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market-farming - [Market-farming] Shadecloth, lettuce. Also mulched potatoes

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  • From: Pam Twin Oaks <pam AT twinoaks.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Shadecloth, lettuce. Also mulched potatoes
  • Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:30:55 -0400

Allan

50% shade. Width - enough to cover the 4' bed and the height of the hoops. Probably 6'

>We use shadecloth on wire hoops during July, August and early
>September. Keep well irrigated

>Pam - what percentage shade and what width cloth? Thanks -Allan

About that method of planting potatoes near or on the surface and then covering with mulch. My reading on that method - "lazy bed potatoes" - (no, I've never done it) says the mulch needs to be 12" thick. I do know, as someone said earlier, that all the new potatoes grow from the stem that grows up from the seed piece. This means if you only have 3" of soil or mulch above the seed piece, you have very little space to grow potatoes in. At best you will get green potatoes on the surface. At worst, you'll get almost nothing.

We plant our March potatoes about 4" deep, and cover with soil. When the plants are 8" high or so, we hill. We repeat that when they've grown a bit more (exact height and hilling date depends on soil moisture). That method works. For our June planted potatoes, we plant at 4" deep, cover and hill immediately, than unroll round bales of mulch hay on top the same day or next. It's useful to know, Allan, that you've succeeded in rolling mulch over 5" plants. I've always wondered what would happen if we didn't get the mulch on immediately.

Pam, Twin Oaks, central Virginia, zone 7


  • [Market-farming] Shadecloth, lettuce. Also mulched potatoes, Pam Twin Oaks, 06/11/2009

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