No-Dig potato growing experiences?

[BlackDragon]

HEya all,

I just aquired some dutch cream and sponta seed potatoes and im looking at trying the no-dig method. Has anyone had good/great results with this method?

Ive tried 'in-ground' normal style but the idea of containment in a mesh column and the straw/manure/compost substrate seems very temping and i would like to give it a try.

Basically you make a wire mesh cylinder, bout a meter diameter, and a meter or so high. Layer compost/ old manure on the bottom, wet newspaper, then straw (lucern) place the seed potatoes on top of this, add another layer of straw, compost and manure, bit of blood 'n' bone and water in well. Wait till the spuds sprout, and repeat the layering process every time the stems/sprouts grow about 200mm till the cylinder is full of layers. The plant then flowers and dies off, and you open the mesh and yoink out your prize spuds.

Has anyone tried this method before?

The only downside to this method i can see for me is the availability of enough compost/manure. Sure i have a bit of a compost pile, but not that much. I assume the main substrate is the straw and the manure/compost is just a nutrient source?

Thanks for any assistance or feedback.

Bd

Edited October 1, 2009 by BlackDragon

[PhoenixSon]

havent done it before but i remember talking to someone that did pretty sure they used old tyres, probally not the healthiest choice though...

[GingaNinja]

Ive grown spuds like that (wire mesh) before with success. As for yeilds I cant accurately compare to inground but I was satisfied with the outcome.

I generally make a good nutrient rich base and use only small amounts of compost when doing the 'layering'. I figure there bottom roots will do the job well enough.

The advantage is that you can squeeze in a 'tube' in some random part of the garden and it doesnt have to be permanent.

I say give it a go, if you got space and resources you could do half half.

As for tyres I have heard at high temps the rubber starts to leach bad shit, pretty scientifical info I know

Having said that I have used tyres in the past.

[Andrew]

I think the tyre method,which suposedly works very well,leach cadmium which can be taken

up by the spuds.

[incognito]

my family has always grown potatos in a stack of old tyres.

u keep adding tyres as the leaves pop through the soil and add more dirt.

to harvest u simply remove the tyres.

always keeps us in taters for a looooong while.

[BlackDragon]

Thanks for the input. I used to have mountains of old tires in the good ol' drifting days. I could have put them to good use! I think ill skip the tires, and try the wire mesh. Something about semi solid hydrocarbons and food crops together just dont seem right to me. No doubt it works, just not sure how healthy the result would be.

Thanks and ill keep ya posted on the results.

[ThunderIdeal]

tyre stacks are in all of the permaculture books. i wouldn't grow edibles in them. wire mesh sounds good.

[naja naja]

grow bags, wat pot growers use, avail in 10-500L, wat fruit trees are regularly sold in, green fabric plastic thins with handles, ie, growbags

[BlackDragon]

Well time to update this one.

I did the usual wet newspaper first to suppress weeds. Then primo compost from great friend, some blood and bone on top of that. Placed the seed potatoes on top, and covered with pea-straw to about 150-200mm thick. Watered in well, and threw some dynamic lifter on top, just a little. Luckily we have had some great spring rains so far, and i haven't had to water at all yet.

Heres the results so far:

Side by side, Dutch Cream (left) & Spunta (right)

Dutch cream is a little slower so far, all good

Spunta is cruisin along:

Next week ill add more pea straw to the Spunta's and when the Creams pick up ill top them up too by another 150mm or so.

Looking good so far!

:D

Bd

[Alice]

If doing the wire cylinder method just make sure that you apply straw/manure/whatever dense enough that no light gets through. Yields appears to be reduced substantially if light gets through to the plant.

Please post your results at the end of the season!

Edit: leave the top of the plant uncovered, or course. Just exclude light from the stems where you want more potatoes to grow.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Alice

[poo]

Look great, nice job man! Would love you to keep the thread updated every now and then when you think of it. I have plans to try and develop a similar system in a medium sized balcony area. Not too much sideways room, but based on the top floor, the 'sky's the limit'. General idea is to try to limit footprint area and maximise surface area & volume.

Thanks for posting.

Forgot to add... nice specimens in the background ;)

Edited October 1, 2009 by poo

[Garbage]

Potatoes on your balcony?

[poo]

^ Amongst other things, what's the problem?

[mescalito]

Good idea and a nice job B.D.!

I've been toying with the idea of using those spring loaded green cheapo poly bags from go-lo and punch some holes in the bottom and sides.

At 5-7 bucks a bag, one could grow rows modular style and save the old back

Chitting some nice store varieties is a good way to get going.

I've grown Golden Delights and they are by far my fave.....sooo creamy but rugged.The last lot I did grew in an old pit full of builders rubble and a bag of soil mixed in.Very hardy the old tater!

Edited October 3, 2009 by mescalito

[bℓσωηG]

 

mulch everything on top they love it grow right through...this is my winter crop ,mulch more in summer...no dig but turn over with hands when harvesting, folding in last seasons decomposed mulch

[The Jamanoid]

I read once about a method for balcony/small grows.

Get yourself, or make yourself something like a wooden barrel, with wiring around the interior as shown above.

Make it so it has holes in it, as in for every piece of structural wood, have an open space as big as that, then more wood, more space, etc. Fill the thing with soil of choice, get your potatoes in, you could probably even put ONE potato in couldn't you?

And yea, apparently they just grow down and fill up the barrel to your desired soil level.

I don't know too much, only going off what I've read...may have missed a few details, but it would seem a nice compact idea.