Yesterday I headed out the the garden with high expectations of harvesting a bumper crop of potatoes from our three potato towers {I’m saving the ones we having growing in the compost pile for this weekend}.
I tried growing potatoes in towers and burlap sacks last year, but failed miserably because I had them in bad spot and did not water them regularly.
But this year, I gave them plenty of water.
I planted potato tower #1 with 6 inches of dirt and added additional dirt {but no more potatoes} as the potato leaves began to pop through the soil. Final Harvest – just over 5 pounds. Boo!
I planted the potatoes in potato tower # 2 with 3 layers of dirt and potatoes.
Lucy the puggle dog helped.
Final harvest – about 8 pounds of potatoes. Double boo!
And last but not least, potato tower #3.
This tower was planted with alternating layers of potatoes, dirt, potatoes, straw, potatoes and dirt.
What do you see? I see a duck.
Surprisingly, potato tower #3 had over 12 pounds of potatoes in it. I thought for sure tower #3 would yield the least amount of potatoes because when I had planted it, I packed so much dirt and straw in the wire cage, that I assumed the potatoes wouldn’t produce much. Boy was I wrong. Final Harvest – about 12 pounds of spuds.
Final potato tower tally – 25 pounds of potatoes. Not bad, but not great. Now the question is, should I try this again next year, and if I do, how am I going to change things up so I get a bigger yield?
Any suggestions?
~Mavis
Michele says
I’m worried my towers will be less than this. But it was a fun idea to try. My sweetpotato vines are still growing strong so I will wait before I tip that one over.
Mavis Butterfield says
Let me know your your sweet potatoes do. I might try them again next year.
Michele says
I tipped over my little russet tower and red potato tower and it was a small total (less than 5lbs total) but it was a hoot searching for them like little eggs! Will try taters again in a raised bed with peas next year.
My sweet potatoes are super green and vibrant. I don’t expect much from them in a tower. Last time I tried sweet potatoes I planted one whole tube in the ground and is made a pretty ground cover. When it died I dug it up (for the funny of it) and the original tuber was 3x the size and we had sweet potatoes coming out of our ears!
lorena Simon says
I have been growing my potatoes different, but I am going to do it your way. I have found that gold’s grow better then any of the other potatoes try them this year and add another two layers. But plant one tube only gold’s with 6 or 7 layers and water more add chicken compost to your mix as well. Let me know hoe it goes. I love your ideas and money saving tipes thank you so much for helping all of us.
Lorena
Betty AD says
MAVIS….I was anxious waiting the results of the towers and oh the potato’s look so good …no suggestions right now….Never had the purple ones….we’ve mostly grew the white ones…..Thanks so much for sharing. I can see /smell the potato salad/mashed /soup/stew/fries///etc….We were poor…and relied on our garden…mom had potato’s ever day of the wk almost……fired potatos/mashed etc. With the left over mashed…she’d make potato cakes….nothing like the real home grown foods…..Betty
Dena says
This year I planted an old truck bed liner (we had swapped out for the spray on type). Placed 6″ of Tagro in the bottom & planted blue potatoes every 12″ or so. When the plants would shoot up 12″, I’d add 6″ of more Tagro. Filled the entire bed liner (which I had originally dug DOWN into the ground so the top was @ ground level), & ended up harvesting about 48 lbs of potatoes! Think I’ll be looking for another bed liner on Craig’s list for Russian fingerlings for next year. I’ve seen them on Craig’s list for $20 – $50. Just need to transport & locate onto your property; & dig them into the ground if you want.
Dorotby says
I also tried burlap bag last year without much results but I think my wTeri g was not consistent.
I also tried mastic buckets but those did not produce much either. I was looking forwRs
To the tower results to try next year also. I have heard that if you let banana peels dry out on top of your soil you can chop
Them up and mix them with the soil you use for
Potato plants and that will give your plants more
Potassium to produce better. I am going to dry out
A lot of banana peels this winter and try it next spring
April says
I have some towers still growing strong. So we will see. I did dirt at the bottom, covered with a light layer of compost and PACKED in straw. TONS of straw. As soon as the leaves got about 6 inches over the straw…more straw. I am going to do a trash can next season as I hear that works well too……
Paula says
Mavis, where in the towers are you finding the potatoes? Are they right around where you planted the seed potatoes, or are they distributed throughout the towers?
