Please someone respond soon as my slips are about to arrive and still have no soil ready. I did find a SUPER PLANT TONIC that has a nutrients mix with beneficial bacteria, and root mycorrhizal fungus. I found hundreds of posts praising this stuff on over 20 different forums, it is from a company named BLUE MOUNTAIN ORGANICS. Here is info copy and pasted: " Super Plant Tonic". It's a 100 % Organic Blended Tea Concentrate, and a little goes a long way. In this new, more concentrated form it makes 16-32 gallons per bottle for Soil and if using it in a Hydroponics setup it makes 32-64 gallons. See mixing instructions below for details. So what does SPT do for your plants; it makes their roots very efficient. So efficient, you can lower the dose of fertilizer you are using to half. This tonic contains the following : Artesian Spring Water, Worm Castings, Mycorrhizal Fungi, Coral Calcium, Unsulphured (Blackstrap) Molasses, and Humic Acid derived from Oak Leaf & Peat Compost. Now, most people "do not want to tell", you their ingredients you to know them and why they are used : The Artesian Spring Water (provides an all natural, chlorine free base), Worm Castings (add soluable nitrogen & trace minerals), Mycorrhizal Fungi make the mix soluble & inoculate your plants roots, Unsulphured Molasses (feeds - these beneficial microorganisms, provides trace minerals, plus soluble nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium), Coral Calcium (adds 72 trace minerals - that's all of them), Humic Acid derived from (Hot Composted) Oak Leaves & Peat - adds natural chelates (ensuring smooth delivery of the trace minerals). All these good things are mixed, then oxygenated for (3) days under optimal conditions; in a special organic tea brewer. Which increases the feeding action of the beneficial microorganisms - which break down all these good things, into a highly soluble liquid. Easily absorbed by plants. Note: Mycorrhizal Fungi enhance your plants ability to absorb more nutrients, minerals & water - resulting in better vigor, growth & draught resistance. Just Google or Yahoo Search Mycorrhizal Fungi - You'll find page after page of information praising them. The effects on your plants will Amaze You !!! . Just like you, a plant fed a well balanced diet, which includes vitamins & trace minerals - Results in Increased Health & Vigor. It is like a protein shake for your Organics has spent years, perfecting their "Tonic" formula. Each run is made in small batches to ensure quality. It is great for starting or healing plants that are ill. Used weekly, all plants grow bigger & healthier. It is completely safe for food crop use. Your garden will produce more than ever, your roses will love you. ANY IDEAS?

I never cover over the top of the little plants when hilling. I leave a little topknot of leaves showing. The purpose of the hilled soil is to keep the tubers from seeing the sun and turning green (poisonous), and because the tubers don't start to form while the plants are young there is no rush to hill such that you need to cover over the plants. I grow my "container" potatoes in a heavy duty trashbag, rolling up the bag and adding fallen leaves (saved over winter) as the plants get taller. That reduces the amount of potting mix used, which I rather have under the seed potato than over it. Potting mix is expensive, we have been reusing it for years, and just mix in some 10:10:10 granular garden fertilizer,...About a handfull or two for a five gallon bucket. I (usually) cut the potatoes the day before to alow the cut to callus a bit "just in case", but I think that the danger is pretty low in most cases. Some people will dip the fresh cut in sulfur powder and plant right away.

I know old thread... We used to grow potatoes in food grade plastic barrels in SW NC. The each barrel sat on 4 red bricks to allow drainage. We lost our bottom layer of potatoes pretty consistently. I would cover the opening in the top of the barrel with old window screen after flowering was finished (no potato beetles that way and no need for pesticides). We simply used soil from our garden that we sieved thru a piece of hardware cloth to get the larger rocks and debris out. After a layer of soil was added, we put a layer of straw on top. We would allow the potato plants to grow about 6 inches before adding enough soil to cover all but the tips of the plants. We planted Kennebec potatoes (did well in our area/soil... used old taters left over from the previous year that sprouted). At the end of summer, when the plants died back, each barrel would yield about 50 lbs of potatoes that ranged from the size of a golf ball (newer potatoes at the top) to huge monsters towards the bottom. We would tip the barrels out on a tarp and till the soil back into one of the empty raised garden beds. All during the growing season, I would dig out a few "new taters" about once a week for supper.

Yeah, thanks, the ones in the wooden boxes are basically done flowering and have set the nasty green seed pods which I am removing if I see any. The Yukon Golds haven't flowered yet and am curious to see if they will. The russets in the blue tubs are flowering like crazy......planted a couple weeks after the others.