# Planting potatos in a deep bed



## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

I just finished constructing the last of my four raised deep beds. Raised, because they're framed with cedar lumber, and deep because I've dug down and loosened the soil down to about 30 inches, replacing much of the native soil with compost and other amendments in the process. This bed is set aside specifically for potatoes this year, in a four year rotation with the other three beds.

So now, the bed is filled to the top of the boards with amended soil. I'll be laying it out in a SFG grid, one starter potato per 1 ft square. I need to know the best way to plant them. I was thinking of removing soil in each square to form an inverted cone-shaped hole about a foot deep, then burying the starts about 6 inches below the bottom of the hole. This would give it a total depth of 18 inches while allowing light to reach the top of the sprout after only 6 inches of growth. I could then ring the excess soil around the top of the cone hole. So when I want to earth up the plants, all I would need to do is push some of this excess into the holes. This way I probably wouldn't need to bring in additional soil or mulch to further earth up the plants.

What do you all think? Do you foresee any problems with this proposed method? Can you think of a better way to go about it, given the type of planting bed I've built for the purpose? (It's a 4 ft x 16 ft bed, by the way.)


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

Wish I could be of some help but not. We plant our potatoes in hay and what-have-ya from the goat, chicken and rabbit houses. They sit on the ground covered. The hay starts out about a foot high but by harvest time it is just inches above the potato.


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Locutus, we also use raised beds , but do it a little differente. We dig the soil down about12" and amend with compost. We use 2x12's and make a 4' x 4" square. Place he square over the dug/amended soil, but do not fill yet. Plant your seed taters in the soil. Once the plant is up to the top of the board, fill it in with material of you're liking as long as it is loose leaving only the top leaves exposed. We use a compost straw mix as we grow volunteered rye grass in the field. Then add the next 4 x 4 square on top. Depending where you live, you can get up to five boxes filled. Have never reached 100# s yet, but you will not believe the production in a small area. 

the reason we use 2x12's we are getting cutoffs from construction sites at no cost. They only last 4 or 5 years though. Have moved and need to construct new ones, so will take pix and post.


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Sorry about the typing - should state 4' x 4' squares.


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## goatlady (Nov 7, 2011)

From my experience potatoes will not grow down hardly at all, they will grow out to the sides quite a ways and up. I always plant as deep as possible, and continually fill the hole with more dirt as the plant grows up, always leaving the top bunch of leaves exposed. When the hole is filled to ground level I just let it keep growing till it's time to harvest.


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## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Goatlady, sp you harvest or leave in the ground over winter? If the ground doesn't freeze would they be fine thru spring or mist you dig them up?


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## goatlady (Nov 7, 2011)

Not much point in leaving in the ground since the whole idea is to use them as winter food and if the ground does not freeze then the moles, voles, and mice will have a nice buffet all winter long and the ones left would probably rot and mush. As soon as the leaves/stems turn brown and die back I start harvesting, layer in plastic "milk cartons" with newspaper between layers and into the spare room closet they go. Must be kept in the dark as exposure to sunlight turns them green and that green is a toxin and can make you really sick.


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## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

Thanks for your feedback folks.

I got my seed potatoes: Burbank russets, reds, and a yellow-fleshed cultivar...I think it was called Salinas, don't remember exactly. I've cut them up and let them scab over on a rack for 3 days.

My question now is, should I plant them dry, or soak them first to promote sprouting? If the latter, for how long and should I completely submerge them?

My soil is loosened and fairly moist. Should I leave them alone once I bury them, or should I pour some water on top?


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

I just stick the in the dirt a couple inches and water. I like using 5 gal buckets. Can throw dirt on top if the potatoes start to show at top of dirt then when I'm readyn dump the bucket over instead of digging. Reds are our favorite.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

pixieduster said:


> I just stick the in the dirt a couple inches and water. I like using 5 gal buckets. Can throw dirt on top if the potatoes start to show at top of dirt then when I'm readyn dump the bucket over instead of digging. Reds are our favorite.


Hmmmm....is that one plant per bucket? That'd hafta be an awful lot of buckets, no?


