my new no-dig potato bed.

[2cents]

jal_ut & nickolas
We have been doing this for years with no cardboard, although we tried cardboard many years ago & found it didn't help.
This is a no-till technique that is low effort and SUPER EASY TO HARVEST.
We plant rye in the fall. Broadcast technique. We never cut this rye, it strangles any weeds out.
In April separate(push aside/apart) the rye and set whole and cut potatoes on top of the ground, between rye grass stems & cover with thin coat of leaves.
Late May early June the potatoes are up(ankle high) and rye is knee high, take the rye from one side of the potato row and bend(crack stems at ground level) the rye over the potato plants(this rye will brown and act like the straw technique).
July 4 the potatoes are getting big and the rye(other side of plants) is browning out, (At this point walking through the rye field is ....cumbersome But my big feet can handle the job , you can always cut the walkpath and use the rye for compost)
we bend that rye(from other side of potato plants) over the potatoes being careful not to break potato plants.
Early September the potatoes will be dying off and ready for harvest.
The potatoes will be right on top of the ground for easy harvest. We never use a shovel or hoe in this process.
Anytime during the season we see potatoes uncovered, we add a few leaves to stop green taters from emerging.

[jal_ut]

Thanks. I was going to do something like that next potato season anyway but sadly I do not have any top soil, I have to make all my soil as it is all rock hard clay and with lots of large rocks in my area. All of the top soil has been washed away or been over cropped by local farmers.

Where you have your bed this year, what soil or clay there is will be improved for growing as the cardboard and straw decomposes. I find it amazing what a great ability roots have to penetrate even hard soils. Keep adding organic matter to the plot and it will get better with time.

I know clay is a tough soil type, but clay has lots of minerals that the plants need. If you can loosen it up with copious amounts of organic matter it will grow things. Sand is good to mix with clay and probably not too expensive. Mortar sand, like brick layers use, is pretty fine. Order up a dump truck full.

Really nice loamy soils are a mix of clay, silt, sand, organic matter, chemicals, air, water, and a host of small living organisms. Sounds like your ground has some of these requirements. It will get better as you work with it and add to it.

2cents, Interesting technique. Thanks for sharing.

[applestar]

2cents, that sounds really interesting. Something to think about this fall....

I thought I posted in this thread already... If this hasn't been suggested yet, it works to cut a cross or a flap in the cardboard and nestle the cut seed potato on the ground underneath. This way, the potatoes' true roots will grow into the ground but the tubers that grow above the seed potatoes will stay above the cardboard.

Similar method to suppress the weeds works for sweet potatoes but I would prep the ground at least a month ahead of time and build a raised/lasagna-type bed above the cardboard. The sweet potatoes will want to grow into the soil past the cardboard. If the cardboard is sufficiently broken down or there are overlaps that they can take advantage of, they will happily make tubers underneath the cardboard.

FWIW I've noticed that if I don't break up the hardpan clay subsoil, the sweet potatoes will skim the boundary where the topsoil and clay layers meet and go on and on looking for water and nutrients.... I posted a photo of a loooong tuber root I followed one year.

[GardenRN]

I know clay is a tough soil type, but clay has lots of minerals that the plants need. If you can loosen it up with copious amounts of organic matter it will grow things. Sand is good to mix with clay and probably not too expensive. Mortar sand, like brick layers use, is pretty fine. Order up a dump truck full.

Woe be it for me to argue with this man, ............however. Wouldn't you want to use a more coarse sand to mix with the clay? This is the advice I have always gotten when working with this hard Va clay. The thought being that the clay is actually made up of VERY fine material already, it doesn't need more. A more coarse material creates air pockets and such, whereas the finer any material is, the closer the particles can get to one another.

For example, think about how well water could flow through a pile of rocks, vs a pile of sand.

[nickolas]

Here is an update for you all,
Dew to the fact that I planted the seed potatoes over a whole month later in mid November than when I should have planted them in early-October the potatoes will not be ready in march but rather mid-late April, but everything is looking tiptop so far and I have already harvested a few big ones yesterday to last me through until the rest are ready in another month.

