Potato Towers!

[Bigmallly]

Now, I'm tempted to give this a go, a pig wire hoop with screen or something wrapped round. At harvest time, remove the screen & stick your hand through the pig wire to harvest:

How to Grow Potatoes in Towers - Sunset

[Bigmallly]

If you have seen my Calendar pics, you will have noticed that I have had a change of heart regarding the spud cages. Instead of screening the wire cages as per the above vid, I have lined them with leaves. The theory being that you get a better crop if the haulms are allowed to grow through the sides of the cage. From what I have seen, this does seem to support the theory.

[Bigmallly]

March Update

Just thought I'd put another update on as fingers crossed I'm hoping to harvest them next month. As you can see, they are not ready yet:



What is noticeable however is the haulm coming out of the 3rd from bottom bucket:

[Bigmallly]

April Update!

Still not sure if they will be ready this month:

[Snoop Puss]

They are looking really impressive, BM, really healthy and vigorous.

That said, is there any way you could take a bucket or two from the bottom first...?

[Bigmallly]

They are looking really impressive, BM, really healthy and vigorous.

That said, is there any way you could take a bucket or two from the bottom first...?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.............Nah.........

[Jay-ell]

you could make little trap doors in the buckets then duct tape them shut again.

[Bigmallly]

That's a good idea Jas but I can't get to the buckets at the back & the front bucket is below the greenhouse base.

[BUFFS]

Wishing you luck BM

So chip butties would have to be made using baggettes I suppose...

[BUFFS]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.............Nah.........

Not without shouting "timber"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bigmallly]

My Expectations & What I Learned!

Reet..........I harvested the buckets today & wot did I get?.............not a lot................so wot did I expect & wot did I learn...........

1) I wasn't expecting miracles, I would have been happy with 6 spuds per tower, I got 4.

2) I was expecting the spuds to be in the bottom couple of buckets but no, they were in the top couple of buckets only.

3) If I was to do it again, I would put 2 x 2" Diam holes in the sides of each bucket to allow foliage to grow through them. I would also place a seed spud at each bucket level to increase the yield.

So to summarise:
It appears that potatoes will not grow without sufficient foliage. Obviously mine were putting too much energy into leaf/stalk growth that they did not produce spuds until the foliage was through the top of the tower, hence only having spuds in the top few buckets. Therefore, holes in the buckets will help with photosynthesis thereby promoting yield growth. Spuds placed at each level "should" increase the yield.

Hereby endeth the lesson................

[vixylix]

well experimented BM - I don't think I'll bother for 4 spuds - you can buy em 4 for a squid at the shops

[Bigmallly]

Very true Vicki but I'm glad I did it as I learned something which I never expected.

[Snoop Puss]

What do you think might have happened had you left them longer? Would that have made a difference?

[Bigmallly]

They weren't 100% ready to harvest, I needed the space. I don't think it would have made that much difference, maybe slightly larger spuds but that's about it.