potatoes

[gardenlove]

Hi I have yet to try potatoes and I'm really interested in doing them except I do want to waste the space. I have heard about stacking old tires and then filling it up with dirt? would this work or would the tire in some way realse toxin in the soil??
Thanks

[Quietly Awesome]

don't do the tires!!!!!
A friend told us about this, and DH wanted to try it. He hauled and hauled old tires... I placed them... planted.. filled... stacked....etc... and NOTHING!!! It was SO much more work... even if it HAD worked... the work involved would NOT be worth it. Do it the old fashioned way... plant your tater... hill it once you get growth... and keep hilling as they grow.

[blue2]

use garbage bags the good kind like 15-30 gallon bags and just poke some hole in it so the water can drain or a big flower pot.

[gardenlove]

thank you this site has been so helpful!!!!

[Megan and Roscoe]

my mom did a few stacks of tires for her potatoes and had a good turn out, and it seemed pretty easy to unstack the tires to get to the potatoes. it was just trying to store all the potatoes that became the problem. lol

[opabinia51]

You could always look up Pototoes and companion plants up on google and save space that way. I know they do well with corn and beans and when I don't do my corn with squash I use potatoes. And try some of the nifty heirloom varieties like blue and purple and not to mention red potatoes. I like fingerlings as well.

I believe that in Bolivia alone there are 3000 different documented species or possibly just varieties of potatoe. Wild. Amazing variety of textures and flavours out there.

By the way, I like shepody as well. It's a nice small round potatoe.

[backyardfarmer]

A friend of mine uses trash cans and has a lot of success. The secret really is to start with seed potatoes. The store potatoes are not going to do the trick for you. I tried the trash can method this year and wrote a post about it on my blog if you want to check it out.

Go to: https://backyardfarming.blogspot.com/2008/01/backyard-potatoes.html

[opabinia51]

If the store bought potatoes have eyes, I have found that they work great. All seed potatoes are is potatoes with eyes anyway. I always leave a few potatoes in the soil so I get freebees the next year and have started a few crops from eyed up store boughts.

The problem can be that some stores spray the potatoes to prevent them from seeting roots so check first.

[pixelphoto]

not to mention the tires are a petroleum product.
So are the plastic bags someone else mentioned.
For truly organic and safe way try straw bales.
put them in the shape of a square put top soil and aged compost in the middle of the square and plant in there. throw some loose straw on top and add more compost and topsoil as you see the plants start to grow out and hill it up.
waa laa potatoes.

[Shaggy]

my kids grew potatoes indoors this past winter, with moderate success... We learned a few things and will be putting some outdoors this summer... I had heard the tire trick also and thought it sounded good... Glad I heard different before wasting my time... We will also be trying again indoors next winter....

[Reptilicus]

I usually only plant the red potatos. they are pretty easy to grow.
This year I got some free potato seed from my grandfather.

[Grey]

This year is my first attempt at growing potatoes. I got 15 gallons of potato peelings from the church kitchen, and tossed in some potatoes of my own (red and gold) that had decided to sprout before I ate them.

I don't have straw to pile on top, but I thought grass clippings might work? Mine are mostly weeds, and as long as I keep the new sheet thin, I won't have the temps get too high and bake my potatoes prematurely, right?

[Shaggy]

This year is my first attempt at growing potatoes. I got 15 gallons of potato peelings from the church kitchen, and tossed in some potatoes of my own (red and gold) that had decided to sprout before I ate them.

I don't have straw to pile on top, but I thought grass clippings might work? Mine are mostly weeds, and as long as I keep the new sheet thin, I won't have the temps get too high and bake my potatoes prematurely, right?

Interesting... I was told to only use specific seed potatoes to avoid viruses and such

[Grey]

Who knows? My garden is always one big experiment anyway, so I'll let you know if Mr Potato Head turns bad. lol!

[Reptilicus]

I've got free seed potatoes from my grandfather. He just had store bought potatoes that sprouted. He made out like it's ok. I'll let ya know how they turn out as well. I've got 2 different 'crops' going.

and everything I do is an experiment. ( because I usually clueless ).

[opabinia51]

That method works really well, I've used it many many times.