue]

Thanks DoubleDogFarm, sorry about the double post.
Paul