The potato plants are starting to turn brown and die. That is the signal that it is time to harvest. The potatoes can stay in the ground for several weeks after they are ready, but we didn't want to wait. We tried to grow potatoes a new way this year, in old tires, and were excited to see the result. Excited, until we actually saw the results.
Last weekend we harvested from four of our thirteen stacks. We were hoping for close to 25 pounds per stack. We got significantly less than that. Our big harvest yielded a lunch bag of tiny potatoes. Those potatoes were enough for two meal. They were delicious, but obviously not nearly enough.
We didn't look in the rest of the stacks because I could no longer stand the disappointment. I doubt that the results will be much different there.
Perhaps I should chalk it up to a bad experiment and go back to the in the ground method. The problem is I really like the tire method, except for my yield of course. It was easier and it takes up a lot less space. I think this method should work, and I want it to work. That leaves me to look at what went wrong. Here are some ideas I have. I'd love input from the rest of you.
Sunshine
Potatoes should have full sun. When we started our stacks I thought they were in full sun, but by the time the trees were full the potatoes were getting a lot of shade.
Drainage
I was surprised at how wet the soil was even though we'd had little rain the weeks before we harvested. We did create drainage in the bottom tire and that is where we found most of the potatoes. I think the extra wet soil was due to the lack of sun as mentioned above, and due to the growing material in the upper tires.
Growing Material
The bottom stacks were started with a little soil and leaves or partially composted sawdust. After that I used what was convenient, the sawdust and the manure (and bedding material) from our goat shed from last winter. I think the problem here is that the manure was not composted enough. It was very heavy and thick. It made great mulch elsewhere in the garden, but probably is not the best choice for dirt.
Looking on the Bright Side
What is left, after a summer of sitting in the tires is fantastic dirt. If I look at the stacks as composting bins, then it was a complete success with the added bonus of a few potatoes! LOL!
I'm not committed to trying this method again next year, but I do know that we love home grown potatoes. The thought of all the digging for the in ground method is not all that appealing either. Maybe if I had some New York movers to do all the heavy work, the job wouldn't be so bad. How to plant next year is something to think about over the winter, for now I have tomatoes and peppers to can.
To see how this all started: Planting Potatoes in Old Tires.
The potato plants are starting to turn brown and die. That is the signal that it is time to harvest. The potatoes can stay in the ground for several weeks after they are ready, but we didn't want to wait. We tried to grow potatoes a new way this year, in old tires, and were excited to see the result. Excited, until we actually saw the results.
Last weekend we harvested from four of our thirteen stacks. We were hoping for close to 25 pounds per stack. We got significantly less than that. Our big harvest yielded a lunch bag of tiny potatoes. Those potatoes were enough for two meal. They were delicious, but obviously not nearly enough.
We didn't look in the rest of the stacks because I could no longer stand the disappointment. I doubt that the results will be much different there.
Perhaps I should chalk it up to a bad experiment and go back to the in the ground method. The problem is I really like the tire method, except for my yield of course. It was easier and it takes up a lot less space. I think this method should work, and I want it to work. That leaves me to look at what went wrong. Here are some ideas I have. I'd love input from the rest of you.
Sunshine
Potatoes should have full sun. When we started our stacks I thought they were in full sun, but by the time the trees were full the potatoes were getting a lot of shade.
Drainage
I was surprised at how wet the soil was even though we'd had little rain the weeks before we harvested. We did create drainage in the bottom tire and that is where we found most of the potatoes. I think the extra wet soil was due to the lack of sun as mentioned above, and due to the growing material in the upper tires.
Growing Material
The bottom stacks were started with a little soil and leaves or partially composted sawdust. After that I used what was convenient, the sawdust and the manure (and bedding material) from our goat shed from last winter. I think the problem here is that the manure was not composted enough. It was very heavy and thick. It made great mulch elsewhere in the garden, but probably is not the best choice for dirt.
Looking on the Bright Side
What is left, after a summer of sitting in the tires is fantastic dirt. If I look at the stacks as composting bins, then it was a complete success with the added bonus of a few potatoes! LOL!
I'm not committed to trying this method again next year, but I do know that we love home grown potatoes. The thought of all the digging for the in ground method is not all that appealing either. Maybe if I had some New York movers to do all the heavy work, the job wouldn't be so bad. How to plant next year is something to think about over the winter, for now I have tomatoes and peppers to can.
To see how this all started: Planting Potatoes in Old Tires.