What is the optimum hill height for potatoes and at what point is higher not better?

[kath]

Originally Posted by wmontanez

Yukon Gold was one that hilling to 12" did nothing for me...only 3-5 tubers per plant and the plants were tall...

Yukon Gold is not a high yielding potato. I love them and grow some of them every year- your results are not surprising.

[mrdoitall]

I grow my potatoes in 6 to 8 inch trench. I plant the seed pieces in the trench and only cover them with 2 inches of soil to start with. I space the seed pieces 10 or 12 inches apart and 3 ft between rows. As the plants grow say 6 inches I pull the soil up to them. But leave 2 or 3 inches of the plant showing above the soil. As the plants grow I pull more soil up to them the same way as before. I keep doing this until they start to flower. Total soil pulled around the plants is 8 to 12 inches high and 12 to 24 wide of hill. So the seed pieces are say 6 inches deep with another 8 to 12 inches of soil add to them for a total of 14 to 20 inches give or take a inch or two. I plant 200 ft of potatoes each year. I get around 600 to 800 lbs of potatoes around 3 to 4 lbs per foot of row. My grandfather did it like this 50 years ago. It works for me. I use my tractor to hill them and to dig them. I have experimented with more hilling as high as 2 feet but did not get any more potatoes. This was with Kennebec potatoes. Also around here a 10 lb bag of good size potatoes sales for 6.99 to 8.99 per bag. I think growing 200 ft a potatoes is well worth the work. saves me around $400.00 to $700.00 per year. If you have the space grow them.

[owiebrain]

Originally Posted by wmontanez

Right now I am having small plants and tall next to each other because some I don't know yet their growth habit.

That's one of my issues this year, too. I guess that'll just come with more experience.

I did also wonder but forgot in my last post: Are the hilling requirements different for TPS vs. pulled sprouts vs. tubers even within the same variety?

So much to learn, so little brain power...

[wmontanez]

@kath, I do still like Yukon gold but was dissapointed to find only 3 tubers after all the hilling etc. This year I am not growing them to have space for new varieties.

@mrdoitall, thanks for the detailed information. This is my second year planting potatoes. My best last year was 2.5lb per plant, with 3-4lbs I declare success!

@owiebrian, I am treating them all the same. My potato sampler is growing by the hour, can't seem to hill them fast enough and they need another few inches more.

[mrdoitall]

Wendy, There is nothing wrong with 2.5 to 4 LBS That's real good. I know people that plant potatoes for years that only get 1.5 to 2.5 and they are happy with that. I don't go by pounds per plant. I figure mine per feet of row. I plant my seed potatoes 10" apart so I would say I get about 240 plants per 200 feet of row. So my average is only about 2.5 LB on a average year and 3.3 LBS on a good year. So 4 LBS is very good. How many feet of row do you plant? How close to you plant them. I have spaced mine out to 18 inches but only got about 400 LBS that year. I also tried 6 inches and all the potatoes where small Tennis ball size and under. I now just stick with 10 to 12 inches I get a good mix of sizes that way.

[wmontanez]

I have them in raised beds and they are staggered with about 12 inches between plants. My potatoes are single plant varieties from Tom Wagner's sampler so I don't yet know the growth habits. In there are 4 fingerlings that I am doing at 10 inches from the next plant. The sampler from last year I am keeping at 12in and TPS seedlings at 8-9 inches in containers. If I were to count ft of them probably 60ft total.

[davespitzer]

I've read that some people grow in straw, which eliminates hilling all together. Would it make sense to trench, backfill, and then 'hill up' with straw?

[wmontanez]

Beyond the 12in of my raised bed I am just layering straw. I put a good amount of rich soil+compost and top dressed with gardentone to get tasty tubers in the last hilling. Now is waiting. I saw a few flower buds!

[kath]

Originally Posted by davespitzer

I've read that some people grow in straw, which eliminates hilling all together. Would it make sense to trench, backfill, and then 'hill up' with straw?

When I've tried deep straw, it seemed to invite critters that liked to eat the tubers as much as I do. I also had more trouble that year with the stems rotting at the base, so I guess you need to keep the straw from being in direct contact with the stems. Green potatoes can make you sick, so that's the other thing to watch with a loose mulch for hilling.

[owiebrain]

I saw some flower buds on my pulled shoots today. I've no clue if they'll end up producing any fruit but it's still exciting to see the plants go through their various phases.

Wendy, my spuds are the same. I hill them and, before I'm finished with them all, the first row needs hilled again. I've taken to ignoring them the past couple of days as the garden has needed my attention elsewhere. My poor tomatoes still aren't planted out.

[wingnut]

I think this is high enough, but maybe a little wider?What do you all think?

[Tom Wagner]

Wingnut, it looks good for now....a bit later some extra width wouldn't hurt but I would wait until some more weeds germinate. Keeping the sides friable and not caked and cracked is important to allow the soil to breathe.

[TZ-OH6]

To keep my clayish soil from compacting after hilling (and to stop weeds) I will mulch them like everything else,... a layer of old matted leaves with grass clippings over top. That keeps the sun off of any tubers that poke out. I don't like to plant them too deep because it's difficult to dig the tubers out so the hill height is dependant on the amount of soil (width ) I can scrape up from between the rows. 4 ft spacing would probably be good for what I do, but I don't have that much space.

[wingnut]

Tom I hit the sides with some round-up last week, and sprinkled a few pounds of prill right after the pic was taken, so I should not have any weed issues.

[owiebrain]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

Wingnut, it looks good for now....a bit later some extra width wouldn't hurt but I would wait until some more weeds germinate. Keeping the sides friable and not caked and cracked is important to allow the soil to breathe.

*furiously adds this to my "Tom notes"*

That's one I didn't know. I'm still a newbie to potato growing so these little tidbits are gold to me. Thanks!

At what point of neglect is it too late to do more hilling? I've not been able to do any further hilling for a week and some of them are getting pretty tall. I know after some amount of time/stem being above ground, they'll no longer produce tubers that high but I don't know what that amount is.

And, on the running out of soil issue, what about wood chips? Can we use wood chips to hill them with or is it limited to lighter media such as straw? I would assume wood chips are okay but don't wanna screw up.