Mavis Butterfield says
They were distributed throughout the towers.
paula says
I’m going to be interested to see what the yield is like from your compost pile. I grow my potatoes in a raised bed using the trench method (i.e., plant the seed potatoes in the bottom of a trench and cover over the tops as they grow until the trench is a mound about a food above the edge of the raised bed). We use compost to cover them as they are growing. Our compost is made using dry maple leaves and fresh grass clippings. I think we are getting an astonishingly good yield. I planted maybe a pound of seed potatoes this year and got three 5 gallon buckets full of potatoes, mostly blue, which have been the most productive for us. I haven’t weight them, but I would guess that a full bucket weighs at least 15 pounds, maybe more.
Cecily says
Not to contradict you, but are you sure you only planted a pound of seed potatoes (a pound is approx. 8 to 10 2-3 inch seed potatoes)? I’m just wondering since your results would be a 45/1 yield. Even the greenest thumb couldn’t get yields like that. My granddad was a potato farmer and his favorite story to tell was ‘back in ’52 we got a 18/1 yield’, he said no one believed him until he showed the purchase and planting records.
Paula says
No, I’m not sure because I didn’t weigh them. I planted 16 pieces down a 16 foot row, and had 3 or 4 volunteers in another bed. I could also be off on how much the full buckets of potatoes weight, because I didn’t actually weigh those either. I got A LOT of potatoes, though. More than we will eat in a year.
Paula says
Okay, I just weighed my potatoes. This was on my bathroom scale, which is pretty accurate for humans, but I don’t know if it’s equally as accurate on low weights. I have 65 pounds of potatoes. Like I said, I didn’t weigh the seed potatoes, because I just used leftovers from last year (didn’t purchase fresh). I’m using raised bed intensive gardening methods, so you would expect higher yields that those obtained by farmers using traditional farming methods.
Cecily says
So assuming each piece of potato you planted averaged 2 ounces and counting the four volunteers you can assume a 26/1 yield. Great job Paula! What USDA zone are you in?
Paula says
I’m in Western Washington, too…south Snohomish County. I have a terrible microclimate in my yard for vegetable gardening, but the potatoes are soooo reliable.
Nils Peterson says
Water. Its all about water. I planted some russet potatoes in a flower bed with the drip irrigation sprayers on a timer. Mounded on dirt and compost and grass clippings a couple times early in the season and then forgot about them. I can’t tell you the yield ratio, but I was getting many large potatoes — much better than I;ve ever done before.
I’m going to try a tower this year, setting up a sprayer for irrigation, I’m worried it will dry out thru the sides. The garbage can method could prevent that, but I’m trying to use a system with a lighter footprint
charla echlin says
I also tried doing potatoes this year in several large containers- I harvested them yesterday and was really disappointed- the size and yield was incredibly low. (btw- with blue potatoes I get a low yield where ever I plant them- I think that is standard for some blue varieties). I actually had MORE yield on my volunteer potatoes (which I have been harvesting all summer)- thank goodness there were some left in the ground from last year- otherwise I would have had a very poor harvest. Thinking I will stick to the traditional method from now on. Hate wasting resources.
lavendersbluedillydilly says
we did not do towers, we just did in the ground. We planted I think around 7lbs of potatoes and we yielded about 60lbs. Some were volunteers from last year. The blue and purple generally don’t do as well because they require a longer growing season. Our reds though, SO MANY!!!
paula says
That’s interesting. My blues are the fastest to harvest and produce the biggest yields of any of the varieties we’ve tried. Russets, especially, are a huge BOO! for us.
Lisa says
I grow mind in a bed. I tried using a method of not hilling and it was really a Boo. I have the best success growing an a bed and hilling. Back to the basic next year.
Jennifer says
What is a volunteer potato…..I have never tried growing potatoes so I’m just wondering.
