Topic: growing potatoes in car tyres

[blight]

does anyone remember who "invented" this method? was it bob flowerdew?
whoever it was, he claimed, that the plants develop more and more potatoes, the more tyres you pile on top of each other. i  tried it and it certainly did not work like this. i did get a massive crop, but the potatoes only grew below the seed potato. all the earth that i put on, as the plant grew, remained barren of spuds.
has anyone tried this method?

[Jimbo]

Just set some off - I'll let you know!

Jimbo the Splott Plotter

[blight]

what do you mean? you planted some spuds now? like in NOW?
i´ve never been to cardiff, but never thought it was in the tropics.
lucky you.

[AikenDrum]

My apologies in advance  ..  I burst out laffin' when I read the title of this post  ... never use any petrochemical derived  .... ermmmm  ... thingies  ... on your plot ... they are lethal eventualy  ...  a bit like life I suppose  ... falls off the keyboard with a loud *hic*  ....     {:¬)#

[terrace max]

Ah yes. Spuds in tyres. The problem you're having may be something to do with the variety of potato. Old fashioned varieties grow deep, modern ones shallow apparently (for easier large-scale harvesting perhaps).

So pick an old maincrop variety is the key. Maybe.

[AikenDrum]

t m, thank you for bringing me back down to earth with a bump  .. I don't often rub shoulders with sanity these days .. ermmm  ... *rephrases that*  < .... I don't often rub shoulders with sanity these days  ....     ;D

[AikenDrum]

< ... Sleep, oh gentle sleep, why hast thou forsaken me  ....

[AikenDrum]

btw wardy, I've just got this years Ramblers accomodation diary/reference book, why are you not in it ?    :-[

[AikenDrum]

Laffs out loud  .......

[Jimbo]

Blight,

It's just an 'experiment' I'm trying.  I put a couple of radials together, filled 'em full of sod / soil, lobbed a couple of spuds in, insulated it with shredded newspaper, and covered with polythene. 

If they grows, they grows!

BTW - does anyone know which is the best type of tyre for growing spuds - radial or crossply?

:)

Jimbo the Splott Plotter

[Derekthefox]

As mentioned earlier, the use of tyres for growing spuds has been found to leach chemicals from the rubber into the soil inside the tyres. There was a post about this some time ago, but I cannot find it ...

Sorry to convey this news

Derekthefox :D

[jennym]

I got some lovely baby new potatoes out of the compost heap when I turned it the other day - never can get rid of all the volunteers!

[Derekthefox]

Excellent Jen, they are a welcome delight at this time of year. No new spuds for me alas, even my internation kidney, planted in buckets for Christmas new pots have failed to show :(

Derekthefox :D

[terrace max]

I heard that you could plant some now indoors in big buckets for a (small) March crop. I thought this sounded very tempting because my stored ones have always gone a bit wappy by then... 

[carloso]

i seem to remeber it been said that the tyres do leech but if you line them then it alright !

but i guess youll have to be pretty careful !
Carl

[Derekthefox]

Lining the tyres may protect the bed that you are making, but it will not stop leaching into the surrounding area. This subject appears to be poorly researched, there is conflicting information on Google. However, I did see use of a word Cadmium, this is a metal with very toxic compounds. Its use as a protective plating has been discontinued due to health risks to workers. Therefore I would be rather unhappy to have cadmium visit my plot in any form ...

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf284146.tip.html

Derekthefox :D

[philcooper]

....Old fashioned varieties grow deep, modern ones shallow apparently...

I'm not sure what happened to to cause potatoes to grow below the seed tuber.

Potato tubers are just thick bits of root.

Potatoes grow up from the seed sending just a few fine roots downwards. As the shoots head for the surface they send out side roots, it's on these that the tubers form.

The theory behind the big yeilds from tyre piles, or any other tall container, is that you wait until the leaves break the surface by 3 - 4" then top up with soil/compost until the leaves are just on the surface. The bit of stem which is now below the surface send out more roots on which form more tubers

Phil

[blight]

The bit of stem which is now below the surface send out more roots on which form more tubers

but like a lot of other theories it turned out to be just that when i tried it.

[terrace max]

I'm a bit (more) baffled now. Is the choice of variety of any consequence?

I only mentioned it because I heard Bob Flowerdew discussing a similar failure in tyre-grown potatoes and he mentioned the differences between varieties as a possible cause. I was recommended 'Navan' for the tyre method by someone here (who shall remain nameless). Unfortunately Wardy may have got it wrong on this occasion because I subsequently discovered this was a modern variety ideal for shallow containers...

Having spent all morning unintentionally inhaling the fumes of anti-freeze rising from people's cars, I'm not too fussed about the contamination issue. So which spud for my tyres folks?

[blight]

well, i was delighted with the results too- i did get a massive crop. but all the potatoes grew well underneath the old seed potato.
that was two years ago. this year, i made my construction only 40 cm high or so, put the sees potatoes on top and covered them with 10 cvm of soil. the crop was as good as the year before but a lot less work.