If you’re growing potatoes this season, now’s the perfect time to boost them with a simple technique. New gardeners may experience difficulty growing potatoes due to simple planting mistakes or frost damage.
According to a gardening expert, one vital step can make all the difference. This simple technique not only boosts growth but also protects your plants from common issues such as toxic green tubers. Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of your potato patch.
Hayden Salt, a gardening expert at Jacksons Nurseries, advises gardeners to follow a technique called “mounding up.” Mounding is also known as ‘earthing’ which involves putting soil or compost around the base of the plant.
Hayden explained: “Potatoes grown from seed, either in the ground or in bags, will be starting to shoot now. Mounding up means covering the shoots with compost around the base of the plant to encourage growth. It also serves to protect young plants from a late frost.”
If you’re growing potatoes in large pots or sacks, start by planting the tubers in about 10cm of compost, reports Gardeners’ World.
As the shoots begin to appear, continue adding compost in 5cm layers at regular intervals. Mounding can be done every two to three weeks to help ensure a healthy harvest—plus, it has the added bonus of suppressing any competing weeds.
Hayden continued: “Another important element (to mounding up) is to stop potatoes being exposed to light which can turn them green. Green tubers can be poisonous.”
Green tubers are potatoes that turn green when exposed to light during growth, leading to the production of toxins such as chlorophyll and solanine. The expert went on to say: “You won’t harm the growth by covering up, so don’t worry about that.
“I usually leave around two inches of foliage above the soil to allow them to continue to grow effectively. Depending on how productive the plant is, you might want to do this again in a few weeks.”
Beginner’s guide to growing potatoes
If you’re considering growing your own potatoes this spring, then we have listed important steps to follow for a healthy harvest. Potatoes need an open, sunny growing space to thrive, “not prone to late frosts, as the young shoots are susceptible to frost damage in April and May,” reported the RHS.
Dig a trench about 15cm deep and place the seed potatoes at the bottom with the sprouts facing upward. Cover them with at least 2.5cm of soil, being careful not to damage the delicate shoots, and water thoroughly.
You can also grow potatoes in large containers around 30cm in diameter. Early varieties are the most suitable, as the crop is smaller and matures more quickly.
Potatoes like rich, fertile soil such as garden compost or “well-rotted manure, before planting. If possible, do this the previous autumn or winter.” Potatoes also tend to like a slightly acidic soil with a pH between 5.0 and 6.0.
An expert at the RHS also shared tips on how to water potato plants: “To ensure a good crop, water potato plants in dry weather. Potatoes in containers need regular watering throughout the growing season, especially if kept in a greenhouse.
“Even during wet weather, it may be necessary to water outdoor containers, as the leaves can act like an umbrella over the compost, preventing rainwater from soaking down.”