Potato Planting in Tire Stacks?

[NiceTimeForSomethin'New]

Hi All! I'm New here. I'm a BYC member and just learned of this forum. FUN!!! I'm not sure if this has already been asked and answered so my appologies in advance if it has....

OK,

I have been working to turn my brown thumb green this year now that we bought a farm...

I have read about planting potatoes in stacks of tires...

A) Fill one tire with soil or compost or straw or some combination (I've heard all of these...)
B) Plant Seed Potatoes in first tire
C) When the plant emerges, add another tire
D) cover with more soil (or whatever)
E) repeat until you get a stack (number varies)

Anywho..."they" say you'll get a whole bunch of potatoes this way...

Anyone tried it? How did you do it? Was is a success? What would you do different next time? Do you cut the tires (the side walls)? How high did you stack? What did you use for soil? How many "starters"/seed potatoes per stack? Any other potato related wisdom to share?

I have:

A) about 16 tires (came with the farm)
B) straw & hay
C) farm compost (from the chickens, horses & goats...mix of hay/straw/poop)
D) yard compost (grass, leaves, yard waste, veggies)
E) black dirt/potting soil
F) Yukon Gold Seed Potatoes


Thanks in advance!

 

[ducks4you]

, NiceTimeForSomethin'New!
AWSOME, COOL IDEA--DO IT!!!!!
You can pat yourself on the back for ingenuity and recycling! :bun

 

[NiceTimeForSomethin'New]

, NiceTimeForSomethin'New!
AWSOME, COOL IDEA--DO IT!!!!!
You can pat yourself on the back for ingenuity and recycling! :bun

Thank you very much! I like it here already!

 

[2ndtimearound]

I migrated from BYC also, so I know you're going to enjoy it here!

The potato idea sounds awesome, but no, I never heard of it before. I'm going to check around my fellow gardeners here and see if anyone else has. I'll post back if I hear any info. I have a stack of tires handy and some compost and soil, so I might just give it a whirl. I was planning on setting a tire on the ground and filling it with soil and planting cucumbers in it this year, but I always need potatoes!!

Best of Luck

 

[trion]

I read somewhere online about growing potatoes that way. It is very similar to the trash can potato growing. You cut off the bottom of a trash can, fill about 6 inches with dirt, plant seed potato and when the plant reaches a certain height you fill in with more dirt. You fill in more dirt a couple of times and then stop. Works quite well and I imagine the tires system would work just as well. Hmmm, I have a few old tires too

 

[dickiebird]

I did the potato in the tires deal last year. It didn't work out real well, but I think it was because of the wet year we had.
The sidewall of the upper tires held water and kept the straw I used as filler way too wet. The plants all died way before very many taters developed.
Out of the 10 stacks of tires I set up I maybe got a pound of new potatoes, with the largest being about the size of a tennis ball.
That being said, I'm trying the same thing again this year, except I have 5 tire stacks and 2 rows of conventionally planted potatoes right beside the tires.
As my stack gets taller this season I'm going to make holes in the sidewall of each stacked tire to allow any excess water to drain.
I hope to have a good report at the end of this season!!!

THANX RICH

 

[lesa]

I am all for recycling and reusing- but I am not crazy about the tires from a leaching point of view. Not sure what chemicals are still present- but would it get into the food you are growing?? I tried the barrel idea, last year with limited success. I've got mine in the garden this year-we'll see what happens! Congratulations on buying a farm! How exciting! Do tell us all your plans and describe your farm-we will all enjoy it vicariously!!

 

[mandieg4]

We tried using the tires several years ago and had a problem with lack of water. The tires got so hot that the straw would dry out much faster than the dirt in the garden and I just didn't water it enough. If I were to do it again, I wouldn't use straight straw/hay, I'd use more compost. But like lesa said, at this point I'm too leary of growing anything in the tires because of leaching, so I would use food grade barrels or something along those lines.

 

[Wildsky]

I am all for recycling and reusing- but I am not crazy about the tires from a leaching point of view. Not sure what chemicals are still present- but would it get into the food you are growing?? !

Thats what stopped me from using tires to grow food, just not worth a risk if there is one!

 

[ducks4you]

Does anybody have any links about the chemicals in tires. I'd like to know.