Hilling potatoes with straw.....RESULTS

[boggybranch]

Having read so much about hilling taters with straw instead dirt, I gave it another go this year. Tried it last year, but the seed rotted due to an unusually wet early spring. The gist is that the taters will form in the mulch making for a cleaner and easier harvest....right?

Apparently, the seed taters that I bought had not read the same articles that I had read. This morning as I headed out to the tater beds, I had HIGH and excited expectations.

THE RESULTS: Not the first tater was in the hay mulch. ALL taters were formed within the soil.

How will I hill taters from now on?..........With dirt.

How do they put it on tv?......Oh, yea.....myth busted.... at least for me.

Fool me once, shame on "you"....fool me twice, shame on me.

Quantity gathered....a little over 1/2 of a 5 gal bucket full.

At least, now I know.

 

[bid]

Hmmm... interesting. How did you grow the potatos Boggy? In the ground and hilled or in a container? I ask because I am trying the 5 gallon bucket with straw method this year. Mine won't have much/any soil to form potatos in.

 

[hoodat]

Having read so much about hilling taters with straw instead dirt, I gave it another go this year. Tried it last year, but the seed rotted due to an unusually wet early spring. The gist is that the taters will form in the mulch making for a cleaner and easier harvest....right?

Apparently, the seed taters that I bought had not read the same articles that I had read. This morning as I headed out to the tater beds, I had HIGH and excited expectations.

THE RESULTS: Not the first tater was in the hay mulch. ALL taters were formed within the soil.

How will I hill taters from now on?..........With dirt.

How do they put it on tv?......Oh, yea.....myth busted.... at least for me.

Fool me once, shame on "you"....fool me twice, shame on me.

Quantity gathered....a little over 1/2 of a 5 gal bucket full.

At least, now I know.

What they never tell you is that the straw has to be at least partially broken down so it packs tighter than fresh straw. I guess they figure the straw will break down during the growing season. Fresh straw lets the air circulate too much and taters won't form in airy conditions.
Did you try digging in the ground under the straw? Maybe some formed there.

 

[boggybranch]

Hmmm... interesting. How did you grow the potatos Boggy? In the ground and hilled or in a container? I ask because I am trying the 5 gallon bucket with straw method this year. Mine won't have much/any soil to form potatos in.

Started out by planting the "seed" about 3 inches under the dirt (in the ground), then, as they grew, covered in hay and straw.

 

[boggybranch]

Having read so much about hilling taters with straw instead dirt, I gave it another go this year. Tried it last year, but the seed rotted due to an unusually wet early spring. The gist is that the taters will form in the mulch making for a cleaner and easier harvest....right?

Apparently, the seed taters that I bought had not read the same articles that I had read. This morning as I headed out to the tater beds, I had HIGH and excited expectations.

THE RESULTS: Not the first tater was in the hay mulch. ALL taters were formed within the soil.

How will I hill taters from now on?..........With dirt.

How do they put it on tv?......Oh, yea.....myth busted.... at least for me.

Fool me once, shame on "you"....fool me twice, shame on me.

Quantity gathered....a little over 1/2 of a 5 gal bucket full.

At least, now I know.

What they never tell you is that the straw has to be at least partially broken down so it packs tighter than fresh straw. I guess they figure the straw will break down during the growing season. Fresh straw lets the air circulate too much and taters won't form in airy conditions.
Did you try digging in the ground under the straw? Maybe some formed there.

Yes, sir....ALL the taters had to be dug. I used some year+ old hay to start out with and "called myself" packing it in tight around the plants. It very well could be, though, that it was still too loose and airy for the tubers to form. Hilling with dirt should eliminate that factor.

And you are right.....never have seen that aspect mentioned in ANY article about it.

 

[journey11]

My dad mentioned he was going to try this too. If he does, I'll let you guys know how his turned out.

I am doing basket 'taters this year ( as per TEG member Modern Pioneer ). They are just getting started, but I'll let you know how that turns out too! Those of us with red clay soil are desperate to find a reliable no-dig method!
:tools

 

[jamespm_98]

I find partially decomposed leaves works better, straw is to hard to keep in place unless it has started to rot. I end up with some straw on mine, but it is just because it is mixed in with the leaves. Also how did you plant your taters? I typically just lay mine on the ground and cover with mulched leaves. I suspect if you bury the taters when you plant them then they are more likely to form in the ground. My taters form in the leaves mostly with a few in the ground. I find I can rake back the leaves and pull a few potatoes along, then harvest the rest at the end of the season.

 

[boggybranch]

I find partially decomposed leaves works better, straw is to hard to keep in place unless it has started to rot. I end up with some straw on mine, but it is just because it is mixed in with the leaves. Also how did you plant your taters? I typically just lay mine on the ground and cover with mulched leaves. I suspect if you bury the taters when you plant them then they are more likely to form in the ground. My taters form in the leaves mostly with a few in the ground. I find I can rake back the leaves and pull a few potatoes along, then harvest the rest at the end of the season.

I know that it's bound to work, as so much is written about it (the articles just seem to leave out some crucial info....aka, the small print). But don't look like I have the right "mojo" to accomplish the mission. I KNOW it works when hilled in dirt, though.

 

[vfem]

I do BOTH in a 5 gallon bucket and it works for me. I layer some straw, then dirt, then straw, then dirt and so on.

So far everything is growing, just very slow. It will be another month or 2 before harvest though!

Good luck, so sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

[digitS']

. . . Fool me once, shame on "you"....fool me twice, shame on me. . .

I just used that saying when describing my efforts to plant early crops, BoggyB. And, then the hard frost came. Just back from replacing some of them.

It took only ONE disaster to turn me away from mulch in the spud patch. Many years ago, a lot of rain-spoiled alfalfa hay was available to me from a neighboring farm. I planted about a 20' by 50' piece of ground in potatoes and covered between the rows with the mulch. The plants came up and grew just fine.

When the vines died back, I started moving the mulch to discover . . . that the mice were there ahead of me.

It was really quite remarkable and I remember it well. I found 1 (ONE) tuber that hadn't been chewed on by little mice teeth. My thousand square feet of potatoes and a full season was a total waste -- except for that one potato.

Steve