Growing Potatoes Without Digging

We’ve tested this no dig potato growing method over multiple seasons and with several different varieties. That list includes Norland, Smart, Red Sangre, Purple Viking, Bellanita, and Caribe so far.

Yields from our three no dig potato beds this year averaged 1.5 lbs per square foot of bed space, which compares well with dug beds and is especially good considering we never lifted a shovel!

A common mistake people make when attempting to grow potatoes under mulch is not using enough mulch. The mulch is responsible for keeping the tubers cool and completely dark so your layer of mulch has to be thick enough to serve these purposes. Insufficient mulch will result in poorer yields and many green potatoes.

Topping the no dig beds with mulch does take a bit more time than hilling the potatoes with soil, but the harvest is so much faster that the total labour time I’ve recorded for our no dig beds is still 30% less than a standard potato bed, and the work is much less physically demanding.

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[ladyofthemasque]

There is one addition HUGE benefit to surface "burial" with thick mulch applied on top: That mulch will continue to break down throughout the spring and summer into the fall, enriching the soil and building up its bulk. You not only end up with roughly the same amount of potatoes that are easier to dig up, you end up with far more fertile soil. Especially if you focus on incorporating a wide mix of source materials for your mulch / compost.

ALSO: Don't forget to rotate your crops every year, to avoid building up pests and diseases that will cause problems!

[dreamwolf]

My family used to keep several potato plants in our house during the winter.

big plastic containers, with a seed potato, and a bunch of straw and mulch in alternating layers.

We were poor, so this was a way to cut on food costs in the winter, when heating bills are high.

[hanstaagen]

Unfortunately, in dry climates like the rocky mountains, you have to bury them. Otherwise, they just never retain any moisture

[bastienpabiot]

This only works if it's not too cold, in colder climates the burying helps protect the potatoes from the cold air

[lexington]

I've been planting potatoes on the surface for several years, I put straw over them and I get pretty good harvest. just have to keep an eye on it to make sure that the tubers don't poke up through the straw and get sun damaged. you just have to put a little more straw over them. And yes you're right, it's way easier than digging all of them up, you still have to dig a little bit but not as much as they will go down to.

[Evija]

My mom's garden is next to a forest. The wild boars would have a feast with this 😄

[benjamindover]

My experience has been that the potatoes planted deep in the ground make for bigger potatoes versus containers or on top of the ground.

[mikerevendale]

Potatoes are an amazing food plant! We've experimented throughout the years and completely stopped using the trench method. We till the soil and place the seed potatoes on the surface; thereafter, we mound soil over it. We also plant two weeks earlier than the recommended time for our area. We like short season varieties like Red Pontiac. After about 10 weeks the potatos are ready and we're chopping down the foliage before pests get established.

[AlexanderFarley]

Probably the only useful Youtube Short I've ever seen

[JosieTube]

In Vermont and I use this method (commonly called the Ruth Stout method )covering the potatoes with 8-12 inches of hay. You don’t need a water as often. The potatoes are on the surface when they’re ready to be picked it’s easy and it’s fast.

[ahseaton]

My parents had an old back to the soil hippie sorta friend who swore by this method:
1. Put down a single layer of newspaper,
2. Put the seed potatoes on top of the paper about a foot apart or so
3. Mound them over in straw
4. Finally, add a couple more pieces of newspaper on top of the straw.
5. Give it a good drenching
6. Poke a few holes in the paper above the seed potatoes for the shutes to grow through
He ended up with great yields and super easy to harvest: just reach into the straw from the side.

[Menuki]

The advantage container growing has is the ability to dump it over a sifting tray. Hose them off and it way less back breaking

[AG-yblm]

For me Container Grown Potatoes are the BEST!

I have a Screening Table, and I know the Screen Size of my potting soil...

When I dump a Container onto the screening table, the soil drops through, and the potatoes stay on top.

It takes approximately 2 minutes to move a Container to the table, dump it, and recover the potatoes!

[cobreen]

Not a farmer, but an admirer of farmers community. You are so polite and well.

The one's tending to earth shall inherit it

[AstarothNolife]

I did it this year. Green and brown mulch alterned layers and here we are! 12kg easily harvested in 30 min.

[sandrafoy]

Perfect time to watch this. I have my potatoes to plant for this season. Thank you 😊

[mcxzvkh]

We do grass cuttings instead of mulch. I grew up growing massive beds of potatoes like this. We always fed the entire neighborhood we had such a big garden ❤❤ I’m in Vancouver Canada 🇨🇦 for location reference

[Ed]

Known as the Ruth Stout method. Generally givescacslightly smaller harvest. Less suitable for indeterminate potatoes e.g. Idaho Russet), more suitable for determinate potatoes such as Yukon Gold

[Combat_Wombat]

My biggest yeild for potatoes was when I used those things that comes on top of pallets. Kind of walls around the pallets. I buried potatoes and kept adding soil during the whole growing season. I also planted the potatoes quite close to another. This way you don't have to deal with any weeds because there is no room for them and also helps a lot retaining the moisture. This is a good method when you don't have a lot of space and want a lot of potatoes.

[hudmo]

Centuries of potato growing and man is here to revolutionize, and it sounds like he’s done it… cool as heck