Hey everybody!

[Jesus Freak]

So, here I am...Been thinking of joining for quite a while.

I am on BYH and BYC too but decided to also come here. Why? I'm interested in potatoes...Mostly eating potatoes but because of that I'm also interested in growing them easily...I(Like everybody else on the planet) do not like weeding so I'm thinking like a big IBC tote with the potatoes in that. With that little surface area compared to how much space there is for potatoes underground I think you could get a lot of potatoes for just a little weeding...I am pretty new to gardening...That's just a theory and I'm not sure if it's even possible, let alone efficient...

Thanks everybody!

Micah Wotring
(Yeah, you BYH/BYC people...yer lookin' at 'm...Same dude)

 

[canesisters]

I started at BYC and came here too.
I'm curious, how would you harvest the potatoes in such a large container? Also, filling something that large with soil would be a bit daunting to me. Have you considered 'square bale gardening'? I haven't tried potatoes in a bale, but I've heard they do well.

 

[Jesus Freak]

thank you! That's a very nice sign ya got there! lol
We could just dump it out and have the kids sort through it...That's what I was thinking anyway...
We have a skid steer and a huge dirt pile.
I've never heard of that! I'll go do some more research...thanks!

 

[Nyboy]

Welcome from NY lots of potato growers here.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you decided to join.

I don't grow in containers much but there are some people on the forum that do. The problem I have when I try is moisture, either I drown what's in it or it gets too dry. The container needs to be able to drain but not too much.

There are lots of different ways to grow potatoes and there are a lot of different varieties of potatoes. Generally the potatoes grow above the seed potato, but you don't want that seed potato too deep in the ground because you have to dig them. I use an old-fashioned method to grow them. I dig a shallow trench two or three inches deep to put the seed potato and cover it. As the plant grows I rake dirt to it to form a mound over the top, maybe raking dirt two or three times. By the time I finish that mound might be a foot high.

The weeds will start growing when the potatoes do, but I usually only have to weed them once or twice. When I rake dirt to form the mound, I'm essentially weeding them. And by the time the plants get growing well, they are so thick they self-mulch. I agree that weeding is a pain and should be avoided as much as possible but potatoes aren't as bad as many other crops. I usually don't mulch potatoes but some people build that mound with mulch. Lots of different ways to do things.

I haven't seen it myself but I've seen where some varieties of potatoes will produce potatoes all along the stalk if you continue burying most of the plant, just leaving enough leaves up top for it to keep growing. Some people take advantage of that by building towers as they grow. To describe it, think about stacking old tires, which some people actually use. You can use other things. Put one tire on the ground and start your potato. As it grows, add another tire and more dirt. Eventually you can get a pretty tall tower. To dig the potatoes, push it over or remove the tires. Some people have tried that and found a bunch of potatoes only at the bottom of the column. Others find a lot of potatoes all up that column. I think it is variety that causes that but I don't know for sure.

 

[so lucky]

Welcome! Ridgerunner gave some good advice. Let us know what you decide.

 

[Jesus Freak]

@Nyboy Thanks!

@Ridgerunner Okay, I see how the water might be a problem...What if you had like holes in the bottom and did kind of a soak-and-drain thing? I think that might work. What do you mean by 'self mulch'? I'm guessing you mean like the small plants start and get choked out for lack of sun and die therefor fertilizing the big plant. Thanks for helping me with this as I really don't know much about plants...That tower method seems like a great idea! I'll haveta figure out what kind of potato those are...

@so lucky Thank you! I plan to!

 

[Jesus Freak]

The square bale method seems like a really great idea! Am I too late in the year to start a few bales fermenting/rotting/mulching? I'm in WV BTW...I'm sure growing seasons and styles change as you go around the country.

 

[Ridgerunner]

West Virginia! Hey @Beekissed you have a neighbor.

A lot of plants grow so dense they shade out any other growth. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and broccoli are examples, even bush beans and corn can do it if they are planted thick enough. That's what I call "laid by". You have to keep them cleaned out until they get big enough to create dense enough shade so weed seeds can't get sunshine to sprout and grow.

I suggest you look into mulch. There are many different ways to do it and things we use, but basically you cover the ground with something organic to keep the weeds from growing. It helps regulate moisture and provides shade to cool the roots. When it rots it adds compost to the ground. If a weed does start to grow it is usually very easy to pull it. I mostly use wheat straw over newspaper but others use a lot of other things.

 

[Jesus Freak]

let's gooo mountaineers! eh? XD
Hmmm, okay...

Alright, I'll do some more research on that! I bet you couldn't use old hay cuz it has seeds in it, huh? Too bad cuz we have plenty of that!