I have tried this without to much success but I will say that if the vine is
flowering there is no need to add more tires as the plant is done growing
and is now making potatoes. I would water from the bottom only.
But I like I said, I have not had great success with this method of growing
spuds.

--
Sam
Along the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach SC
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 Jun 2003 20:33:30 -0700, "Richard Lovering"
wrote:

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



I've never been able to make this trick work (well, you did say 'any
and all information')
A column of tyres, five high needs an aweful lot of dirt to fill it
It might ne worth while, as you fill the stack, to put a few more seed
potates in each time you put more dirt in
Barrie