Potato box

[evtubbergh]

We started our potato box last night It turned out bigger than I had thought so I am considering giving it to my mom and building a smaller one. On the other hand it might never get done if I go that route. How much sun does a potato need?


Cutting the pieces


The frame is finished


Laying out the base

We will attached more slats on the sides as needed. Actually I am sure we will have to start with 2. I am sure you get the picture.

We used old pallets for the slats. The 'feet' under the base slats are actually a piece of left over wood from our fence because it's pressure treated and the upright posts we bought. We screwed everything together with left over screws from our fence although Leon had to pick another packet up. So far not expensive at all.

[billw]

For storing potatoes or growing them?

If growing, I don't want to discourage you from a fun project, but potato towers don't really work unless perhaps you have a very special sort of potato - an indeterminate, long season, long-stolon potato. There aren't any of those commonly available, although you can grow them from some lines of true potato seed. Even then, there is a lot of debate about whether or not greater depth actually increases yields.

When you think about it, this kind of condition doesn't really exist in nature, so it is unlikely that there are any potatoes that are adapted to grow that way. You might be able to breed on from a long-stolon potato though.

[rainbowgardener]

Unfortunately, I have to mostly agree. Have you seen this thread?

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... =4&t=55098

Since I am in the city and have so little space, I grow potatoes in a 20 gal or so container. I get the same results -- potatoes that range in size from marble to golf ball. That's with very rich soil and plenty of water.

[gixxerific]

Go on you tube and do a heavy search and come back and tell me it's not possible.

If worried about the height you could adjust your plan by laying your box on it side, it may work better for you. Good luck

Dono

[billw]

It is one of those things that has spread like wildfire on the Internet and lots of people are doing it, but I've never seen anyone who got unusually large and repeatable yields.

Maybe with the right potato.

[rainbowgardener]

So go for it tubbergh, don't let us discourage you, and DO come back and report the results to us. I've been proved wrong before!

By the time you get it done, it should be potato planting time, by your seasons, right?

[billw]

Yep. One thing about gardening is that almost every idea works for somebody. It may not work for the stated reasons, but somebody will have good results and swear by it.

I think one reason that people see good results from towers is because they function as raised beds with warmer and looser soil and they may get more attention than potatoes in the ground. The yields that I often see range anywhere from 2-8lb per plant, which are yields that you can get in the ground with the right varieties, good soil, timely hilling and weeding, and wide spacing. Growing in boxes may be an easier way to achieve that for many people.

[evtubbergh]

For growing in, yes. I realise it is very tall but since that was the piece of wood we could buy we just made it that tall. Once we know how tall we really need it we can cut it. I am going to hill by adding slats because otherwise it would not receive enough sun. We could do a pot but it would limit the sun and make hilling difficult and would make harvesting extremely difficult.

Rainbow, it is planting season right now so I had better get this finished! We were away all weekend but we will do it this week. I did get a lot of compost from my mom in law though .

Thanks for the info though because the article in the post you linked to gives a good idea of the space requirements. I think this should be big enough although not quite wide enough, which is obviously the problem people experience with limited space for root development. That's ok though because it's just for fun. Golf ball and smaller sized potatoes are just fine with me. Better Niçoise salad I say!

According to my calculations I am giving the plant only half it's lateral space requirements (60cm/1 foot in each direction while it needs 120cm/2 feet) but more than enough depth (at most 90cm/3.5 feet are needed but probably only 60cm/2feet).

On it's side just won't work because there really is not enough space. See the yard in the photos? That is the sunny vegetable garden. So to be honest if/when we get a few poatoes we will be very excited, no matter the size/quantity etc

[evtubbergh]

Oh, so I wanted to ask, do I feed a potato? Low N I expect?

[evtubbergh]

My potato has not grown any new leaves at all for weeks and weeks, since I put it in the box. I hope it's transplantable. We couldn't finish the box in time but the potato had sprouted so I planted in a small pot then transplanted when the box was done. I planted in a mix of compost, perlite and bonemeal. I did the tomato thing and stripped some leaves and planted it deeper than it was.

The plant was super healthy before planting and for quite a while after but is looking a little yellow.

I hope this is because it's spending so much energy producing roots. We do get heavy rain followed by hot dry periods and although I water it may get a little dry between anyway.

Any comments?

[evtubbergh]

Yay! I found a potato in our box while emptying it. There may have been more but this is the only one I found since I wasn't looking.



This is very promising for next season #feelingpleased

[Ohio Tiller]

I have had good luck in the past growing potatoes in plastic 55 gal drums cut in half and drill drain holes in the bottoms. I would put a sand compost mix in them. Heavy on the sand! I would get some real nice taters out of those.

[evtubbergh]

Ohio Tiller so our box should be good I think the place we put it though was a bit low on sun but I may be able to move it my cousin's farm in spring when we plant.