Hi- I'm looking for any and all advice about growing potatoes in old tires.
>I live on Vashon Island, 10 miles from Seattle, and have full sun all day.
>Potatoes love my sandy soil - I grew a crop last year, doing absolutely
>nothing but watering - didn't even hill'em- but got great yields. This year
>I decided to try the tire method: I planted the sets 4" below grade, and
>when they grew 8" high, I threw a tire over the plant, and filled up the
>tire with soil. I'm up to two and three tires in a tower now- the plants are
>between 2' and 3' tall, with the top 8" exposed and the rest of the plant
>buried. They all appear to be healthy, growing well, and starting to set
>flowers. I have questions about where to grow from here, to wit:
>
>- Should I water around the top, the base of the tire, or both?
>
>- Should I keep on adding a fourth and fifth tire, or should I stop and let
>the plant grow over the top?
>
>- When should I start harvesting the potatoes- when the vine has started to
>turn yellow and shrivel, or any time after the flowers have come and gone? >
>- I understand the plants start creating potatoes about the time they start
>to flower (i.e., now), and for a tastier (though smaller) potato, I should
>start tapering off the water. Any comments from experienced growers? >
>Incidentally, for anyone who's never grown potatoes, they are highly
>satisfactory: easy to grow, prolific, and, amazingly, much better than
>anything you can buy in the store. I recomment Yukon golds or Yellow Finns,
>though I'm sure each region has its own favorites...
>
>Thanks for suggestions.
>
>Dick Lovering
> snipped-for-privacy@ix.netcom.com
>
I've never been able to make this trick work (well, you did say 'any and all information') A column of tyres, five high needs an aweful lot of dirt to fill it It might ne worth while, as you fill the stack, to put a few more seed potates in each time you put more dirt in Barrie