Hilling Potatoes

[TZ -OH6]

I dug out this link and thought it might help people visualize what their spuds are doing...or not doing. It shows the determinant nature exhibited by most commercial varieties such as the Red Pontiac being grown by this gardener.

https://www.durgan.org/August%202009/21%20August%202009%20How%20a%20Potato%20Plant%20Grows/HTML/


Note that the last two rows of pictures are for potatoes grown traditionally with just a few inches (about 8"-10"?) of hilling.

IMO, the evidence does not bode well for people pushing the idea of super production from potato boxes and stacks of tires.

[SPierce]

Thank you ! I was just researching similar, since I have some potato plants in containers that are getting pretty tall! I was hoping by starting them out in the lower half of the container, I can just keep hilling them up in hopes that they still have enough room. I guess I'll find out!

[DoubleDogFarm]

I like crow roasted with garlic and herbs.


but different varieties will give different results. If I was willing to go through the effort, I would choose Rose Finn Apple fingerling. I'm not willing and will stick with the more traditional approach.

Two rows Yukon Gold 2011
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Vegetable%20Garden%20plants/DSC03370.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20Vegetable%20Garden%20plants/DSC03372.jpg[/img]
There are a few Norkotah russets mixed in with the Yukons.


Eric

[ThomasCA]

I'm about ready to harvest out my Yukon Golds and Russets in about a week.

That's a really cool picture journal of how they grow and harvest.
Although, it seems to be quite a bit of extra soil used to fill the box with not much more production.

I built a 4'x4'x12" raised bed and planted the seeds about 2 inches into the soil below the bottom of the raised bed. Once the plants began to grow, I'd add soil and hill them up. I ended up filling the box up completely to keep the plants from falling over.

Now it's at the 11-12 inch mark with dirt. About 2 weeks ago when the plants started going yellow and leaf tips went brown, I dug down and found a good sized potato about 4-5 inches into the soil.
I've let the plants go comletely brown and crispy and am finding that the potatoes are much larger than they were a couple weeks back. I'm thinking the tuber is draining every last bit of life out of the plant the entire time the plant is dying.

I think if the person taking the pictures had let the plants completely die out and brown, they may have had a larger harvest. Not necessarily more potatoes, but bigger ones.

I'll have to take some pics and post them when I harvest out.

thanks!

[jal_ut]

My opinion: I think people way over do the hilling thing. It would be better to fill the box 3/4 full of soil, plant a set 4 inches deep, then when the plant is 10 inches tall add another 4 inches of soil. No more! Then let the plant grow until it falls down and turns brown. Now is the time to harvest. The leaves are what make the food that is stored in the tubers. It is counterproductive to bury the leaves. The only reason to hill at all is to keep the developing tubers from seeing the light and turning green. 3 or 4 inches does that just fine. The tubers form at the level of the original planting.

As far as a harvest, it will depend some on soil fertility and water, however, if you plant sets with two eyes on them, I suggest you can expect, from each set, four nice sized potatoes and three or four smaller ones. Maybe close to four pounds. A very good return considering the set probably didn't weigh half an ounce.

[TZ -OH6]

Here is the guy's results from a 4ft x 4ft raised bed with four Yukon Gold seed pieces. I don't think he did much hilling.

"Yukon Gold Potatoes were harvested today. A total weight of 23.5 pounds was harvested from the 4 by 4 foot test area. The quality is excellent. Another plant could probably be placed in the center of the area without crowding. The average weight per plant was 5.9 pounds. From my experience anything over 4 pounds is acceptable."

https://www.durgan.org/2010/September%202010/11%20September%202010%20Yukon%20Gold%20Test%20Box%20Potatoes/HTML/


https://durgan.org/2010/09/11/yukon-gold-potatoes/








general blog page

https://durgan.org

potato harvesting page -- differnt varieties

https://durgan.org/2010/09/

[SPierce]

Here is the guy's results from a 4ft x 4ft raised bed with four Yukon Gold seed pieces. I don't think he did much hilling.

"Yukon Gold Potatoes were harvested today. A total weight of 23.5 pounds was harvested from the 4 by 4 foot test area. The quality is excellent. Another plant could probably be placed in the center of the area without crowding. The average weight per plant was 5.9 pounds. From my experience anything over 4 pounds is acceptable."

https://www.durgan.org/2010/September%202010/11%20September%202010%20Yukon%20Gold%20Test%20Box%20Potatoes/HTML/


https://durgan.org/2010/09/11/yukon-gold-potatoes/








general blog page

https://durgan.org

potato harvesting page -- differnt varieties

https://durgan.org/2010/09/

I now have the most horrible feeling that I overcrowded my potatoes. Oh well I guess, there isnt' a whole lot I can change, at this point- just lesson learned for next year!~

[orgoveg]

This is fascinating. I was led to believe that the individual branches along the stem produced tubers when they were covered with soil. If that were true, then it would make sense to hill as high as possible. This tells me that I don't have to acquire tons of extra soil for the taters. I find that just 'hilling" them with a hoe leaves too little soil for tuber production without sun exposure. Thus, I pile on extra soil instead.

[cherishedtiger]

So good to see a post on potatoes, I planted yukon golds for the first time about 3 weeks ago and wasn't sure if I should hill up the very happily growing plants or not... honestly I have heard so much controversy on both I was quite confused. But this one thread has helped so much! I think I will hill enough to keep the plants happy and from the tubers from seeing light, but wont go overboard.
Thanks everyone!!

[jal_ut]

I like crow roasted with garlic and herbs.

I hate it when I have to "Eat Crow".