potatoes growing with leaves !!!

cazbust01

hi, i planted my potatos some weeks ago - i was expecting to see shoots appearing but have leaves, is this correct ? should i cover these leaves with soil ?

Mortal

That's it. Just keep earthing up to the leaves, but leave the leaves sticking out so the sun gets to do it's business

Mr_Warren_2

If you cover the leaves, the plant will reach for the light and grow additional shoots underground (ie more spuds). When you have reached the level of soil needed, then you can start earthing up to protect the fresh tuber grown close to the soil surface. If they see light, they will turn green and green potatoes cannot be eaten. This processus is used by people growing spuds in containers or special bags.I have known people growing spuds in old tyres, adding new tyres and soil as the green shoots appeared on the surface. After a stack of 4 or 5 (may be more tyres), they let the plant grow. It is amasing how many spuds they got at the end.

carole.uk

hi Mr warren are you saying to keep covering all the leaves with soil?
i have pots growing and the leaves are getting quite tall i keep covering the bottom up but have kept the top leaves showing, is this right ??

Deestar36

carole.uk wrote: »

hi Mr warren are you saying to keep covering all the leaves with soil?
i have pots growing and the leaves are getting quite tall i keep covering the bottom up but have kept the top leaves showing, is this right ??

Hi carole.uk,

I would also welcome Mr warrens advice as today I have earthed up again and completely covered the leaves which is what I thought you had to do?

This is the first year for growing pots and have been keeping an eye on the threads here to make sure I'm doing this right. This little thread has now confused me although I'm sure the plants will just continue to grow to find the light.

Hope you're having some success.

Deestar

csnann

I keep covering mine completely until the middle of May, then let them grow and flower. That way they are protected from frost.

Megansmum

ok I am REALLY confused now! I am planting for the first time ever and have had my first leaves show through. I have completely covered them over with more soil. Is this right or wrong?

Megansmum

and... if you keep covering them when the leaves show.... how do they get to flower? :o

stilernin

Megansmum wrote: »

and... if you keep covering them when the leaves show.... how do they get to flower? :o

You keep covering them until you get to the top of the container/bag/ bucket and stop. Then, the leaves keep on growing to get to the light.

The reason we do this, is to get a long root system under the ground. If you put a potato a the bottom of a 2' deep bucket and filled it to the top straight away, the leaves wouldn't make it to the top. By covering the leaves as they come, they only have an inch or two to grow each time.

The more stem/root system under the ground the more potatoes can grow from it. You could plant a potato 6" under the ground and do nothing, but with a shallow root system you would get far fewer potatoes.

Hope this helps a bit. You'll soon get the hang of it and learn loads just by seeing what plants do.

kelloggs36

I have potatoes which have just started growing (yay!) and on the bag where the instructions are, it says when they are 8 inches tall THEN earth them up? I told my hubby to earth them up yesterday so he covered them, but then I read the instructions and then uncovered them lol, so having read this, I am totally confused as to whether to do it now, or wait until they have grown a little bit and then cover the stems but leave the leaves open as the instructions imply.

Mr_Warren_2

Instructions on seed potatoes are basic and just enough to allow you to grow in the "normal" way. By covering the leaves as they emmerge and so on and so on, they will eventually reach the top of your container (or tyres as explained in my answer further up) and develop a great root system. More roots = more potatoes. Also remember to water regularly as tubers need water to grow.
I am going to have fun this weekend with my seed potatoes. I bought a lovely flower for my wife that came in a tall transparent strong plastic bag. I am going to try growing seeds from the bottom up (putting a couple seeds at the bottom) and will keep adding compost as the leaves grow. I will keep the plant bag inside a couple of black bin liners to maintain complete darkness to avoid tubers turning green. I will try to report what is what in this forum.