Laura says
Volunteers come up on their own. They might be from a potato you forgot to dig up the year before, and it grows into a new plant.
I have had volunteer potatoes grow from just peeling in my compost heap! I guess I leave too much potato on the peelings. I get volunteers of all sorts in my compost bin. And always tomatoes where they fall, rot and I ignore them until spring. Then I get some free tomatoes without the work of growing seedlings!
paula says
A volunteer is any plant that pops up serendipitously. So with potatoes, if you leave a tiny potato in the ground, the following spring, it will grow and produce more potatoes, with no work on your part. It volunteers.
mildred lane says
volunteer veg or trees etc. is ones u did not plant but came up on it’s own from seeds from last year or bird droppings etc. I have 2 large shade trees in my front yard that have white blooms and black cheeries that were volunteers. One has died this summer. Maybe some seeds carried in w/ your dirt. Take your potato peelings and bury when ever u peel and u will be surprised. there is a web site called Winter Sown that teaches planting or sowing seeds in the winter to come up in the spring. They also offer free tomato seeds for a SASE sent to them.. If I have extra seeds I share w/ them.
Shaina says
I tried a tower with sweet potatoes this year. I’m starting to get worried because they have not yet flowered… Are sweet potatoes supposed to flower? lol. Dang, it sure got tall though.
mildred lane says
Sweet potatoes are good for eating according to the owner of OHG.
Michele says
When I first did sweet potatoes, I never saw a flower and had an enormous amount of potatoes. This year I tried towers. My sweets are vining everywhere and looking totally green, but since my red and white towers yeilded so few taters, I doubt my sweet towers will do so well. Waiting till late Oct before I tip that over-as long as it’s died back by then. I’m in Zone 8 in Texas.
Jo says
I planted sweet potatoes last year (in a raised bed). I did a 4×4 section and planted according to directions (I bought the seedlings) and they grew, but they were long and skinny, like misshapen carrots. They were even on the skinny side compared to some carrots. I’m in zone 5. I don’t know if it’s not warm enough here, or what the problem was.
Cecily says
I’m curious as to how many pounds you planted in the towers? I plant mine in raised beds (like yours) and get an average of 10-12 pounds for every pound planted.
Mavis Butterfield says
Sadly, I didn’t weigh them first. I’ll try to remember to do that next year.
Pam says
I planted five pounds of seed fingerlings in five different bins (one pound of eyes in each) and did the layer method of dirt, straw, dirt, straw as the plants grew. For all my effort and plenty of watering I got about ten pounds total of fingerlings. I have higher hopes for the next potato planting with plans to layer dirt, seed, dirt, seed, dirt. My neighbor did this with his bins and tripled what he planted.
Melody says
What variety did you use? Not all varieties grow upwards successfully. I’m interested in using more straw.
Charly says
25lbs isn’t bad when you consider how little space the towers take up. I planted a tower this year with the straw on the outside and the dirt in the middle. I cheated and used sweet potato starters that I spaced evenly around the tower. I noticed that over the course of the summer the soil was compacted by about a foot (shrinking from 4ft to 3 ft). I’m guess that in your case Tower 3 yielded the most because it allowed some air to get into the soil. The layers of hay probably prevented the packing.
I haven’t harvested my tower yet because the leaves are still a healthy green, and I’m hoping they will yield larger potatoes. I will send an update when I harvest.
christine says
What you also have to remember is that the towers only took up a percentage of the ground area against planting the same ammount of potatoes traditionally, so for a small garden they might be a more effective use of your growing space. I am going to try this method out next year as I don’t have a very big area for growing vegies.
christine
Chris says
I don’t have a yard to grow anything in, and vegetables are not my first choice when it comes to food…but I love watching your blog and seeing everything you grow. I think it’s amazing how much we can subsist on stuff that we are able to grow ourselves instead of being dependent on grocery stores. If I had a yard like yours, I would totally turn it into a giant garden and grow stuff to give away to friends and family! Plus your dog is cute, I have a 10mo old pug named Yoshi. 🙂
sclindah says
I tried that and had poor results then I read this which may be your problem.
Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte. You need late season to keep growing and producing potatoes.
