growing potatoes

[Ginger]

Last year I experimented with the deep mulch method of growing
potatoes, hoping for tubers the length of the buried stem. No luck. I
have read that this works only with mid-season potatoes. Does anybody
have any experience with this method? Appreciate any suggestions.

[Diana Jancek]

Hi Ginger
By deep mulch do you mean like digging a bigger than usual hole and
filling it with compost, or what? I always add a layer of compost at the
bottom of my planting hole and it seems to work pretty well.
Diana

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[Ginger]

No. I layer some compost and straw on the ground, add the potatoes,
another layer of compost/straw. Then, as the potatoes grow, keep
adding mulch/compost/straw so that about 2" of stalk stays above. The
theory is that the buried stem will produce spuds along its length.

I did this last year and got a decent first layer of potatoes, but
nothing along the stem. I subsequently read that potato type matters.
This seems like such a good idea- vertical growing!

[Diana Jancek]

I also heard of doing that in a barrel, adding stuff as the plant grows
up, then dumping out the barrel and voila, a barrelful of potatoes!
Haven't tried that yet.
Diana

[Ginger]

Check this out:
http://www.hillgardens.com/veggie-1.htm

[Ginger]

Oops. Wrong link. This is the one I intended:
http://www.hillgardens.com/potatoes.htm