My potatoes are growing like weeds?

[joann]

You can container grow sweet potatos, but you will need a large container. Also as the plant vine grows I would add more soil around it to provide more area for new roots (and taters) to grow as the plant grows.

I have grown red potatos in tire stacks quite well many times. I start with one tire and when the plant reaches about 2 feet tall I add another tire around it and fill it with soil as well as more slow release fertilizer.

I keep doing this until the vine dies and then just rip the tires off the stack one at a time and dump the potatos out.

I planted 5 youkon Goldern plants about a month ago. they are growing so fast. Two weeks ago, I made box to hill them. Its about 8 inches tall. I hilled them with some fertilzed top soil. In two weeks they have grown over 10 inches more.

My question is do I just keep Hilling them? how many times? At the rate they are growing I will need a 6 ft tall box by fall.

Do they need to be polliniate?

thx
joann

 

[bills]

To the best of my knowledge, you can just keep building the dirt up as they grow. This should allow new tubers to form, and give you a decent crop. You don't need the plant to pollinate, to get spuds. Many people actually start to pull the potato's around the time they flower.

You can also cheat and get a few early, small spuds to eat, by carefully reaching through the dirt, and feeling for them. It doesn't hurt the plant. Delicious!