Kristina says
I think your results are very typical for potato towers. I’ve read about towers producing very high amounts of potatoes, but after doing more research, I found gardeners everywhere were NOT having those sorts of results. I use grow bags (available from Gardener’s Supply); they do a good job of giving the potatoes good drainage while also helping to retain the right amount of moisture, and mine have lasted for about 3 seasons and show no signs of rotting or going “bad.” I get about 11 lbs. of potatoes per grow bag. For those who don’t know, you need late-season potatoes for towers or bags to do much. A friend who grows potatoes traditionally says my 11 lbs. are spot on for what she grows in the soil…But bags take up less room and can be moved into a sunny location where you don’t want to dig up soil.
julie says
We just planted them in the ground. We planted a 50lb bag of seed potatoes(redpontiac) in 10 100 foot rows and we harvested approximately 1100-1200 pounds total. nothing like fresh potatoes.
mildred lane says
where did u get your seed potatoes? did u hill them? u did a great job. thanks.
Cecily says
Also what is your planting zone? How did you prep your soil? Excellent yield! TY
julie says
I think we are zone 5. we plow the garden each fall with a 2bottom plow, disc in the spring, and then farmboy rototills for all he is worth before we plant and after the plants are up far enough to hill them.
julie says
we ordered the seed potatoes in a 50#bag from the local hardware store in my farmboy’s hometown in northwest ohio.we get those and onion sets every year from them.
Roxie Moreland says
We planted Yukon Gold’s. We had one row devoted to the potatoes but only had about 25 lbs too mostly small ones. We decided not to plant again next year and devote the space to things that grow better here.
Jane says
I did the burlap sacks this year….. ugh. Well it was a lesson that’s for sure. I did three sacks. ONE with yukon gold. ONE with red somethingorother. ONE with purplebluesomethingigotatthefarmersmarket. I waited and waited…. loads of compost, straw, layering, preventing rot….. some flowering, more flowering, then yellowing… then…. here it comes!!!! I was sooooo excited! I got a total of 6 potatoes. yup. From all three. It’s time to do this again. AND SOON.
Jeff Paetkau says
Yukon Gold is an early variety that only sets potatoes once; hilling or boxing them does no good and in fact lowers yield. They do really well planted in really dense plots though. I plant them about 8 inches apart in rows also 8 inches apart.
Sophia Merrill says
I have been eagerly awaiting your potato tower results. All in all, I think you did okay, given the limited space that the towers take up. I’m interested to see how your compost pile potato tally comes out. We will be growing potatoes in our garden next season. We grew them about two years ago and did pretty well. Home-grown potatoes are so delicious! So glad you had Lucy to help you dig them up!
Peggy Stenglein says
I’ve always had wonderful luck just hilling them up as they grow with grass clippings, hay straw, weeds, newspaper, compost, anything organic to keep the stem covered so more tubers could grow. I would go on quality, not quanity. Any yours look beautiful!! 🙂
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
I did this last year in an old metal trash can {you posted my photo of my *ahem* dirty potato last year} and had about the same luck as your first two towers. I so wish it worked better because I live in a city and don’t have the space to plant them traditionally. I was really hoping you would unlock some big secret for me to replicate next year. But perhaps it really is just too good to be true.
KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile
Cecily says
Hey Mavis. I went back and checked your post on when you planted the towers and was able to estimate (based on the number of potatoes you planted) that you got a 6/1 yield. That’s above average. Good job!
Mavis Butterfield says
Well good, I feel better now. Thanks for checking.
Gwen in L.A. says
Really enjoyed your gardening posts.
Just wondering, anyone in zone 18-21 Sunset Western Garden Guide growing potatoes? Los Angeles CA area. Never had any luck because of soil diseases, even using certified seed potatoes.
Sweet potatoes do ok, and yes, they do bloom here. Can harvest anytime after blooming, that seems to be when the tubers are ready, in my zone 9 USDA garden.
