[Spam70]

I haven't tried this yet but someone told me of a fellow that planted potatoes in soil in a car tire. As the plant grew taller he just kept adding another tire and more soil until he had a stack of 7 tires. The guy said his yield was about 75lbs. of spuds per stack of tires. This might be a good way to grow potatoes in a city or urban environment where land space is at a premium, it would also be a pretty descreet way to grow too!! Just an ol' stack tires over there with some green plant pokin' out the top!! Little would the average looter know it would be packed with potatoes top to bottom! See ya later alligator!!

Spam

 

[The_Question]

thats actually pretty cool.

 

[Leam]

I heard about this back in the late 60's. Never really tried though.

 

[xringfighter]

Pretty cool. How do you get the ones at the bottom?

 

[badkarma]

i've heard of this as well, but never seen it. do some research on victory gardens, micro-farming, and container gardening. there is quite a bit of information out there. here are a few i browse from time to time


http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/containerindoor/container.asp


http://www.extension.colostate.edu/4DMG/Plants/contain.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/

http://www.cityfarmer.org/grandpasVG.html

 

[eeyore]

Pretty cool. How do you get the ones at the bottom?

When you are ready to harvest, you just knock the tires over, recover the potatoes and save the tires for next year.

The only negative i have seen presented for this was that the chemicals coming out of the tires would be a draw back. Never seen any hard evidence for this though.

Seems like a great way to use bald tires

 

[riverrat]

I think that the tire stack would make it easy to mix straw in with the soil so that the potatos can grow bigger more easily in the loose growing space.

 

[Brimasmom]

The only negative i have seen presented for this was that the chemicals coming out of the tires would be a draw back. Never seen any hard evidence for this though.

What if you painted the interior of the tires or used some other kind of barrier? Just wondering.

 

[BakCompat]

I'd like to find more info on this, as i have a large cement slab in front of my detached garage, and growing tubers in this sort of method would really allow for a good yield in little square footage.

 

[crankyfarmer]

Interesting, but I have found that the heat absorbed by the tires fry any plants inside them. I tried using large black buckets to grow squash in last year, and as soon as they tried to go over the sides they where scorched. We are in Northern Montana so I would think it would only get worse farther south.
I like the idea of starting plants in a large pot so I can move them outside when the weather warms up. I want vegatables for the earliest farmers markets.

 

[BakCompat]

how about a can of rubberized white krylon spray paint?

 

[Brimasmom]

Good idea! If we painted them inside and out with white paint then they would be less likely to fry the plants.

 

[sorcerer]

If you are worried about the tires leaching, use concrete remesh that has been bent into a circle like a giant tomato cage. As the plant grows cover it with straw, dry leaves or what ever. When the mix and plants have reached the top, just wait for the plants to die back, turn the cage over and enjoy.

 

[Prepare51]

Instead of using a tire maybe you could use a "potato bag". While searching on the Internet I found the following on the Gardeners website.

http://www.gardeners.com/Potato+Bag/VegetableGardening_PotsPlanters,36-629,default,cp.html

 

[camocarman]

i have done this a few years and have had good results. i would recomend mixing hay or mulch with the soil as you add, and lots of water. the mulch will help the plants from burning as bad and help produce larger taters. i have used tire gardens alot due to space and rules about "digging up the yard". last year i started with "squarefoot" gardening. i will expand on that this year.

good luck if you try it.
just remember lots of water and loose soil with hay or mulch to hold that water.

 

[Spam70]

for ****zengigglez i am going to plant a tire potato in the next week. I will hopefully remember to chronicle it in some way n see just how it turns out.... We are in North georgia so it will be interesting to see just what happens. Dunno bout 7 tires high though... would require a ladder on the last couple rows,,,, n thats just plum dangerous

Awesome! Please let us know how it turns out! Be careful using that ladder!

 

[Greg5791]

Hi. I just want to say that our sweetie *****cat throw our initial effort for starting a garden. She peed on the plants and it was like acid rain. (I did not do anything, as she´s blind). So please make sure your cats don´t have any access.

 

[Prepare51]

"Potato bag" update

Instead of using a tire maybe you could use a "potato bag". While searching on the Internet I found the following on the Gardeners website.

http://www.gardeners.com/Potato+Bag/VegetableGardening_PotsPlanters,36-629,default,cp.html

Update on the "potato bag". I ordered one from the Gardeners.com website. It just arrived. The bag is made by a company called "High Caliper Growing". More details about the bag as well as its other uses can be obtained at their website http://www.smartpots.com

It's still too cold where I live so I won't be able to review it yet.

 

[Sam's Prepping]

Potato Tire Towers

Here's a how to link:

http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/04/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-tire-towers/

Here's her harvest, which was ok. She did say she harvested early, AND had hard, uncomposted soil, and many comments said that just doesn't work, it needs to be adjusted, just as campcarman says above.
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/09/potato-harvest-the-tire-tower-project/

 

[Sam's Prepping]

Mother Earth News - Old Tires as Cold Frame

Interesting concept of starting plants where you will grow them, using old tires and old dry cleaning bags as their cold frame.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/orga...atoes-in-tire-zmaz76jaztak.aspx#axzz2ifHwPslk