Planting potatoes by hand

[deniscooper]

So please don't laugh but i have a question about planting potatoes by hand.

Last year i used a ridger and planted potatoes in the ditch then used a rake to cover the potatoes back up with the soil from the ridge. But then one of the locals told me i had done it wrong as should have just pushed the potatoes into the ridged up soil.

so my question is was i right or was the other person right or does it really not matter?

(they grew fine)

 

[Clive]

it’s doesn’t matter in a garden situation - the ridges are really just part of mechanising the planting and harvest process

seed plus water and soil will grow !

we “dib” ours in using the handle of a broken spade to make a hole

 

[Kidds]

(they grew fine

You’ve answered your own question

 

[deleted user 837354]

No dig is all the rage these days. Lay spuds on the ground and cover with compost. Add more over time to ensure tubers don't get exposed to light.

 

[deniscooper]

No dig is all the rage these days. Lay spuds on the ground and cover with compost. Add more over time to ensure tubers don't get exposed to light.

yep - that's how i used to grow them when i did them in bags.

 

[deleted user 837354]

yep - that's how i used to grow them when i did them in bags.

The cool thing I saw on youtube was to lay old hay on the ground in a windrow at the end of summer and leave it, then put the spuds in it in spring. Works a treat, apparently.

 

[DrWazzock]

The cool thing I saw on youtube was to lay old hay on the ground in a windrow at the end of summer and leave it, then put the spuds in it in spring. Works a treat, apparently.

I have had several customers looking for old wet small bales of straw for that very purpose. I don’t charge them! Glad somebody has created a demand. Tidied up the stack edge bales.
We used to grow them under black polythene (old silage sheeting) years ago to keep the moisture in, light out and rubbish down. Did alright.

 

[Bogweevil]

So please don't laugh but i have a question about planting potatoes by hand.

Last year i used a ridger and planted potatoes in the ditch then used a rake to cover the potatoes back up with the soil from the ridge. But then one of the locals told me i had done it wrong as should have just pushed the potatoes into the ridged up soil.

so my question is was i right or was the other person right or does it really not matter?

(they grew fine)

Old way was to use the ridger, plant spuds in ditch. Run ridger back to split ride over spuds making a new ridge, spuds grow in ridge. Obs tractor runs on ridge when splitting. Although this was in Dorset so we used oxen ca. 1972

 

[7610 super q]

Used to be a weird contraption called a front row coverer. Mounted on the front of the tractor, with cables slung underneath and connected to the rear link arms. You could split the ridges and cover the rows of spuds without the peril of trying to drive the tractor on top of the ridges to split them with a rear mounted implement.

 

[New Puritan]

Used to be a weird contraption called a front row coverer. Mounted on the front of the tractor, with cables slung underneath and connected to the rear link arms. You could split the ridges and cover the rows of spuds without the peril of trying to drive the tractor on top of the ridges to split them with a rear mounted implement.

Is it one of these you are refering to? From about 2 minutes in:

To answer the OP, I've planted spuds using a ridger to make a trench, putting them in by hand, and then running the ridger back along the rows splitting the ridges. It worked okay, but we only did half an acre.

 

[deniscooper]

Thanks all.
Well I thought I’d do a trial and I did half in the ridged up Earth and half in the ditches and covered the later with soil from the ridge after.

 

[TripleSix]

Planting a foot apart?

A foot isn't always 12 inches?

 

[deniscooper]

Yep....well probably a bit more