Donna says
Hi Mavis,
I have only planted potatoes once – by accident. I threw some sprouted potatoes in my compost pile in early spring. I did a yard cleanup and covered them with all the weeds and leaves that I failed to rake up in the fall. As time went on, I threw my grass clippings, weeds, and kitchen scraps in the compost. I noticed in late spring that I had many robust potato plants sprouting out of the compost pile. At the end of the season, I had a lot of potatoes. I didn’t weigh them, but I probably had 20-25 pounds. I think the key was that they were at the bottom of the pile, where the ground was still really cold (I live in New England). I am no expert, but I think you didn’t get a big harvest biggest your plants were too warm. Being in stacks high above ground was probably just too high a growing temperature. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I thought I’d share my lazy gardener experience with you.
Diana says
Agreed. Soil temp is important for potatoes. I’ve also tried these alternative methods of growing and found them to be a bust. Lots of work and little yield. Our best results are planting in deep raised beds that have been amended in the fall with leaves. Soil stays cool and is loose and makes for easy harvesting. Also, people don’t understand (I didn’t) determinate vs indeterminate potatoes. You have to plant the right kind (indeterminate) for a tower, but still if the soil is too warm it’ll affect your yield. And you’ll just have little bitty potatoes if at all.
Portia says
I wasn’t able to grow potatoes this year, but I’m planning on it for next year. Love this post!
Margie says
My potato tower experience was pretty sad, but it was my first attempt. We used straw around the sides, top and bottom, and the center was filled with compost, and it settled to about 2/3rds it original height over the summer (pretty sure that was a big part of my sad yield). I had wound the end of my soaker hose up from the bottom of the tower thru the middle of the compost, so it received plenty of moisture. But I didn’t get even 2lbs of potatoes, and most were the size of walnuts. I did get a nice crop of night crawlers tho! I will try again next year, perhaps using more straw mixed into the compost. We had strange summer weather here in the Kansas City area, so maybe that had something to do with my tower flop, too. It was a fun experiment, tho!
Sheryl says
We put 30# or red pontiac seed potatoes in the ground, traditional rows with potatoes planted 10-12 inches apart and probably 5-6 inches deep. We hilled as they grew (rototilled between rows and raked the loose dirt up around the plants until they became too tall to continue). We are Zone 5 and harvested 650#.
Michele says
I think I will try to toss a couple potatoes in the big raised bed this fall and see if cooler weather makes them happier by spring. Who knows. I think I cooked more potatoes in my towers than i grew! Texas was HOT!
Where do you get seed potatoes anyways?
Donna Bentkowski says
Where do u live in texas ? I ask because i live in Tx as well and am about 9-20-35 days late depending on your source in planting my potaoes and wonder if it is too late? I live in Bulverde ,TX,JUST 30 MIN. NORTH OF SAN ANTONIO,called the Hill Country.When did you plant your potatoes?
Ryan says
What are the name of some late season potatoes? someone said they grow better in towers on here? I think I also read somewhere on the internet that they like a more acidic soil? maybe people are having such bad luck cause of the soil they are using with the straw? Do you think a soil amended for cactus would work well for potatoes?
Barbee near Dallas says
I know I’m late to the party but I’m very interested in this subject.
No, I have never had a mega harvest for either Irish potatoes or sweet potatoes in towers, but that has never stopped me from trying again the next year. 🙂 This year, I did what you did w/ the chicken wire towers. (The sweet potatoes did better than my Irish but as usual-they were both poor harvests.)
What do I have to add? I have just recently been told that the variety of potato matters. (both sweets and Irish) That w/ the Irish potatoes, just like tomatoes, there are determinate and indeterminate varieties. What we want to use in the tower is the indeterminate type. Of course if I knew what varieties those actually WERE, I’d tell you. But I don’t. Yet.
With the sweets-I planted “Vardaman”. They set a few long roots close to the plant and all the other space was just wasted.
Anyway- I will try again next year (glutton for punishment) and hope you do too. One of these days we’ll figure it all out.
