Potatoes - April

Seed potatoes are delivered to the farm in bulk bags. Potatoes are susceptible to viral diseases which are spread by aphids and seed potatoes are usually sourced from the north of the country where aphids are less common.

Potatoes are usually planted in April into warm deep loose friable soils containing a fair amount of sand and organic matter. To create the right seedbed the ground is ploughed in the autumn and allowed to overwinter.

Cultivation may be carried out several times across the field to ensure that the soil is adequately moved.

After cultivation a stonepicker is used to remove stones from the seedbeds and create beds of soil into which the potatoes are planted. As stones and potatoes are often about the same size it is important to remove them from the seedbed.

The planter follows the beds created by the stonepicker planting the potatoes into rows which are ridged. The ridges help prevent the tubers from becoming exposed to light and assist with the harvesting operation later.

To the left of the picture are the freshly created ridges after planting. Plants will emerge in about four weeks.