Arrange your seed potatoes around the edges about 3-4 inches from the edge and about 6 inches apart. Any suggestions. I use end-of-season straw as mulch in other parts of my yard/gardens and it works great. The design can be as simple as driving four snow-fence posts at corners in a square, then tightly binding the fencing around the poles. Once you’ve chosen your spot start by lining the bottom of the tower with straw. How to Build a Potato Cage. The key is to not have material that packs down like soil does over time. Hi, there. Add an extra straw on the top of the potatoes when they grow at the height of 8 inches. Underground spaces also tend to be quite humid, a mixed blessing for stored potatoes. But a lot of these methods just aren’t worth their salt and can result in disappointing yields, even with extra love and care. Maybe the fun part is the actual lack of work involved in this method. https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/how-to-plant-potatoes-in-straw But the real icing on the cake? Over the past few years, we have switched to growing our entire potato crop (traditional and sweet potatoes), in homemade potato crates. Plant your potato plants as you normally would, except plant five or six of them close together, so that they will fit inside the upright cylinder of fence when it is stood up over them. Boy was I wrong. Final Harvest – about 12 pounds of spuds. Add another layer of straws until the potato plants grow beyond the container. Hoe off the area where you want to grow your potatoes. Tips. I used extra-large cages this time, so I placed six potato pieces in mine. Your email address will not be published. To do this I simply added 4 inches of … wikiHow is a very helpful site that I love to use. This article has been viewed 127,761 times. The first thing to do is to prepare the soil. from the Ruth Stout -No Work Gardening Book back in the 80’s. For mature potatoes, wait an additional two to three weeks after the foliage dies before harvesting. Growing potatoes in these towers requires no digging. Add more material as they grow. I plan to weigh my harvest. A little known fact about potatoes is that if you mound additional soil around the plants as they grow, they will continue to add spuds upwards in the new dirt. Just wondering how your potatoes turned out. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. My soil was quite moist. While mulching potatoes with straw is a popular growing method in all USDA Zones, you can take that a step further and grow potatoes in straw bales. Take a tour of my frugal home, and find new tips to put to work in your frugal home. A potato cage provides a small garden solution for growing lots of potatoes. I actually found a great … Thank you, creators. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. You can apply the same principle (“straw hilling”) when growing potatoes in a straw bale. Finish by giving them a good watering. Potatoes are a versatile, tasty, and easy-to-grow tuber. Line the edges with straw (so the dirt won't fall out), then fill with soil about 1/3 or 1/2 full. Place your potatoes in the bottom of the cage. Use wire stakes to secure the cage to the ground if you think blowing over will be an issue. They are delicious in Purple Potato Chorizo Burrito recipe. In this case, 90% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This method of growing potatoes is made for those of us with big ideas and limited time. Growing Potatoes in a Tires – We actually first heard about vertical potato growing from an acquaintance that was telling us about her vertical potato tower. Wait until after the last frost to plant your potatoes. Just remove the cage, loosen the soil, and pick out potatoes. Another benefit of growing potatoes in a cage is that they're easier to water and easier to harvest. The cage (no container) will be on top of a layer of weed guard fabric to keep the tree roots out. Four potato pieces per cage is about right. To grow potatoes in straw, prepare your seed potatoes by cutting smaller pieces with eyes to plant. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. You could also add a layer of compost on top. Thanks!! Planting in straw (I find that the plants dry out, but this may work in high-rainfall areas) Planting in wire cylinders full of straw, compost or soil (there is too much airflow so the plants dry out, resulting in undersized tubers) Planting in plastic bags or other containers with poor drainage and airflow. 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