Denny says
I looks to me from your early pictures your potatoes need more water. I really like the Norlan reds variety. I think your yield would be better using dirt only in the root area and use the straw, grass clippings or any mulch on top of the soil. The mulch is just for keeping the soil from drying out. Any potato is a seed potato. A potato about the size of a tennis ball can be cut in about 4 pcs. Make sure there is an eye in each section. When they have grown 8″ to 12″ tall check the underside of the leaves for little orange eggs, These are from the Japanese Beetle and must be eliminated to have a good yield. Seven dust in a homeade shaker under the leaves or pinch the eggs off with your fingers. Lots of water for lots of blossoms. Approx 4th of July reach under your plants and carefully remove the largest potato from each mound for a nice foretaste of what is to come. Also it will give your hills more room for the growing spuds to come. Before planting and after they blossom add fertilizer about every 2 weeks but only if not too hot and you water every other day with lots of water. The roots will go down 2 to 3 feet and try to get water down there if you can. Pull any weeds and check for beetles every other day minimum and you will have the most fantastic french fries you ever had. I promise.
Tom Boehme says
My city does curbside yard waste pickup. So, one fall I gathered a ‘ton’ or two or three of leaves (the city does not mind this). It made a huge pile of leaf mulch for the spring. I then planted tater towers using only leaf mulch for the bedding. Each tower produced hugely. I think the mulch holds it’s water well and stays light. The tubers harvest clean too.
One thing I see in your pictures is branches growing out of the sides of the towers, not great. As you pile more bedding in, pull all the plants back into the middle. That way you have many feet of buried stem to make tubers. After you stop adding bedding the plants will cascade down from the top. It’s also fun to dig your hand in gently through the mesh to pick a few taters very young. They are so juicy, you can eat them raw in the garden.
SarahT says
Mavis, when you planted tower #3 did you plant all the layers of potatoes at once? Did the plants all find their way out the wire cage? or do you have to wait for a layer to start growing, direct the plant out the side & then layer more seed potatoes, dirt & straw?
Susi says
Boy ladies! All this sophisticated ways of growing the good ol’ spud! We had a handful of half sprouted old taters in my bin which my husband just stuck in the ground, (same with a few onions we had which I cut off the green onions from top for chives and few days later dug up the onion, used within a few days. They were small but wonderfully sweet!) They potatoes have grown allot and are looking great. How long do they have to stay in the ground before digging them up? I sure am curious how they will turn out!
joe says
heck,
we have been planting tower taters for years! here we use what we can, and its old tires instead of wire!
yes we repurpose old tires! put a tire down fill with straw, (or old leaves) dirt and a little manure throw potatoes in whole
cover with straw stack another tireand do the same as high as you want! hope this helps someone!
rooster.
PatP says
I live in SE Michigan, zone 6b. This year is the first time I planted potatoes. I used red norland seed potatoes I purchased at Walmart. I planted on May 11 and dug up 1 plant yesterday, August 7, 88 days after planting. I got 5 nice sized potatoes, I’m guessing 1 1/2 pounds. I wish I could post a pic here. I used Ikea bags as containers with 7 or 8″ of bagged topsoil mixed with straw and covered with just straw as the vines grew. Such a deal at 69 cents per bag and they should last multiple seasons 🙂 🙂 🙂 Before setting the seeds I poked drainage holes in the bottom and sides of the bags using a digging fork. I planted 2 seed potatoes per bag except the bag I dug up yesterday only had 1 plant. I placed the bags tight next to each other and surrounded them with 4 ft. plastic fencing to keep the vines upright to help shade the tubers and to keep them off the ground which helps keep crawling bugs out. I watered 1 to 2 times a week and applied some Miracle Grow Miracid 3 times throughout the growing season. I occasionally dusted very lightly with Sevin since there was evidence of chewing but I didn’t actually see what type of bugs were involved. Diatomaceous earth would have worked just as well but I forgot I had some. Next year I’m going to try a no dig method by placing seed potatoes under cardboard or 6 layers of newspaper with the seeds just laying directly on top of the dirt then covering the vines as they grow with just straw. First cut holes in the cardboard or newspaper then place the seed in the hole so it makes contact with the soil. You’ll need to weight it down a bit with rocks, wood, etc. to keep it from blowing away. Water and fertilize as needed. You just move the straw over to harvest clean potatoes as you need them. I heard this can be done on top of grass too but the first years crop will yield smaller potatoes because of competition from the grass roots. I would suggest loosening the soil a bit with a digging fork before setting the seeds but it’s not necessary to turn the soil. I might also try tossing a few seeds into a pile of damp leaves then keep it watered and fertilized. The only drawback is mice and slugs might be a problem with these methods but I think it’s worth a try.
