You can get more potatoes and a cleaner harvest if you plant them in a Back to Eden garden. I’m going to show you how simple it is.
Welcome to the world of Back to Eden gardening, where nature’s wisdom takes center stage. By using natural and organic methods, we learn how to plant potatoes in a way that goes beyond the usual and follows the ideas of Back to Eden gardening.
Through this post, I will reveal the secrets and walk you through the steps of planting potatoes in your Back to Eden Garden. Prepare to enjoy a gardening method that brings together healthy soil, long-term growth, and a plentiful harvest in a lovely way. Let’s dig in!
Growing potatoes in wood chips is an innovative gardening technique that offers several potential benefits. Wood chips provide drainage, suppress weeds, and add organic matter to the soil as they break down. In this complete guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about using wood chips for growing potatoes successfully.
Overview of Growing Potatoes in Wood Chips
The basic process for growing potatoes in wood chips involves:
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Selecting a site with full sun exposure and well-drained soil.
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Spreading a 6 to 8 inch layer of wood chips over the planting area. Hardwood chips like oak or maple work best.
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Cutting seed potatoes into smaller pieces, ensuring each piece has at least one good sprout.
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Planting the potato pieces shallowly in the wood chips, spacing them 12-18 inches apart.
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Covering the planted potatoes with a thin 1-2 inch layer of additional wood chips
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Watering thoroughly after planting and maintaining consistent moisture.
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Adding more wood chip mulch as plants grow to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
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Harvesting potatoes when vines start to yellow and die back by gently digging through the wood chips.
Advantages of Using Wood Chips
Growing potatoes in a thick wood chip mulch offers several potential benefits:
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Excellent drainage – Wood chips prevent soggy soil and promote the development of healthy tubers.
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Nutrient release – As wood chips break down, they provide organic matter and slowly release nutrients into the soil.
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Weed suppression – The thick mulch layer blocks light and prevents weed seeds from sprouting.
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Soil aeration – Wood chips create air pockets in the soil for improved oxygen circulation to the roots.
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Temperature moderation – Wood chips insulate the soil and protect potatoes from extreme high and low temperatures.
Selecting and Preparing Wood Chips
For best results, use fresh hardwood chips without leaves, needles, or diseased wood. Oak, maple, ash and other dense hardwoods are ideal. Avoid wood chips from treated, painted, or chemically contaminated wood.
Before planting, spread wood chips over the planting site 6-8 inches deep. Rake and smooth out the layer of chips. If the soil is compacted, loosen it slightly before applying the mulch.
Planting Potatoes in the Wood Chips
Be sure to use certified disease-free seed potatoes. Cut the potatoes into smaller pieces, ensuring each piece has at least one viable sprout or “eye”. Plant the potato pieces shallowly in the wood chips, spacing them 12-18 inches apart. Place them just deep enough to keep the pieces stable and upright.
Cover the planted potato pieces with a thin 1-2 inch layer of additional wood chips. This protects the sprouts while still allowing them to emerge. Water the potatoes thoroughly after planting.
Ongoing Care and Hilling
Potatoes require consistent moisture, so check soil frequently and water when the top few inches of wood chips become dry. Avoid overwatering, which can lead to tuber rot.
As plants grow, hill more wood chips around them, burying about two-thirds of the stems. This hilling provides space for tubers to expand while protecting them from sunlight. Add 4-6 inches of wood chip mulch at a time.
Harvesting Potatoes from Wood Chips
Harvest potatoes once the vines start yellowing and dying back, indicating mature tubers. Dig carefully through the wood chips with a garden fork, lifting out the potatoes while minimizing damage. Remove any remaining wood chips from potatoes.
Cure harvested potatoes by storing at 60-70°F for 1-2 weeks. This toughens skins and heals wounds. Store cured potatoes in a cool, dark location for several months.
Tips for Success with Wood Chip Potatoes
Follow these tips to get the best results from growing potatoes in wood chips:
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Use fresh, certified disease-free seed potatoes each season.
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Ensure consistent moisture, especially during tuber formation.
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Avoid over-fertilization, which can reduce yields.
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Control pests like potato beetles by handpicking or organic methods.
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Rotate potato growing sites each year to prevent disease buildup.
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Cure and store potatoes properly after harvest for maximum storage life.
Growing potatoes in a deep wood chip mulch offers a sustainable way to cultivate tubers while improving soil health. Follow this guide for site preparation, planting, care, hilling, and harvesting to get a bountiful wood chip potato crop. Monitor plants closely when first trying this method. With practice, you can enjoy thriving potato harvests grown sustainably in wood chips.
Planting in the Wood Chips and Adding Compost
After you have cleared your area, place your potatoes on top of the soil. This is where we are breaking the rules. The potatoes will gain their nutrients from the soil—you may want to add a bit of completed compost while you’ve got the soil exposed—but the potatoes will grow in the wood chips.
Cover your exposed potatoes in 6–8 inches of wood chips, and be sure to mark your bed. I went with canning lids to mark my garden plots. I got that idea from a fun post from Homespun Seasonal Living.
Harvesting your potatoes from a Back to Eden garden couldn’t be easier. The plant pulls right up, and most of the potatoes will still be attached. There is no digging with a fork with these guys, which is great since I inevitably spear the prize-winning potato. To find any that came off the plant, just shuffle through the wood chips with your hands.
Should You Cut Your Potatoes?
When you start planting potatoes, you follow the same steps you would in any other gardening style. You can plant a whole, intact potato, or you can cut the potato into pieces, with each piece containing one or two eyes. We cut our potatoes this year, but from here on out, I’ll be taking a page from Paul’s book.
Paul is the creator of the Back to Eden gardening style. He harvests and plants at the same time by picking out the largest potato from the harvest and placing it right back in the ground. Yup, no crop rotation is required with Back to Eden potatoes.
Growing Potatoes in Wood Chips!?!?
FAQ
Do potatoes grow well in wood chips?
Potatoes have become one of my favorite things to grow in wood chips. Growing potatoes the traditional way is labor intensive, you have to dig trenches, and then hill the potatoes a couple of times as they grow.
Can you plant directly into wood chips?
Generally, when it comes to wood chips and vegetable and herb gardens, you want to avoid directly mulching or mixing chips into the soil or garden bed you are planting into.
How long before wood chips turn to soil?
Wood Chips as a Soil Amendment
The process will take four or more years. You will need to add nitrogen along with the wood chips to facilitate decomposition of the wood chips without depleting the available nitrogen in the soil.