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Old August 25, 2020   #24
JRinPA
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: SE PA
Posts: 961
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I harvested a week ago. It started out great, a nice bunch of potatoes right by the walking path. Then, bang, all downhill from there. The path probably got extra water when I had some since it was easiest to reach. That is my guess on the good production there.

The hilled/walled row box produced only 37lb of very solid, dense potatoes from ~7lb of seed. Uncut seed potatoes. Lehigh. I still didn't measure the row, approx 15 ft. The box has 3 bean teepee set over it with beans planted outside the box. They filled in the teepees and shaded, but I think that was not really the issue. It was just so hot and dry...I had a drip tape over it but only 5 gallons at time for the entire hilled row.
Things I learned:
1. All the potatoes set in the zone of the initial trench filling. I could have stopped there. Not a single one was above grade. Trench was about 6" deep with potatoes sitting on bottom, then filled and hilled just a bit. The plants grew past that, and I hilled around them once. Then I built walls and hilled again, but forgot perlite. Maybe one more time with compost. By that time it was 10-12" above grade. Then straw. What a waste! All of that compost collapsed down into upon digging it was only 6" above grade, and the potatoes were really, really hard to dig out because of the compacting! From the ground level on up, the plants put adventious roots out from the stem, but never set any potatoes like I expected them to. The last pic shows that well.
2. Well I guess number one about covered it!

The blue drum was a 3 piece affair I cut up with an electric hand jig saw. I put the other 3 lb of Lehigh in there at the bottom. I had skeletonized the bottom and set it a little below grade, maybe 4". Laid the potatoes there, and back filled the first section, approx 6-8" deep. When they popped through, I added more. Then next section, kept on repeating. After the 3rd section was on, I watered, nature watered more, the shredded compost became saturated, and half the plants died from stem rot. Not much came back. The remaining vines were not totally died back when I harvested, but I was not waiting. Net result - 2 medium and 2 small potatoes, all in the ground under the drum. And another that was half rotted. Not a single set above grade with all that vertical hilling.

The black drum was an old composter I had made. I cut out the vents to become "windows" thinking the plants would find them and grow out, rather than reaching for the sky. As I filled the drum I set seed potatoes a few inches under each window. I filled the whole drum to the top on the initial planting with Russets, and did not add any compost later. Every plant eventually found the sky instead of a much closer window. There were potatoes set vertically along the stem for 12-18", depending on planting depth. The net result - about 4 lb of potatoes, maybe less. There were many small starts all along the stem but most were marble size, with a the biggest ones at the bottom, 2"-3" ovals. Many of these were misshapen, with bulges, and some were split.

I don't see the towers working with summer heat. It has too be way too hot in them, and way too dry. Or, if it rains too much and depending on the fill, way too wet. Neither of the potato towers produced nice potatoes like the trench/hilled row did.

I have to think my best bet would be a deeper trench, 8-10". And maybe potatoes are a case for rototilling, though cringe at the thought. But a deeper trench to keep them cooler, with a hill, maybe walled in right away since I have the side panels built, now. Do that all at initial planting. Maybe cut the seed potatoes up, but at 80 cents a lb that wasn't a big deal to me. But hill it up all at once at plant out with a lot more perlite to keep it lightish and let the seed potato power that vine up through it, just like the Russets did in the black tower. Then keep it well watered in the heat, more than I gave it this year. At the same time, too much hill on top, with drip on top of that, is just asking for the bottom layers to become compacted again.

Or maybe just use straw to hill inside the panels, and put the drip at grade over an 8" trench.

Or plant them shallow and use straw.

I found out what doesn't work, still have to figure out what will work...

And I hate to say it, but, while it was neat and I like to pack stuff in, the bean towers over top probably didn't help any. The potato vines died back soonest/most underneath the shade of the towers. I did get some beans of course, probably 6 good trays from a three pickings, and still have the middle tower up. But I pulled the other two to get the potatoes out and cut back on bean beetles.
Attached Images
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Last edited by JRinPA; August 25, 2020 at 01:42 AM.
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