Quote:
Originally Posted by NathanP
That makes a good use of space, but you still may be limited in the yield to what those three potatoes produce normally, not in a tower.
After what I have seen, and this is admittedly speculative to a large degree, to even make an attempt at seeing if a tower/bin approach works, in any way that realistically increases yield over normal growing methods, a different type of potato is necessary. Another trait that likely would be useful is very long season potatoes.
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I'm not really interested in heavy yield. If i were, we would be growing them in the ground. Like you, i don't think the yield from towers (the way i do it) can come anywhere close to growing potatoes the normal way.
I grow potatoes just for what we can use right away. We like to have 'new potatoes' to eat with green beans and tomatoes during the summer. Any potatoes we do have stored will be gone by Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I have three towers that i use for potatoes. One of those i use for 'new potatoes.' The bottom boards will come off pretty easy and lets me harvest enough for a good meal.
When it's time to harvest, most of the potatoes are in the center of the towers because i've already robbed all the potatoes around the edges.
Using one of the Peruvian potatoes and laying the stems in a not quite horizontal spiral and covering it as it grew might be the way to go. It would be interesting to see what would happen.
If i can find the right type of potato, i might try it.
Ken