Terri says
I’ll tell you what I know… not a suggestion though.
My Dad used to “hill” the potatoes. Once the plant got tallish he would add dirt up to the leaves – not over the top of them. He also nipped out the blossoms if any occurred.
We have grown potatoes from the peelings… not needing seed potatoes. We don’t get many, and if you don’t find all of them they will come up again from the unfound ones.
That’s what I know. I wish I had tried your methods years ago when I was able to garden.
Hugs
Ruth Ward says
I like this design for people with small yards, but still want to plant potatoes. And item that I view as labor intensive. You Have to cut up the potatoes leaving an eye in each piece, plant the cut up spuds, allow them to grow about 6 inches, then almost bury the plant with dirt. Allow them to grow an additional 6 inches, and almost bury them again. Then let them grow, when they look almost dead dig them up, leave them on the ground for one day. Then put them somewhere dark, dry and cool, but don’t refrigerate them. Remember, when you are ready to use them, wash with plain cold water and a scrub brush first.
jeni says
Hi Mavis. I too understand the disappointment of digging up spuds to find a handful instead of a bucket full! My problem was too much nitrogen…wonder if yours is too? Straw (especially peastraw) is high in nitrogen which produces lots of lush lovely leaves. But with potatoes we want lots of roots. So perhaps you need to use potato fertilizer too?
Angela says
Potatoes, like their cousins the tomato, come in determinate and indeterminate varieties. The determinates will NOT produce well in towers and do not like being hilled up more than a few inches. Indeterminates are suited for towers. Problem is, it is difficult to find accurate information on potato habit. It’s on every tomato label, but on no sack of seed potatoes I have ever seen.
Ray White says
Angela,
Thanks for that info. I had no idea potatoes came in determinate and indeterminate varieties. Do you happen to know which type Yukon Golds are?
Tom B says
According to cropwatch Yukon Gold is determinate.
http://cropwatch.unl.edu/potato/yukongold_management
From what I’ve read, determine varieties don’t work well in a tower because they set one batch of tubers. There is no advantage gained by piling on deeper and deeper.
Table 1. List of indeterminate and determinate potato varieties.
from http://ipcm.wisc.edu/download/vgu/Vegetable%20Crop%20Update%20%2316.pdf
Indeterminate: Russet Burbank, Snowden, Bancock Russet
Indeterminate, but behaves like a determinateƚ: Russet Norkota, Gold Rush
Determinate: Yukon Gold, Norland, Superior (add Red Norland and Red Pontiac from other source)
ƚ From a nitrogen management perspective, these varieties will respond to late-season N, as they are indeterminate,
but bulking ends much earlier in the season.
Bern says
From what I have found on other sites there are two different types of potatoes. The early variety tends to set potatoes once and then mature. The late variety will set fruit multiple times as the plant is buried. That is the kind you want to use in a tower. I am eager to try it just so long as I find the right variety of potato!
Gail says
Hi, I don’t have time to read all the replys so I don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but it might be your soil. I read that you need a mix of compost, peat, and vermiculite to grow the potatoes in. That’s what I’m using plus a soil conditioner. It was recommended to keep the soil light so they grow better. I just made my first tower yesterday so we’ll see how that works 🙂
Julienne Backstrom says
Last year I tried growing potatoes in two compost bins. I got beautiful plants and lots of leaves but no spuds! I’ve used the black fabric potato bags and garbage cans. So far my best results stemmed from using the “old fashioned” tried and true methods of hilling. I’ll try the towers this year. You’re not suppose to plant tomatoes or other nightshade family plants in the same spot you planted potatoes for at least 2 yrs. I’m on less than a 1/2 acre suburban plot so if the towers work that would be wonderful, it’ll make rotating my veggies easier.
