Why You Should Hill Your Potatoes:
- Higher yield
- Prevents toxicity.
- Kills weeds
- Prevent the soil from getting too hot.
- Gives stability to the plant. Just preparing good healthy soil for your potatoes is not enough for a higher yield. ...
What does it mean to Hill potatoes?
Hilling is a term that describes the task of piling soil up around the base of a potato plant as it grows. Hilling correctly means your potato harvest will be more abundant. Doing it wrong can lead to a wasted crop. Luckily, you can learn the right steps for hilling potatoes right here in this guide.
When should I Hill my Potatoes?
Hill the plants when they’re about 6-8 inches (15-20cm) high. The purpose of hilling is to cover potato tubers as they start to poke out of the ground. Several conditions can affect the growth of your potato plants, such as whether you’re planting during a wet or dry year. You may have to wait several weeks before it’s time to hill your potatoes.
Does Hilling potatoes increase yield?
Hilling potatoes increases yield by giving you healthier plants. Stronger plants with more energy will be able to produce larger tubers. As mentioned earlier, hilling controls weeds so that potato plants don’t have to compete with them for water and nutrients. This results in more vigorous plants.
How do you prepare potatoes for Hilling?
1 Hill the plants when they’re about 6-8 inches (15-20cm) high. The purpose of hilling is to cover potato tubers as they start to poke out of the ground. 2 Use a hoe to scoop dirt from between the rows. ... 3 Keep going down the row, scooping dirt. ... 4 Pack the dirt tightly with your hands. ... More items...
What happens if you don't Hill potatoes?
If you don't hill your potatoes, you are more likely to end up with green tubers. This happens when potatoes are exposed to sunlight. This potato has been exposed to sunlight and turned green as a result.
Does hilling potatoes increase yield?
Simple answer, hilling does not increase yield with any variety of potato grown today. It is entirely for protecting the spuds from greening and to some extent from varmints intent on getting a free meal.
Why do potato plants need to be hilled?
The main reason for hill potatoes is to increase yield. Potatoes form along the underground stem of the plant, and when you hill them, you effectively lengthen the underground portion of the stem.
How often should potatoes be hilled?
You can hill your potatoes 1-3 times per season/crop. Just loosen surrounding soil in the bed and pull up around the leaves and stems. Try to hill before the stems grow too long and start to flop over. You should pull between 2”-6” new soil up around the plants each time you hill.
Do you cover leaves when hilling potatoes?
With the first hilling, I like to cover the vines up so that only the top leaves are exposed. This allows for a shallower second hilling done 2-3 weeks later with an additional 2-4 in of soil brought around the vines.
Should I cut the tops off my potato plants?
Pruning potato vines can help the potatoes mature earlier, before they attain their full size. Pruning potato vines and then leaving them in the soil for at least two weeks, post pruning, will help them develop a thick, protective skin.
When can I stop hilling my potatoes?
You should stop hilling your potatoes when you've formed a hill about six or eight inches tall. At this height, your potato crop should be about ready for its final growth cycle and should reach full maturity soon.
What happens if you don't earth up potatoes?
Potatoes need to be totally covered by soil to grow, otherwise, they will turn green. Earthing up your shoots stops your potatoes from becoming exposed to sunlight and developing green skin. Green potatoes aren't just unsightly, they are poisonous and inedible.
How high should you Mound potatoes?
Potato plants should be “hilled” when the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall (Figure 7). Figure 7: When the plants are 8-12 inches tall they should be hilled to keep tubers covered and prevent greening. Mound the soil to a height of 3 to 6 inches and approximately 12 to 15 inches from the base of the plant.
Why are my potatoes so tall?
– Potato Plants Fall Over When They Grow Too Tall Potato plants can grow too tall when they have been given too much fertilizer, especially when it's rich in nitrogen. Nitrogen can encourage potato plants to develop more than usual, and this is evident in the overgrowth of their tall green shoots above the ground.
How long after potatoes flower Are they ready?
Most early potato varieties will produce flowers in June, quite pretty ones too. Many are white, but they come in purple and pink too. Once the flowers start to go over, or the unopened flower buds drop, you know that the potatoes are ready to harvest. This will take anywhere from eight to twelve weeks after planting.
Why did my potato plants not produce potatoes?
Where many gardeners have gone wrong when their growing potato plants are not producing is around bloom time, when the potato tuber begins to bulk. Excessive application of nitrogen at this time will result in no potatoes on your plants or low potato yields.
How do you increase the yield of a potato?
The two key yield components of potato are tuber numbers per unit area, and tuber size or weight. Increased yields come from achieving the optimum tuber numbers, maintaining a green leaf canopy, and increasing tuber size and weight.
Does hilling potatoes make a difference?
above the soil surface, they are hilled up again. If there is the danger of a late frost, young tender potato plants can be completely covered with this soil to protect them from frost damage. Hilling up potatoes also helps keep weeds down around the potato root zone, so the potatoes are not competing for nutrients.
When should I mound my potatoes?
Potato plants should be “hilled” when the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall (Figure 7). Figure 7: When the plants are 8-12 inches tall they should be hilled to keep tubers covered and prevent greening. Mound the soil to a height of 3 to 6 inches and approximately 12 to 15 inches from the base of the plant.
Can you over Mound potatoes?
1:332:39Mounding Potatoes - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd if you bury these tubes your irrigation lines. That's great that's fine they'll continue toMoreAnd if you bury these tubes your irrigation lines. That's great that's fine they'll continue to water the plant where its roots are. Well. As this these plants continue to grow.
Tips
When you first dig your potato trenches, leave the soil in mounds between rows. That will give you the soil you need to hill the potato plants.
Warnings
Do not, under any circumstance, harvest and eat green potatoes. They are toxic and can make you sick.
