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Hi all! Haven't found the veg thread til now, I've been growing veggies for 5 years now and it's seriously one of my favourite activities/hobbies in the world. I have a question about potatoes and the "tater tire" method. This is my first year ever trying to grow one. I'm growing a sweet potato plant cause sweet potatoes are healthy and delicious... also the nursery didn't have any regular tates and it was too late to start my own  Anyway, I have no experience with potatoes, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect.It took a bit to get going, but in the last few weeks it's exploded and the vine is now about 10" long and growing pretty sideways. I didn't realize it'd be so viney!  So if I understand correctly, the idea is that I let the plant grow to be taller than the tire, then I put the tire around it and fill with dirt, essentially burying the bottom half of the leafy vine. Is that right? Then the buried part will become a potatoey part instead of a leafy part? The tires I've found are 8 or 9" across. Should I wait until the vine is longer, or should I put the tire around it now and just not fill the tire all the way, like so:  Also, what kind of dirt to fill the tire with? Potting soil or regular? Also, regarding the sideways nature of the vine. When I put it in the tire, should I try to bury it similarly sideways-ish, or stand it more upright?
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Jun 8, 2014 17:31
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 21:23 |
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Tater question: Is mulch (it's a nice natural cedar mulch) acceptable fill for burying/mounding a potato vine? It's a sweet potato if that affects the answer. Also. Spaphids are some starship troopers / starcraft poo poo.
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Jun 13, 2014 16:06
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AlistairCookie posted:Use straw. That way, anything that gets mixed in the soil when you're harvesting will help lightening it up a bit, and certainly won't do you any harm. Bonus, it's soft on your hands and easy to rake aside come harvest time. Pine trees are also full of all sorts of natural compounds that are unpleasant. And, any bits that get tilled into your soil (which is guaranteed to happen when you dig your taters) will suck the nitrogen right out of your soil via their decomposition process. Ty, now i have to figure out how to get enough straw without a car  Just straw, or straw+dirt?
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Jun 13, 2014 18:35
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Nice tates. Are you in the southern hemisphere? Or where are you that you're "finally" harvesting in June? I'm new to growing taters this year so i could be wrong but it seems early.
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Jun 20, 2014 15:04
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In super off grid permaculture type spots people will use a composting bucket toilet with sawdust, seal it off for a year or more when it's full (I forget the exact time recommendations), and use it as compost. I've never done it but it's a cool concept. Rabbit poop is ready as is. Chicken poop will melt a compost pile real fast and make some really good poo poo as long as it has some time to compost. Poop rules
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Jul 9, 2022 17:09
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That sounds wise but... you know there are probably cats making GBS threads in your garden all the time anyway, right?
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Jul 9, 2022 22:56
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My neighbor gave us a CSA box she couldn't use and it has a bunch of these delicious greens in it Anyone know what they are? They seem like shoots/baby greens of some kind but idk what. Baby chard? Beet shoots? Is that a thing? Whatever it is i wanna grow some
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Mar 18, 2024 19:34
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Lawnie posted:Fun fact: Swiss chard IS beet shoots, just a different cultivar 
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Mar 18, 2024 20:51
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 21:23 |
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My kid LOVES to graze in the veggie garden. I think the top hits that would also work on limited space indoors would be either continual sowings of baby greens, or mint (many kinds to pick from).
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Mar 21, 2024 22:34
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