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## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

Planted the seed potatoes today. I dug a hole about 18 inches deep for each potato, dropped in the potato and covered with about 5 or 6 inches of soil, then dumped spaghetti sauce jar of water (26 oz.) in each hole. The moist soil mix was soft and easy to dig with a hand trowel, yet the holes held their shapes well.

I did a little research and found that John Seymour had this to say in his book "The New Self-Sufficient Gardener":

"If you plant in a deep bed you should get an enormous crop. You can plant 18 inches (45 cm) deep. And in the very soft earth of the deep bed you can plant with a potato planter. Leave a foot (30 cm) between potatoes."

I followed his advice with two exceptions: not filling the hole back in completely, and I had cut up the potatoes a few days ago so I wouldn't have to buy as many. Not sure how that will work out. I saved the extra soil in two empty vermiculite bags I had left over. I'll fill the holes back in gradually as the potato plants grow, leaving a few leaves exposed as I fill in.

I'll post pictures soon on my other thread.


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

Possumfam: been doing 3 per bucket. Sounds crowded but have been getting plenty. I kept filling as the plants got bigger or potatoes showed at the top. I use the bucket for ease of dumping and getting to the bottom ones. Then just put the dirt back in after.


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## philjam (Dec 17, 2008)

I push whole Yukon golds half way into soft ground eye up one foot apart, row 18". Then cover with 6" of STRAW. When the plants poke through, another 6" of straw. Harvesting is a breeze just pull them up, no fork needed - no damaged taters. This is my 3rd year doing it this way and will never go back. Yields and quality are better than the old way (on this small scale op.)


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*It depends on where you live*



mpguy18 said:


> Goatlady, sp you harvest or leave in the ground over winter? If the ground doesn't freeze would they be fine thru spring or mist you dig them up?


 I am sure that the right temperature and conditions makes a difference whether they can over winter or not.

I have had potatoes overwinter due to circumstances that left me without time to get them dug up. In the spring, I dug the potatoes up and they were fabulous. The other thing for me is that I sometimes don't get all the potatoes out of the ground and they sprout and grow again in the spring. Maybe there is a reason to not let them grow, I don't know. It works for me.

I have heard that if you dig potatotes and other root vegetables out of the ground in the fall, if you leave the dirt on them, or rather, don't wash them until you are ready to use them, they last longer.


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## ReadyMom (Feb 25, 2011)

You can also grow potatoes in a trash can or bucket! See: http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2010/11/growing-potatoes-in-buckets-or-trash.html


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

DH and I are gonna hafta re-think our potato crop. May have to try pixie's and phil's version. Sounds so easy!


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## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

What about laying a tire on the ground, filling with dirt, and planting the potato? Then when the potato gets yey tall, add another tire, fill with dirt, then when the potato gets yey tall, add another tire and add more dirt....Then when you are ready to dig, which can end up being 15 tires high, just take a tire off, get the potatoes, then take another tire off, get the potatoes. A lot of potatoes grow this way, they will be all the way from the top to the bottom, junkyard style. It does work, though, and old tires are everywhere. I have never had my potatoes taste like a patch, or fix a flat, though green slime might be pretty tasty.


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## twiggie (Jan 3, 2009)

I'm trying this method this year. Supposedly you can get up to 100# of taters in 4 square feet. I'll be putting soil in the bottom to 6 inches and layering soil and straw until it reaches the top.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

philjam said:


> I push whole Yukon golds half way into soft ground eye up one foot apart, row 18". Then cover with 6" of STRAW. When the plants poke through, another 6" of straw. Harvesting is a breeze just pull them up, no fork needed - no damaged taters. This is my 3rd year doing it this way and will never go back. Yields and quality are better than the old way (on this small scale op.)


The only problem we had with the straw was the snakes ... the black snakes were no problem (well any snake give me a :gaah but the first time I uncovered a copperhead  ...

Well you get the picture.


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## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

Potatoes growing nicely, up through holes. Will backfill holes after leaves clear the top by a few inches.


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