growing potatoes

[Becca]

Hi, all,

I had wondered if anyone has ever tried growing potatoes in old
tires? I read about it on the internet and want to try it. Have any
of you ever tried this? Had any luck?

Also, any advice on what type of potatoes to grow here in CC? Anyone
know who has seed potatoes that will do well here?

Thanks!

Becca

[Stephen]

Becca,

I have been growing potatoes in Morehead City the past few years.
Concerning growing them in tires I don't see why not. I had a friend
was growing things in tires in Minnesota. I forgot the details. But
you may want to try it and report your results. You probably should
avoid straight garden soil and use a potting mix -- either buy one or
make your own.

I grow my potatoes in a large garden in beds using a mixture of
compost, horse manure, and coffee grounds. I plant the red skinned
variety Pontiac and sometimes Kennebec, a brown skinned variety. The
Newport Garden Center is a good source of seed potato but you can
probably find them at other local garden centers.

Now is the time to plant potatoes! When they emerge from the soil,
keep an eye on temperatures. A freeze will kill the tops and set them
back. So cover them on nights when a frost is predicted.

Stephen

[Joyce Sasser]

Stephen.....thanks for responding to Becca....know it will help her but
it will also help us as well.....Will try some of these suggestions and
see what comes of this....Have wanted to do a ground bed of potatoes for
some time instead of taking up space in our raised beds so I think we
will step out of our usual pattern and try this! In this economy
having more potatoes will add mucho to the ability to stretch the dollar
and to broaden the dinner menus! Thanks, Stephen! Joyce Sasser

[Stephen]

I hope it is of help. Potatoes are rather easy to grow here. The
insects leave them alone. I have not seen a Colorado potato beetle in
years. If the potatoes develop too near the soil surface they turn
green. You need to cover them with mulch or soil. I do not have much
success in preventing them from turning green. I probably need to
cover them with much more soil or mulch.

Stephen

[Becca]

Thanks, Stephen,

I am going to give the tire idea a try. From what I read, you need
four old tires. You start with just one, put the potatoes in the tire
part and then fill the whole thing with dirt and fill in the circle to
the top with dirt. Then, when the sprouts begin to emerge, you put
the next tire on top and fill it with dirt, and so on, and so on,
until you've got all four tires in use. Then, you harvest them from
the top down, one tire at a time.

Like Joyce, I wanted to stop using my raised beds for the potatoes.
But, I want more potatoes b/c they are cheap and easy. What I really
liked about the tires is that you could start new with new soil and
not worry about wilt and stuff in the soil. And, you could move them
to a new spot each year with new soil, if needed.

I will heed your advice on the mix. I never thought to add coffee
grounds, but we sure make plenty of those!

I am going to go to the Newport Garden Center and get started this
week. I will report back to everyone on how it goes.

Thanks!

Becca

> > >> Becca- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[christine]

Hello all,

I also wanted to let you know about another vertical way to plant
potatoes, mentioned by Anne Edwards our NC extension agent. You can
make a cylindrical cage, set vertically on your garden surface. Plant
the the potatoes as you normally would then as the plant grows
continue to fill in the cage with soil, lining the cage with newspaper
to contain the soil (identical to the tire idea). As the potatoes
fill in the cage and the plant grows vertically you can begin
harvesting from the bottom up - just make sure the wire mesh is big
enough for your hand to fit through. I have not tried this but think
I will give it a shot this year. Does anyone have experience with
this method? Here's a link from 'wiki-how'.
http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Potatoes-in-a-Wire-Cage

Also, last month I bought some beautiful seed potatoes from the
nursery in Willston. They had a number of varieties.
Good luck
christine

[Joyce Sasser]

Ok, potato lovers! This is being such a help...... the vertical idea
has a lot of merit no matter how we construct it .....less space yet
lots of productivity.....Anne does a great job with these type things
and her classes and web site are excellent and we should all try to DO
some of those classes and listen to her advice, she is a doer in the
garden and not just a talker and that is a good thing!..
Edgewater Nursery in Williston has a TON of great stuff all the
time....worth the trip and they have a great deal of knowledge and
experience and share it willingly and everything we have gotten there
has done very well....Given how hard it is for local nurseries to
compete with places like Lowes and Wal Mart and etc, we should all try
to use Edgewater and Gaskills, etc. as much as we can! Go Local! Joyce

[Stephen]

This is for the person going to the Newport Garden Center: get the
Metro Mix for your container gardening. I tried it and it worked
great. You probably can get it elsewhere but I got mine at Newport
Garden Center. I bought a large bag and it wasn't too expensive. Also,
the woman there, Heidi, is a great help to me.

[Becca]

Thanks to all for the responses. I got the potatoes started this
weekend. I got my old tires from Colony Tire on Arendell Street (they
were delighted to give me four old tires, probably saved them a
recycling fee or something). I got my seed potatoes (and a big bag of
the metro mix) from Newport Garden Center.

For anyone who hasn't been, I LOVED the Newport Garden Center. I'd
never been. They were so nice and helpful. They also start a lot of
seedlings right there in their greenhouse, which I like b/c then they
aren't travelling here on a truck, which just seems wrong to me...the
had lovely brocolli, cabbages, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, lettuce,
and other cool weather seedlings.

For people who like to start stuff themselves, they have loose seeds
you can buy that are cheaper than the little packets.

Anyway, I guess you get the idea...I really liked them.

Becca

> > > christine- Hide quoted text -

[TDOU...@ec.rr.com]

I used to plant my potatoes this way all the time in NJ but have so
much land here I don't bother. The tire method really did work well,
though. And easy harvest! You just remove the tires and there they
are! Enjoy

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Stephen]

concerning protecting emerging potato plants from frost, Anne Edwards
had this suggestion at the ongoing vegetable gardening class: cover
them with a handful of soil the day before when frost is predicted. I
did this Friday and Saturday night. It worked good except some were
too lightly covered and did get some frost damage. So, give the potato
plants a good covering. They can be allowed to grow through the soil
covering according to Anne. I uncovered mine yesterday but we still
got some frost last night ( Sunday). Fortunately, there was no more
damage.

[Becca]

Thanks for that tip. I am so hoping the frost is over.

On an exciting note, my potatoes are poking their little heads out of
the soil!!! It is time to add the next tire and more dirt! I am so
excited about this.