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growing potato question
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Posted by echoes_or Zone 3 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 26, 09 at 18:16
| I asked this on another site and was told it doesn't work and that the question is redundant... So hopefully I get a better response here. LOL
I would like to know about potato towers. Has anyone used this method? If so, would you share how you did it and if you think it works? I like the idea of saving space and the idea of growing up etc... Did you get taters up through the tower or the same as planting in the ground? Please share your thoughts and successes.... Thanks
Also what type of potato did you use.... |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: growing potato question
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| Very mixed reviews on this one. It does work in some instances, but it for the most part just a novel means of growing Irish potatoes. Three -4 foot wire cages, covering the sides with black plastic as the potatoes grow seems the most successful. Used tires don't seem to work very well. The potatoes have to be planted in fertile ground, using a shredded straw or shredded leaf filler seems to work best. You do need to use a long season potato,. Avoid the quick maturing types like Yukon Gold. and of course you must irrigate, natural rainfall is almost always insufficient for this method. In my opinion not worth the effort. The potatoes will above ground and in the tower, whether they will continue further up the tower than they if you just heavily mulched on the ground is the question. I have not seen any appreciable increases in yields. |
RE: growing potato question
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| Hi, Echoes! I had good results using wire cages and Red Pontiac potatoes. I planted in a mix of soil and chopped up leaves, adding more leaves as the stems grew. I had five plants in each cage and got a nice basketful from each. Over a peck. Not the World's Fair, but an increased yield, for sure. Misterbaby. |
RE: growing potato question
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Where does the potato come from?
The seed that you plant grows roots just under it and sends shoots up. From those shoots in the groung will grow potatoes.
The potato plant is as good as its root system that gets the nutrient from the soil around it. So this root system has a limited potential and resources to produce tubers.
So, if you stack 10 tires on top of each other, it is not going to help the plant but rather it has to work harder to grow longer stems. Longer in-groung stems is no guaranttee that there will be more potatoes. As I said, potatoes do not grow roots like tomatoes to get more nutrients. To sum up; A potato plants has a limit as to how much tubers it can grow. That is why just a normall hilling is sufficient to provide room for tubers.
I planted potatoes in stacked tires for two years in a row and also planted some on hills. There was no difference.
All you have to do is to provide a nice fluffy medium around the in-ground stems to grow tubers in it, By stacking that hill up, the plant will not produce more potatoes.
I would just hill with nice fluffy soil rich in compost, to keep the in-ground stems and roots cool. The food/nutrients are only needed by the roots. That is why you supply food under the roots at the time of planting and some later around it ,when the first hilling stage begins. |
RE: growing potato question
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| Thanks.... I think I will next summer. Misterbaby you gave me hope...:) I have such a short growing season that I wondered if this method would help me at all. I believe it bares trying. Also running out of room so thought vertical would help in the regard... I can grow them in the ground but they sometimes look wonky to me. Again, thanks... |
RE: growing potato question
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| I tried some in tires mixed thoughts they grew faster in the spring because of the black tires I killed some adding dirt and another tire about the middle of the summer I read that the yukon gold I planted in there only sets one level of potato so I think with the right varity it might work |
RE: growing potato question
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| The potato is classified as a dicotyledonous annual. From its stems grow stolons, at the ends of which new tubers are formed. Growth of the new tubers is a result of the translocation of photosynthates which are sugary compounds sent from the plant leaves--not the roots. Certain varieties of potatoes tend to send up long stems with new stolons for fruit production. These would include the Red Pontiac, Yellow Finn, Indian Pit, and the fingerlings. These would not include Yukon Gold. The process most assuredly works, provided that the grower chooses a suitable cultivar. This is not witchcraft; it simply is a function of the botany of the potato. Misterbaby. |
RE: growing potato question
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| What I can tell you about this question is my late father could grow potatoes in old tires, large containers of any sort, but I could not. I noted he rooted the potato at ground level where he mixed the soil with compost. I tried to copied him to a letter but it never worked for me. The only obvious difference was he lived where the soil was gumbo and I live where the soil is very sandy. I can grow excellent potatoes in ground and he could not. |
RE: growing potato question
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| You can plant Yukon Gold potatoes now for a early harvest. |
RE: growing potato question
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| Hi Echoes, there is nothing like success. we planted under 2 acres of potatoes and got 5 ton at harvest. we planted three kinds. Yukon Gold, Pontiac and Lasoda. we planted by mothers day and harvested early Oct. we had three different potato patches. we hilled them 2-4 times next year we will hill them every 2-3 weeks. there are just too many weeds if we wait any longer. the lasoda did the best but they got one more hilling. we had Yukon Gold in two patches and one did far better. we had up to 2 pound potatoes. the Pontiac did well but not as well as the Lasoda. up to 3 pound otatoes. i think that was because the Pontiac has a longer growing season. the conclusion we came to is hilling gives you a bigger harvest. with the Yukon Gold you get bigger tubers. and with the reds we get more and bigger potatoes with more frequent cultivations. also our potato digger does less damage if we hill more often. we live in an arid area with a short season and we find we get better potato crops if we water every 5 days. Dean |
RE: growing potato question
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wiringman,
Thank you. It was refreshing to hear from a pro potato grower.
Ok! Please, if you will, tell us about the following:
--soil ph
-- soil type
-- fertilizing method and schedul.
-- Do you thin some of the shoots or trim tops, flowers?
-- what was you median yield per one pound of seed potato?
-- where do you get your seeds from, LaSoda in particular? Cyrus |
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