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cloud dreamer[_2_] · 11-08-2006, 03:20 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible

wrote:

Top-posting corrected)

"cloud dreamer" wrote in message
...

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

In article ,
Steve Newport wrote:

Have just tipped out two big containers (Saxon and Karlena) to harvest
the pots but there are no more pots that I would have got had I grown
them in traditional rows.
On examining the plants you can clearly see a big root ball at the
base which is where the potatoes were, but the stem then rises in a
big green rope to the surface but with no signs of additional side
roots as I was led to expect would happen.

It may well be that I did not water enough but I also wondered whether
there was some other more fundemental problem such as the wrong type
of potatoes to do this with.
Anybody any ideas?

Thanks
Steve

My dad told me that his grampa used tires to grow potatoes...
To increase yield, he stacked them over time and used a mix of sand and
composted strawor hay.

He'd start with two tires. Once the plant grew well above the top one,
he'd add another tire and a layer of the composted soil.

Then another

and another

He'd end up with a tier of spuds in each and every tire, and the
composted soil mix kept water requirements down since it acted as mulch.
He stacked them 6 deep by the end of the season.

I've never tried this, but it makes sense!

The only problem is that water accumulates inside the tires and the spuds
rot. It's hard to get proper drainage in those tires (I've tried - it
wasn't worth the hassle).

However, the same idea would work by piling 2x8s in a two or four foot
square.

In article , jenco@st-
tel.net says...

You could also use a large tomato cage instead of tires and the excess water
would run off. I used tires once and they rotted also.

Perhaps punch several holes in the (bottom-facing) sidewall of
the tyres?

Tried it. With the tires piled on each other, it was near impossible to
ensure all the water was out. I used a 1/2 inch spatula type drill bit
to punch large holes in the sides and treads. No go and it wasn't easy
work.

In the end, I would have been better off getting out the circular saw,
cutting a piece of 2x8 untreated lumber into 2 foot sections and nailing
them together...then piling them up 16, 24 or 32 inches high. It would
have taken ten minutes and cost less than $20 for the wood - and the
assembly would have been reuseable.

I plan to try that technique next year.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.