Can you grow potatoes without any digging? / No Dig vs Double Dig vs No Till

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Thank you for being the first to put numbers to theories/trials finally. I can’t imagine the amount of work you put into this to deliver it concisely and so clearly. All the behind scenes efforts (camera set ups/positioning/sound & planning including data recording. Hugest respect for all that to produce a fun interesting and informative demonstration of three potato growing techniques.

I hope you do more videos like this. It was very informative; I love seeing people testing different methods side-by-side and seeing which one works best.

Very thorough. Thank you for making the effort and for taking the time to record this for people free of charge. Blessings

Thank you, Brilliant, just what is needed, a true comparison, and very professional. Also, it shows if you had used all Norland Potatoes then the 'no' dig yield would have been equal to the other methods, and if the other type of potato the result would have been poor. So perhaps the learning points are expanded to be aware of what variety of potatoes you should use to suit the method.

You should do another similar study and include grow bags.

Seeing the data breakdowns in so many ways is great. I'd like to see other methods included, such as using GrowBags, spud towers, mulching with woodchips/grass. Potato varieties clearly matter significantly as well.

Thank you so much for doing this experiment!

One possible reason for difference between your results and Downings could be bed development. He has been no dig for many years so it would make sense that each year that soil would continue to improve with that system. Since you have been doing no till for years that would be expected to produce more. Would be interesting to see the results from someone who has always used the double dig, of course, I don't wanna be the person doing the double digging each year😁 This was a great video. As a senior preparing to move to my retirement acreage with hopes of years of producing my own food, I highly value anything that reduces the labor time involved. Based on your results, it confirms that without a significant reduction of yield in the no dig that will be my choice.

I really appreciated evaluating the time cost. Critical for so many important decisions.

This is the best viedo I have watched on growing potatoes!

From this experiment, the best choice would be to plant Norland potatoes on No Dig since the yield was almost the same and you use the least time! its a no brianer really.

A YT channel called Uk Here We Grow does extensive vids on container potatoes vs ground and I’m doing potatoes by both methods again this year. I’ve got potatoes growing in buckets in the house and containers outside as well as dig beds outdoors. I’ll be thrilled if I get a good crop!

I just ran across your channel and really love it so I subscribed. Thanks for the video today. Very informative. Looking forward to seeing many more. It's so unselfish for you to take the time to post all these free of charge and give so much of your time. Blessings to you!

The best comparison I've seen so far. Great Video!!! I will also go with no till!!

I'm planning to do the no dig method this year, first time i will. Thanks for all these statistics and advices. Hope my harvest will be good ! Nice video, very interesting

Best and most thorough trial I've seen👍

Thanks for the trial! Double dig is out for me. Too much labor and doesn't seem like potatoes need the extra depth. For no-till... my beds are new and rocky so it would be a significant amount of time before my beds are that easy to broad-fork + expense of broad-fork, not there yet. Time is my most valuable asset, so No dig is my choice for now but I respect if anyone likes the other approaches. Thanks for the work, I like to see people trying a variety of things!

You I’m trying the No dig method this year!! Can’t wait!

Thanks so much for doing this trial. I make videos also so I know how much effort you put into this! Of course, there are a lot of different situations that could give different results, and I know you can't test every one very easily. One such test would be doing the exact same trial with no drip lines, but only relying on natural rain. In that case, it is possible, and probable in my mind, that the mulched bed could do better because of better water retention and lower soil temperatures in the summer. Most people don't use drip irrigation so this could give different results in other people's gardens. Another is the type of mulch you are using, (and that would be a whole other study). I use leaf mold as my mulch that I make over the winter and it is mostly decomposed already. The added fertility from that could have pushed the numbers up considerably with no added work, cost, or time. One last thing about that is, if you were to use partially decomposed mulch year after year, the soil in the mulched bed would become considerably richer compared to the dug and broad forked beds. So one more criterion you could add to your chart could be the soil analysis of each of the beds after harvesting, as this is a very important "end product" as well. I would be interested in seeing what your results would be if you used the same methods on each of those beds for a period of 3 years. Thanks again for your great work!