Comments on: Potato Harvest: The Tire Tower Project

By: Jas

Jas — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:07:00 +0000

Who would of thought!! Im excited to give this a shot next year!!

By: Andii

Andii — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 02:26:00 +0000

I’ve done the tire trick for years. The trick is the dirt! You can’t just use any old dirt. Potatoes prefer soft loamy dirt with light sandyness to it. The dirt is very loose for the potatoes to be able to grow in. The fact that your potatoes look like gold nuggets tells me your dirt is too heavy, packed too hard, and had too much clay in it.

Try mixing vermiculite or potting soil or something lighter so that dirt doesnt pack down so hard. Your potatoes were squooshed. ;)

I’ve always had potatoes right up into the 4th tire.

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:59:59 +0000

Hello Sayward

Did the tire thing down here in NC and had about 30 plants. Irish Reds. 3 to 4 tires high is a good number and always plant in the first one. I found that if you wait till the leaves die back harvest will be bigger. I saw on T.V. years ago about the tire thing. they called it city gardening. I have a big garden 45 ft by 120 ft but wanted to try something different. My harvest was about 5 plastic store bags full. All in different sizes. The big thing is i had a bunch of plants and some did good and some didn’t. i Think the trick is More plants. Next year im going to try other tatters as well.

I also found if you like cucumbers, grow them up instead of out. it saves room and gets the plants off the ground so they dont turn yellow on the ground.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:45:54 +0000

Hi Sayward,
thanks for that….I’ll get onto the locals. :-)

By: Sayward

Sayward — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:37:46 +0000

@ Kerry – Potatoes are usually sown in early spring, but I just don’t know enough about the climate over there to really comment. I would say get thee to a local nursery/garden shop and ask them! Luck!

By: Kerry

Kerry — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:31:04 +0000

Hi Sayward, when’s the best time of year to plant the potatoes….I’m living in Aussi land….can I plant in winter???

By: Kartul tornis | Elekas-telekas

Kartul tornis | Elekas-telekas — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:02:20 +0000

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By: Sayward

Sayward — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:14:15 +0000

@ anonydude – The tires are not food grade and do include metals. My research didn’t turn up anything that would cause alarm, but I’ve told people in the past – do whatever your own comfort level allows. Go with your gut! =)

By: anonydude

anonydude — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 07:40:00 +0000

leaching from the tires, do you think they use 100% foodsafe stuff in tires? do you know if the rubber, lead and other toxins don’t leech in to your potatos?

By: Sayward

Sayward — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:05:03 +0000

@ Mandie – Hmm, yeah I never had bug issues with my taters, but I don’t think it’s because of the hens. Maybe they don’t like the tire? I had slugs and bugs in the rest of my garden but never in the towers. Interesting, I never thought about that . . .