Tell me about hilling potatoes, please

[NurseNettie]

Okay, so if mulch will work here - what exactly am I doing? Is hilling a way of "tricking" the plant into thinking that more of it is underground than really is? If mulch works, is darkness the key? Moisture isn't as important? I guess since the tubers aren't actually roots they don't require actual soil to grow in?

I'm sorry I'm asking such disjointed questions. This is how my mind works. It's a curse. lol

There's no "tricking" involved-- your potatoes are growing above the seed potato-- upwards towards the sky. Without something above them (soil, mulch,compost) they're unable to fully grow the number of potatoes they would, if you did hill them up. The new spuds need to be in the soil in order to grow well, so, you need to be the one to put that soil (or mulch, or compost) there for them as they grow.

The roots grow from the seed potato (under and around it) as well as connecting to and also from the new potatoes.

Check these links of photos- it might explain better:

http://www.potato2008.org/en/kids/grow.html

http://www.potato2008.org/en/kids/grow.html

 

[digitS']

This is a great photograph! LOL!

http://www.potato2008.org/images/sitewide/5945.jpg

Who'd have thought? The FAO having a website like this !

Steve

 

[AmyRey]

Thanks all! I guess I'll be mulching my potatoes this weekend.

 

[wsmoak]

Can someone confirm or deny that Yukon Gold potatoes do NOT need to be hilled?

Read it somewhere, can't find it now... and they're coming up!

-Wendy

 

[digitS']

Wendy, I looked at what the University of Nebraska said about Yukon Gold when it was new on the market. They are providing advice to farms where hilling will not be done:

"Seed pieces or tubers need to be planted deep, about 6 inches below row top. If not, due to the high set, many tubers will jut out of the ground near harvest and greening will be a grade-out problem."

http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/potato/yukongold_management

I've grown Yukon Gold for several years. It does, I can confirm, it wants to jump right out of the ground .

Steve