( i can grow spuds fine in the normal way but when it comes to stacks i suck.i only eva get spuds around the seed spud as per usual and nothing up the tower so im going tohave one last blasted attempt at it) but before you get going im doing it in a brick stack as we have loads of building bricks.i have put down the base line bricks and filled the hole up with dirt/potting mix/compst mix from my compost bins + horse poo + sheep pellets + chicken poo all well rotted and ready to go.ive dug it ova and under! lol ive got 4 ruas and 4 jersy bennys to plant in it.and some comfrey leave to sit them on.
utternutter2b,
Oct 3, 12:40pm
Have you tried using YouTube, there are stacks of home and commercial uploads on there in regards to potato towers and how to get the biggest yield. Theres also heaps about gardening in general its great. You just got to remember that most of them are in different regions/countries but its still all very worth while info.
Im doing potatoes in a rubbish bin this year just for something different but also have a normal vege garden full of them :)
mottly,
Oct 3, 12:40pm
My kids are attempting the tyre stacks for the first time.We're doing ours on concrete - put down 3 newspapers, one tyre, filled that tyre with straw, a 2nd tyre on, half fulled with bought compost/peat (with manure), and popped 3 seed spuds in each stack.covered and watered.Fingers crossed we all might do ok!I've heard it depends alot on how 'light' the soil is - wondering if mixing compost with straw would be beneficial!
purplegoanna,
Oct 3, 1:03pm
i get a great crop at the bottom of the stack but neva anything up the stack.it peeves me no end i cant get it right as im a good gardener and have no trouble elsehwere but these.and hubby LOVES new seasons spuds.xmas day isnt xmas day without the humble new season spud.
mottly,
Oct 3, 1:09pm
do they run out of food as they get bigger!(peeves you off when ya can't get it right huh - we can't grow giant pumpkins to save ourselves lol!)
purplegoanna,
Oct 3, 2:16pm
yip its like me and scones! just dosnt happen.
johotech,
Oct 3, 3:07pm
Your hands are too warm.
mottly,
Oct 4, 8:01am
try yoghurt scones - even my kids can make them, and they're light n fluffy. I'll dig out the recipe for ya :) Q about the spuds, when you first put them in, do you cover them totally, or leave a bit of the shoot sticking out!
steptoesnr,
Oct 4, 9:39am
Even when I have planted potatoes deeply in a trench and then moulded them up as the tops grew in the tried and true method I never saw any evidence that more potatoes "grew" or "budded" or "sprouted" off the stem between the area you expect to see them at or below and around the seed spud area as #1 says and the surface. This led me to believe the "tyre tower" system could not work but decided to try it out. After the usual planting scenario with all the manure/fertiliser etc after the sprouts had reached the surface of a quad tyre I placed another on top and filled with more dirt as the sprouts grew and so on til the tower was 4 high (about a metre). At harvest I was presented with the normal few spuds in the normal place and a metre high tower of dirt and stems and zero else. After wondering like#1 what I was doing wrong I thought about why people planted them in towers!- to save horizontal room and I have since concluded that as the growing sprouts reached up I would try another 2-3 seed spuds and so on up the stack somewhat like #3. This may already be plainly obvious to others. Anyway I'm going to experiment as above and maybe #1 will try as well. Has anyone else succeeded!
mottly,
Oct 4, 10:45am
this will be an interesting thread to follow.The two gardners in my mitre10 swear by growing tower spuds - they reckon they end up with sacks full of potatoes out of them. They wait till the bottom leaves are about 2inches long, then bury them again.Dad told me when he was young, he was told to grow them in a drum - at the end of the season, he'd end up with a drum full of spuds - he ended up with a drum full of dirt.lol. Where do you guys put yours!Mine get sun till about 2pm, but in a really warm place.
purplegoanna,
Oct 4, 11:17am
mine get sun pretty much all day give or take from the shadows.if this dosnt work next time im actually going to layer the seed potatos i.e put 4 at ground level then 2 two layers and add another 4 potatos and so on.i rreally like the less space aspect but it seems to defeat the purpose if none grown up the stack.food, compost, sun and water are not issues i dont think as they get all of that + more.its driving me nuts.as each time i undo the stack ive my trug waiting for all the spuds and then i only end up with 2 doz or so.
mottly,
Oct 4, 12:06pm
there HAS to be a secret to it.
illusion_,
Oct 4, 12:24pm
plant more seed spuds as you go up
purplegoanna,
Oct 4, 4:17pm
yip thats exactly what im going to do.
poppysinger2,
Oct 5, 9:21pm
Bump for spud lovers with small spaces .
snoopy221,
Oct 5, 9:27pm
4 SPUDS PER TYRE.Minimum
mottly,
Oct 6, 11:08am
really!I put three in each of mine.
roys351,
Oct 6, 7:22pm
thats what i did last season with tyres it worked well nice small new spuds at the top and bigger ones at the bottom for mashing roasting etc
roys351,
Oct 6, 7:24pm
also spuds will grow from peelings as well
kaddiew,
Oct 6, 8:26pm
It's the same for me. No matter how high I mound the spuds planted in the ground I only ever end up with new spuds around the seed spud area, never higher. Same size crop as I get from my bucket ones.
mottly,
Oct 21, 12:37pm
bump.how are the spuds lookin!
steptoesnr,
Oct 21, 7:08pm
give us time!
kaddiew,
Oct 23, 3:16am
I had my first small feed of new spuds today from a selfsown plant that was in the way amongst the lettuces. Yum. I hope all my carefully planted and tended ones taste as good.
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