Potatoes 3 Ways.

Last year I did a longish post about spuds, promising this year to return to the scene of the crime and (hopefully) do better and have a more objective look at ways to grow them.

It's a good thing I keep a blog to remind me of things I was going to do, and when I did them - that being said, I should actually spend more time READING what I said I would do and when I would do it. I'd been looking at the date on that post and saying 'ohhhh yeah I did that in May.. so I'll put them out in April and actually be EARLY' - but if you read the link, you'll see that I actually planted those in February *facepalm* but it's all good. Win lose or draw we're going ahead with it!

The general methods you see surrounding potatoes all seem to follow the same principle: you plant your seed potato, then pile up the medium around them as the plant grows. The plant below ground then puts out roots and forms your spuds.  So I'm going to go about this 3 different ways, as well continue on the promised 'head to head' of commercially bought vs DIY methods, and finally, close out by combining different aspects of these methods into a 5 dollar garden experiment.. so - lots to cover.

Method 1. Containers

Last years tater pot

 Growing spuds in containers is pretty straight forward, and we covered it last year. Your growing medium (peat moss or something like it such as coconut coir) is put down in the bottom of the pot (a couple of inches) and you put down your seeder spuds, then cover them over with a couple more inches.  When they sprout you add more medium as they shoot up till the pot is full.  There are pots you can buy such as the 'tater pot' I used last year.

DIY tater box

Or you can make your own - I used a storage crate with some landscaping fabric in it. Last year I had good luck with this, so I spent the year making sure that when they went on sale I had a few dollars in my pocket to pick some up. Problem is, they're just too damn useful.  I have probably 20 of these now, but they're all in my workshop storing stuff.  Probably a good thing I guess as jumping in at the deep end with with such a massive amount would probably be a bit much to handle.  I have set up 3 this year.

The medium I'll be using is pretty much the same as last year.  4 big handfuls of coconut coir to one big handful of worm castings.  I'll be using this across the board on my containers - so they all have the same soil, sun, and seeds. This year I'm using Kennebec potatoes.  I hope to let them all grow out and do an objective comparison at the end between the 12 dollar tater pot and my 2.50 storage crate.

 I've put similar sized seeds in both the tater pot and one crate, both have 3  - the last one I put 4 in because that one is 'mine' to grow as I please.  Next they are covered up with a couple of inches of coir and will be kept well watered. Not too wet or they'll rot.
One good thing about growing in containers is that if you get rot in one container, you can try and save what you can, but it's not going to spread to another container. So there is a chance to contain your problems easily.


My last post on potatoes covers pretty much all the info on this, so follow the link at the top. No need for me to type everything out again.

Method 2. The Tower

  I've done this method before, before I moved to this house. Unfortunately we had to move (happily to this house) before the potatoes had a chance to grow out entirely.

The idea here is that you build a box (a few feet square) and you add dirt as the plants grow (nothing unusual) - as the plants reach the top you add boards, increasing the height of the structure - up to around 3 - 4 feet hight. When grown out you remove the boards and sort your potatoes.

 When I did it, I got a few spuds out of it, and the roots looked like they would have put out quite a few more had I been able to let it run to completion. So, why aren't I doing it here?
Well there are a couple of things about this method - number 1 being you have to come up with a LOT of soil, and given that you really shouldn't grow potatoes in the same soil for more than 2 years running, you have to not only find a use for all the soil used, but also replace it all.  For me it didn't seem that economic.

Still the idea is sound, so It got me thinking on how I could use this method, only on a smaller scale.

With all the offcuts I have from various garden beds, the sandbox, and other things - I have plenty of small lumber laying around. A lot of it longer than a foot.
Grabbing some and heading to the workshop I made up a small foot square box that I'll be using over a square in my garden bed - think of it like an 'extender' to let me take that small part of the bed higher than 6 inches.
I have a template made so every square I build will have the same dimensions - making them easy to stack up.

We put the seeds down (we'll go with 2) and cover them over. Our 6 inch bed means they can have around 3 inches below them and a couple of inches above them - pretty much the same as if we put them in a container - or used the bigger tower method.

We put the frame over top, and we can fill it with our grow medium when the plants poke out - as they grow up, another can be added - as high as I feel it's worth going (probably not terribly high).
The soil in this when the potatoes are done can be used in the rest of the bed, so it's not going to waste.  I can also take advantage of companion planting, as they are sharing the same soil to some extent.  We'll see how this goes.

Method 3. Grannies Ditch and Straw Method.

This final method comes from the Matriarch of my Wife's family.  Between her and her husband they share a near 2 centuries of gardening and agriculture knowledge and history.  There's nothing new to this , it's just 'the ditch method', but with a couple of things that I personally wouldn't have thought of.

This is as basic as it gets - no boxes, frames, landscaping fabric, string.. not even any mixing of coconut coir or other things.

You dig a ditch, as long as you want.  You put down your seeds 'with about a hands distance between them' - now there are hands and there are hands, and I'm pretty sure that at some point folks doing this would have said 'cubits' or something.  So I'm laying down 4 seeds and testing the water. Next is the incredibly simple, part:

Pine straw (or pine needles if you like). Cover them in pine straw.
Everything else is exactly the same - plants sprout, pile up pine straw around them.
I have a bunch of breaking down pine straw that was left over from some landscaping and won't be used for much else - people like fresh nice brown pine straw for mulch - so it's a perfect use.  It's so simple, and free, and fills all the requirements for spuds - loose, well drained, and as it breaks down (and it does break down really well) will add that slightly acidic soil that spuds need to grow well... it's also loose enough that you can put your hand in it to check for new spuds without disturbing the others... and did I mention, it's free if you have a rake and some pine trees growing near you?

When the spuds are done and the needles break down - I don't need to do anything with it. I could just plant something else.. done deal.

5 dollar Garden Spuds

 Now all this is well and good if you have space to dig a ditch, or money to throw on moss or coir, and compost/worm castings available, have some spare landscaping cloth. But how to do it on the cheap?
Well I figured that the crate cost me 2.50, which makes it a great start point for a 5 dollar garden project.
Assuming we have a 'have nothing' start point, we need to keep the medium in the crate in a way that allows drainage... so.. a few sheets of newspaper should do the trick. I wet them down to make them sit easier.

Last year I got some seeds for 2 dollars. This year I wasn't so lucky.. BUT I had been planning to use some spuds I sprouted myself and had kept in the fridge... not all of them survived the wait, but I did have 4 pretty good candidates - these are just plain old potatoes I had bought and and a couple that were left had sprouted. I put them away to see if we could grow them... so cost for me: nothing. I would have thrown them out.  We've put them down on a bed of broken down pine straw.. I had this piled off on one side of the driveway doing nothing, but if I didn't have it on hand, it was just a 20ft walk for me to get some from the park across the road. I realize there are SOME climates that may not have pine trees, but for most people it's very accessible.  If you don't have it, you could try and use crushed leaves, I dunno - might work.

we top it up with pine straw, this will flatten down with watering and break down - and we will pile it up to the top as the plants grow and see how it turns out - now this is something I would REALLY suggest doing outdoors. I've not tried growing spuds inside, and to be honest it's not likely something I'm going to try. It might be all well and good and work out great - but if one of those spuds starts to rot, you'll soon know about it.

 So there we have it, spuds all out and ready, done 3 different ways and ready to see which method gives me the best results!


Cheers!