Hi Jonathan and welcome to GoY. Do you mean the leaves growing out of the ground that you can see are yellow or that the ones where you earthed the potatoes up are yellow? You don't remove the soil once you've earthed them up you keep on earthing up until you can't any longer. You do this not just to protect from frost but to encourage a better crop.

Can I butt in here MG? I'm growing potatoes ...in bags...for the first time in 20 years! I have added compost regularly...the foliage is very green and healthy looking at present.

My questions are as follows:

Do I keep adding compost so only the foliage...NOT the stems.... are showing?

How often should I water? (I keep the compost moist.)

Should I be feeding them at this point or only when the flowers appear?

I am in a hurry and know I could find this on the Net but I value GOYers advice!

Thank you!

Sorry Izzy away since 2pm yesterday. Yes keep earthing you potatoes up until the bag is full. The idea is to create as much stem as possible for potatoes to grow on. Keep them well watered, do not feed at all whilst growing will not help the tubers, the time to 'feed' is when you plant them... lots of lovely compost or well rotted manure, but that only works if they are in the ground.

Thanks MG...had to search for this...couldn't remember where it was!

The query that another member and myself were still unsure about was....

The actual potato leaves don't get covered with compost ...do they? You keep adding compost until the latter is up the stems to JUST under the leaves....so to speak! The compost is now near the top of the bags...BUT NOT covering the leaves.

Hope you enjoyed your 30 hours away!

Hi Izzy well in the ground you just keep earthing up and covering the new shoots until around now... Or until the ridge gets so high you can't add any more soil to it. So in the bag I'd earth up until bag was full of soil.

Yes good time away, an alpine flower show :-)

Thanks MG...I realised this morning, on re-reading your response, that THAT was what you had actually said.

Hope Cookeygirl is reading this too!

Lucky you...a flower show!

Izzy we got to several every spring all run under the auspices of the Scottish Rock Garden Club. In England the Apline Garden Society also runs shows.

Thanks for that MG. One of these days, I'll have time to visit shows! THEN hubby will need to get some interest in the garden! No.....on the other hand, maybe not!LOL.