Hi- I'm looking for any and all advice about growing potatoes in old tires.
I live on Vashon Island, 10 miles from Seattle, and have full sun all day.
Potatoes love my sandy soil - I grew a crop last year, doing absolutely
nothing but watering - didn't even hill'em- but got great yields. This year
I decided to try the tire method: I planted the sets 4" below grade, and
when they grew 8" high, I threw a tire over the plant, and filled up the
tire with soil. I'm up to two and three tires in a tower now- the plants are
between 2' and 3' tall, with the top 8" exposed and the rest of the plant
buried. They all appear to be healthy, growing well, and starting to set
flowers. I have questions about where to grow from here, to wit:

- Should I water around the top, the base of the tire, or both?

- Should I keep on adding a fourth and fifth tire, or should I stop and let
the plant grow over the top?

- When should I start harvesting the potatoes- when the vine has started to
turn yellow and shrivel, or any time after the flowers have come and gone?

- I understand the plants start creating potatoes about the time they start
to flower (i.e., now), and for a tastier (though smaller) potato, I should
start tapering off the water. Any comments from experienced growers?

Incidentally, for anyone who's never grown potatoes, they are highly
satisfactory: easy to grow, prolific, and, amazingly, much better than
anything you can buy in the store. I recomment Yukon golds or Yellow Finns,
though I'm sure each region has its own favorites...

Thanks for suggestions.

Dick Lovering

Dick I am assuming that you are filling each tire as you add it with mulch (old
hay, straw, shredded leaves ) The potatoes grow in this mulch if it is kept
damp, One the reasons this works is that the tuber and its attaching stem have
hair roots which feed the growing potato and does not stress the vine to
provide for it,

As for harvesting, "new" potatoes are usually availalable at flowering, However
if you wish to store them for any lenght of time wait until the vines die back
for mature potatoes.

dill