Sam says
Hello all, I am from England but just wanted to share some tips with you that my grandfather told me way back: Veggies are like children, they need food, lots of water and good weather.
I grown potatoes in 75 litre black bags, – anything larger and the crop doesn’t increaser I just use more materials and water and get no extra crop.
I always line the bottom 6 inches with shredded paper, rotted horse manure, good compost, soil and a water retainer of some kind and have a drainpipe with holes drilled in it down the centre of the bag stuffed with shredded paper – I water down the drainpipe and the water seeps out – and water the bag itself – I ALSO feed the potatoes, as the potato plants grow I unroll about 4 inches of the bag and add compost until only the very tops of the leaves are poking out and continue like that until all the bag height is used, then mound up the very top.
I water mine twice daily and feed once a week. In the very top of the potato bag I tend to grow little gem lettuces or basically any salad leaf you fancy.
I leave my potatoes until everything has yellowed and died, I then move them into the garage for winter and harvest as I need then one bag at a time. However you need a multicrop potato in order to do this – there are some good books on Amazon which detail which potato for which situation or google and choose which potato(s) are good for you.
Treat sweet potatoes in the same way and you’ll get good crops. Potatoes need LOTS of water to grow and multiply.
From experience I have found that growing onions, shallots, garlic etc in shallow cardboard boxes works well, just line the box with a bin line with holes in it.
Carrots work very well in a deep box lined. Just sew in straight(ish) lines and use the thinnings to cook with and keep thinning during the summer for salads and snacks and by winter you have lovely long thick carrots for the winter. Add a few marigolds, to keep the aphids away and make sure you close any holes so the carrot fly doesn’t come visiting.
Hope some of this helps.
D. Ann says
Your tip on taking the tower into The garage for the winter is awesome! Thanks!
Freida says
I live in alaska and every growing season can vary greatly. I grew potatoes on large plastic garden containers one year about 3 ‘ high by 3’ wide. They had plenty of drainage holes but because of all the rain that year the plastic held the moisture and they rotted.
The best year I had success wise was when I used split firewood to form a circle and hold up the sides so I could pile the dirt high and it wouldn’t just slough down. Wasted less dirt that way. Because of all the spaces between the wood pieces, the potatoes received enough air and grew fantastic. Lots of potatoes that year.
As you stated: they don’t like real dry growing conditions either.
Brian says
Hi Mavis,
First, I’d like to thank you for all the great information you provide on your site. My wife and I have been gardening our own food for years. It really is the best way to go – you always know what you are eating.
I have been reading your stories on the potato towers and decided it will give them a try this year. I have a relatively large garden with every square inch accounted for but with these towers having such a small footprint you can put them just about anywhere. Might be a little late in starting a tower but with all the rain we have had over the past month here in Maryland everything is being planted late this year.
Anyway, I am going to attempt a tower #3 as that seemed to give you the best results. I do have a few questions if you would please as I was not able to locate a answer to these questions in any of the previous posts… When you re-top (if you will) with dirt and straw, when do you do it and how much dirt and straw do you top with? Also, do you think I can use last year’s cut horse hay instead of straw?
Thank you for your time and happy gardening!!!
Melody says
It’s been a few years and I suspect that the experiment wasn’t repeated. 🙂 I have a question for everyone who used straw in the tower: did you have a rodent problem? I hear that they’re fond of straw and we have plenty of them around. I don’t want to be harvesting rats!
D. Ann says
I have done potatoes several times in the past in barrels or potato grow bags, and all but one time was very disappointed with the yield. Recently I learned that potatoes are either determine or indeterminate. The tubers only grow a few inches high on the stems, and after that the stems will grow and produce more leaves as you fill the barrel, but produce no more potatoes above that point. Who would have known?! I would like a clear list of which potatoes are indeterminate so I can plant those! Apparently they tend to be the late varieties, but not always.
Matt says
Did you plant determinate or indeterminate varieties?
Jessica Roderick says
Have you heard of the Ruth Stout method of planting? It does very well in many areas. Not so amazing in the south west though, must add soil amendments.