No-Till Potatoes

[Kiwi Pete]

I don't know! Dad said it might be he used to grow quite a bit of a garden so would know more than me about it but I'd already thrown the potatoes before he came to see.
The tops just died almost overnight so I dug some up and they had these holes in
Will try mustard next year

Ours used to look like someone had got a knitting-needle onto them, about 4.5mm holes, sometimes with the worm in but usually absent. Timing helped, ie they usually got into the early ones and left the maincrop ones alone more.

 

[New Puritan]

It's all a bit finger-in-air. No wider spacing than the potatoes normally would go. I just sprinkle some mustard between the rows after the first earthing up. Then when the potatoes get earthed up again most of the mustard gets wiped out. I think any brassica would do, the wire worm either don't like the smell, or they can't seek out the potatoes because of the brassica smell I'm not sure.

 

[New Puritan]

Just to add this is on a small scale and being grown conventionally, hence the earthing up.

When growing them no-dig, do you have to add more layers of mulch in place of earthing up, as you go along?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Just to add this is on a small scale and being grown conventionally, hence the earthing up.

When growing them no-dig, do you have to add more layers of mulch in place of earthing up, as you go along?

I did, I was probably a bit tight with the straw for a start and could see spuddies through it.

 

[martian]

Just to add this is on a small scale and being grown conventionally, hence the earthing up.

When growing them no-dig, do you have to add more layers of mulch in place of earthing up, as you go along?

We put a lot of straw on first up and then did nothing else (beyond giving it a good soak to stop the straw blowing away) until harvesting. The odd one has been munched by slugs (I assume), but most are perfect

 

[hendrebc]

Ours used to look like someone had got a knitting-needle onto them, about 4.5mm holes, sometimes with the worm in but usually absent. Timing helped, ie they usually got into the early ones and left the maincrop ones alone more.

Sounds like what we have then the holes would be about that size. I had some earlies and some maincrop and some sprouted potatoes from the kitchen but they all went in on the same day because it was so dry I put them all in quite late once it started raining. Wouldn't be able to water them where they were very easily and couldn't see the point of planting them to just dry up.