Potatoes in tires

[Gaz]

I had read a lot about growing potatoes in tires and thought I would give it a try this year. I am trying out two stacks...they are currently just two tires high but I think we will go to at least three high.

Here is how we are doing it:

http://www.almostafarmer.com/potatoes-in-tires/

If this works I will expand it next year - cause we have a lot of tires! And we all love potatoes that we have grown ourselves.

For the others out there already doing this, what do you use to backfill the tires? We are using a mix of compost, sand and manure. I have heard people use just hay....but have not seen any good pictures of the results from that.

Always curious to learn...

Gaz
www.almostafarmer.com

 

[the1honeycomb]

It will be interesting to see what you get from the top tire. I have never gotten the spuds to grow above the base of the stem.

 

[Gaz]

It will be interesting to see what you get from the top tire. I have never gotten the spuds to grow above the base of the stem.

Me too.....what I have done is backfill the second tires with our 'soil' mix...basically bury the stems up to the top. I hope that is what I was supposed to do? I guess we will see the result in fall. For now the plants are doing great and not a Potato Beetle in sight!

 

[baymule]

I get leaves from around the neighborhood and mix with horse manure. I have a pile on each side of the yard and that's what I plant my potatoes in. They are big, blemish free and there's a lot of them. The ones I plant in dirt are not as big.

 

[annageckos]

This is the first year I am not going to bury part of the stem like I'm almost always reading about. I have never gotten any potatoes grown from the stem, and it's too much work for nothing. Your potato plant looks really nice. Hopefully you get a huge harvest.

 

[JimWWhite]

Gaz, How about keeping us up to date on the progress of your project. I know many of us on TEG would be very much interested in your results. We've been hearing about growing 'Red Neck' potatoes for years but I really don't remember seeing anyone post their results. I'd like to know if it works or not. It might just be urban legend, for all I know. It sounds good but does it really work?

 

[bills]

Never had spuds grow above the base of the stem?
That's very odd? Don't you get them continually showing up at the surface, over and over, if you don't continue hilling soil over them?

My spuds always continue to grow on up the stem, to the surface. The stem effectively becomes a tap root.
No reason why you couldn't continue to stack tires even 4 or 5 high, if the season is right, and you have enough dirt..lol. Regular watering is important, as tires drain fairly quickly, and can get really hot. This is why I can't see straw alone, working all that good as it wouldn't retain water to well.. Plus, where does the plant get any further nourishment?

 

[annageckos]

Never had spuds grow above the base of the stem?
That's very odd? Don't you get them continually showing up at the surface, over and over, if you don't continue hilling soil over them?

My spuds always continue to grow on up the stem, to the surface. The stem effectively becomes a tap root.
No reason why you couldn't continue to stack tires even 4 or 5 high, if the season is right, and you have enough dirt..lol. Regular watering is important, as tires drain fairly quickly, and can get really hot. This is why I can't see straw alone, working all that good as it wouldn't retain water to well.. Plus, where does the plant get any further nourishment?

Nope, they always grow from the roots, doesn't matter if I cover the stem. I haven't seen any grow the stem that is buried. No roots that I can think of either. I do bury my potatoes about a foot down. But they all come from the root area. If I had more space I would experiment. Doesn't really matter to me though, I get way more potatoes them I can use.

 

[catjac1975]

Are you at all worried about chemicals leaching out of the tires into the soil?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Bills and Anna, what varieties do you gow? That might make a difference as to how they grow.