About This Article
This article was co-authored by Maggie Moran. Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania. This article has been viewed 22,951 times.
How to grow potatoes
If you would like more information about growing your own potatoes, please read my article How to grow your own potatoes. This covers everything you need to know from planting, preparing seed, growing, harvesting and storage and more about this great vegetable.
Background and origin of otatoes
This method is called hilling, mounding, ridging, and earthing up to name a few.
Preparing to plant potatoes
When i started growing potatoes, I discovered the importance of properly preparing for each step in the process.
Planting the potatoes
I plant the seed potatoes into the soil when the ground is warm enough (ground temp above 8°C or 46°F).Then, I plant the seed potatoes themselves about a foot away from each other as this will ensure room for them to grow and multiply inside the drill. Then i shovel the soil on top of the potatoes covering them with at least 6 inches of soil.
How to hill up potatoes
Now we get to the good stuff. As your potato stems begin to poke their heads above the soil, you still don’t need to do anything yet, just wait..
Why should I hill up or mound potatoes?
Now that we know how to hill up potatoes, you may be wondering why it is important to do.
Prevents green potatoes
Quick science corner, what makes a potato green is just the process of photosynthesis happening, the process required for our plants to grow.
Covering Potato Plants
Traditionally, in March to May seed potatoes are planted 1 ½ to 2 feet (46-61 cm.) apart in a 6 to 8 inch (15-20 c.) deep trench. They are covered with soil or organic material, such as sphagnum peat moss, mulch, or straw and then watered deeply. In early spring, Mother Nature may do much of the watering.
How to Hill Up Potato Plants
Covering potato plants with fresh, rich, loose organic material like this can continue until the hill is as tall as you can or want to make it. Ideally, the taller the hill, the more potatoes you will get. Unfortunately, rain and wind can erode these potato hills if they are left exposed.
What Does Hilling Potatoes Mean?
Hilling refers to the process of creating mounds with soil around the plants of potatoes as they grow from the ground. Potato plants rise as they grow as opposed to growing further into the ground. Here’s a quick overview.
Preparing for Hilling
To more easily hill your potatoes later, you should loosen the soil before planting your potatoes. This will allow for more moveable soil later to mound around your plants. Keep any extra soil you have after digging trenches, too, so that you’ll have this soil available for the hilling process.
When to Hill Potatoes
You need to hill your potatoes once they’ve been up through the soil for about a week, as this is about the time they’ll need some extra coverage on top.
How to Hill Your Potatoes
You can use your hands or your choice of gardening tool to carefully loosen soil near your potato plants when you’re ready to hill your potatoes. Use this soil to, with your hands, bring toward and around the stalk of the potato plant. Continue to draw soil around each plant, creating a hill around the base of each stalk.
Caring for Potatoes During and After Hilling
During each hilling process, you should first check to make sure your potatoes are watered properly. Is the soil or straw moist? Neither should be overly wet nor dry. Give your plants some extra water if needed, and this can also be a good reminder to fertilize your potato plants if you choose to use any.
Hilling potatoes has been popular for centuries because it is thought to increase yield. So, is that true?
The theory goes that as you cover the stems of the potato plant in soil, they will be able to form more roots. More roots might be beneficial because tubers (potatoes) grow on those roots and that would mean more potatoes. The jury is out on whether hilling potatoes directly increases yield.
How do you mound potatoes?
Covering most of the leaves should encourage the plant to grow up towards the light. That normally means lightly covering the majority of the plant with tilled soil, compost or straw. The weight of the material you use shouldn’t risk damaging the plants. You don’t want any large clods of earth either.
Other benefits of hilling potatoes
Hilling potatoes also protects the growing tubers from the light. If light gets to the roots where they grow, they become inedible and your time is wasted.
How To Hill Potatoes
If you have the room, leaving around 36 inches of space between your rows of potatoes will make hilling easier. Having extra soil to pull from between your rows makes the process much faster than trying to haul in dirt to cover the potatoes.
Hilling Potatoes FAQs
You need to watch the growth of the potato plant foliage to choose the best time to hill potatoes. Generally, you want to begin hilling once the plant is at least six or so inches tall.
In Summary
The steps on how to hill potatoes are very straightforward but require extra time and effort and enough soil in your garden area to complete this task.
What is Hilling
The main edible part of a potato plant is the tubers. The tubers are formed along little stems or stolons from a potato plant that is buried underground. So, no matter how you grow a potato plant you should cover the plant stem periodically with soil or other organic materials. This process is known as hilling of potatoes.
Is Potato Hilling Necessary
Your potato plants will still grow even if you don’t hill them. But If you don’t mound potatoes, you will probably end up with green and bitter potato tubers. This is because potatoes when get exposed to sunlight turn green.
Why You Should Hill Your Potatoes
Hilling your potatoes, has many benefits for your developing crop, like:
Higher Yields
Just preparing good healthy soil for your potatoes is not enough for a higher yield. As the potato tubers are formed in underground stems or stolons, By increasing the total number of stolons that are buried you are increasing the opportunity for the plant to grow more tubers. So generally, The more you hill the more potatoes you get.
Hilling Prevents Toxicity in Potato Plants
When a potato plant starts forming tubers, it starts at the soil level. If they remain uncovered they will come in contact with the sunlight and will develop green skin. This can cause the tubers to taste bitter and can also be toxic.
Kills Weeds
Hilling also suppresses weeds and gives your potato plants the opportunity to grow without any competition. The plants won’t thrive if they’re competing with other weeds in the area.
Maintaining The Soil Temperature
This is very important if you live in warmer climates. Hot soil can prevent a potato plant from developing tubers rapidly. So by hilling your potatoes especially with organic materials like straw, you’re actually insulating the soil and keeping it as cool as possible. This will result in a bigger better potato yield.
