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When the potato plants first emerge, a late frost can damage them. To protect the plants if a frost threatens, cover them lightly with soil, compost or straw.
Earthing up should occur first when the potato plants are about 25cm / 10in tall. It is the process of mounding up soil on either side of the plants and lightly covering the stems so that only 10cm / 4in remains visible above the soil surface. It doesn't matter if some of the leaves are also covered.
A rake is the best tool for earthing up potatoes. Simply drag the surrounding soil 25cm (on both sides) of the potato plants until only about 10cm / 4in of the plants are above the surface.
Earthing up will cover potatoes growing near the surface and stop them going green. A couple of weeks after the first earthing up repeat the process again. It's not absolutely necessary to earth up, the effect is only minimal.
When growing potatoes in containers follow the same principles as earthing up potatoes in open ground. Simply add more compost into the container when the plants are 15cm / 6in above the top of the compost leaving only 8cm / 3in above the top compost level. Repeat the process leaving a an eventual space at the top of about 10cm / 4 in so the plants can be watered.
When the plants are primarily growing foliage (soon after the foliage starts to emerge), apply a nitrogen rich fertiliser such as Growmore twice at two week intervals. After six weeks, when the plants are putting more effort into growing the potato tubers, feed at two intervals using a potash base fertiliser such as Tomorite or similar tomato feed.
Potato roots do grow quite deeply so they are normally capable of extracting
sufficient water from
most soil types but, in times of drought, they may need
watering well. Certainly, if the foliage shows any signs of drooping, give the
plants a very good watering.
The next step in growing potatoes is harvesting them and storing them. See this page for full details.
OTHER POTATO PAGES
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