Next season I will make a few changes and give it another try and see if I can get even better results than what I am expecting from this seasons crop. Next season I will also be giving 2cents method a try, bye the way what type of ryegrass do you use 2cents? Is it an annual ryegrass type or a perennial type? I know that you are not in my local area but where do you get your ryegrass seed from and how much do you pay for them?

[jal_ut]

Woe be it for me to argue with this man, ............however. Wouldn't you want to use a more coarse sand to mix with the clay?

Perhaps, however consider that clay particles are 0.002 mm in size or less.

Silts are from 0.002 up to 0.063 mm.

Sand particles are from 0.063 up to 2 mm.

Even the finest sand particle is 31 times the size of clay particles.

[GardenRN]

Woe be it for me to argue with this man, ............however. Wouldn't you want to use a more coarse sand to mix with the clay?

Perhaps, however consider that clay particles are 0.002 mm in size or less.

Silts are from 0.002 up to 0.063 mm.

Sand particles are from 0.063 up to 2 mm.

Even the finest sand particle is 31 times the size of clay particles.

Which is why I figured there was some aspect I was missing even as I was typing it. Makes sense to me!

[nickolas]

sorry that I'm a bit late guys, I harvested my potatoes last week. out of the two 9ft by 20ft beds I got 40 kg of potatoes, I planted 2 varieties but one of the varieties failed altogether, so lets say I started out with 5kg of potatoes and I harvested 40kg. as this was my first time growing potatoes I do not know if this was a good size harvest or a week harvest.

half of them are too small to eat so I think I will save them for seed come next season but the other half are all good size's to eat. very little sun damage I.e. green potatoes but there were a few that had been spoiled by slaters (less than 0.05 percent).

thats it for now I think, BTW I will upload some pics in a few days. but untill then my your hands stay dirty from your soil.

[nickolas]

hi guys, I know its taken me a while to upload these pics but my camera has been in the shop.

this is all of my 40kg harvest that I got from mt two 9ft-20ft potato beds
[img]https://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/u665/Evergreen-Organics/30042012318_zpsb52ed86b.jpg[/img]

this is the 2 different types of potato that I grew, the white one is the only nicola that I got beck and the pink one is desiree.
[img]https://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/u665/Evergreen-Organics/30042012320_zpsbed7d739.jpg[/img]

[nickolas]

I am growing the potatoes a little differently this yearat my new place.
[img]https://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/u665/Evergreen-Organics/potatobed_zpse17eb145.jpg[/img]

the carbon mix is made from 3 part shredded straw, 3 part shredded autumn leaves, 3 part shredded cardboard, 2 parts sawdust, 1 part powdered charcoal.

And I know I said it was a no-dig potato bed but I have dug three shallow 2-3 inch trenches to give the potato true roots a chance to brake up the hard clay pan. if I didnt have a hard clay pan I probably wouldnt have dug the trenches.

[GardenRN]

If I may offer any advice...

My no-dig bed had a carbon layer right under the potatoes. It consisted of leaves, some mulch etc. I found that it was bad for two reasons.

1: that layer is where the ants loved to hang out. And they tunneled into quite a few potatoes, completely ruining them.

2: This layer being under the straw stayed pretty wet, and it caused a second hoard of potatoes to come out rotten.

If you've already planted them, good luck. Just thought I'd mention it.

[nickolas]

If I may offer any advice...

My no-dig bed had a carbon layer right under the potatoes. It consisted of leaves, some mulch etc. I found that it was bad for two reasons.

1: that layer is where the ants loved to hang out. And they tunneled into quite a few potatoes, completely ruining them.

2: This layer being under the straw stayed pretty wet, and it caused a second hoard of potatoes to come out rotten.

If you've already planted them, good luck. Just thought I'd mention it.

I have not planted the potatoes yet but I will soon, what type of layer would you suggest I use directly underneath the potatoes in place of carbon mix?

[GardenRN]

I don't really know, this season was my first try...I suppose something that stays wet seems to fit the bill for the roots, but it did make all of my potatoes rot. Well, most of them. I'm wondering if it has to do with the high humidity in my area. I'm going back to putting mine in the dirt. Not to discourage, I just don't think it's right for my area.

Maybe instead of a carbon "mix", a good layer of straw? That way it won't "cake" onto the potatoes? I don't know, I suppose I offered my experience, not advice lol.