# trying new potato experiment and more



## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

trying new potato experiment ...taters in a barrel....i planted whole taters covered in eyes and i planted them real close.i did put in a good dose of chicken manure.i know to much can cause scab...i think....but my theory is lots of plants are going to suck up alot of nutrients.i will have to keep them watered real well if all those sprout break ground. i planted at approx first ring on barrel and then covered to top of barrel with soil from my woods.i plan on covering with my rotted woodchips for holding moisture in and keeping weeds down.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

test #2....tomatoes for as long as possible.this idea is a blend of my own and zongs and several other things i have seen on here and other places.i dug a deep hole then dropped a chimney block over it. i then filled with my rich woods dirt with a boost of chicken manure.i hope this will allow a super root system to grow lots of maters. i chose indeterminate cherry type tomato as i seen a friend grow some to the gutter on his 2 story house one year. my goal is not to get tons of maters but to keep enough coming on for my daily salad and keeping it going till the snow flies. i have a overhand approx 10 to 11ft to string trellis it as they grow.just wanna see if i can use items i have/produce regularly on my homestead.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

test #3 bio-char jalapenos....char from smoker box,chicken manure and woods dirt. i have 2 of these one has only manure the other has manure and bio char. i wanna see if i can grow these out super fast.these holes are 12inches deep. i used stone on these i have now used all the blocks from a chimney i tore down cleaning up the homestead.the 2 longer pieces i pushed straight down in dirt to see if that might help the roots out to along with the bio char leeching into soil.

any how...such are the things a peasant does on his mtn homestead.









the other test subject....no bio char


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

My mom grows her herbs in cinder blocks. She started that to keep my dad and now the hired "guy" to quit mowing them. She is now wintering over things that never wintered over in the past (they made it thought this past winter!). Do update us on how it works for tomatoes. I might want to try it next year for peppers!

We are experimenting with potatoes in plastic trash cans. So far so good....


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i am looking for a clean metal 5 gallon bucket so i can make charcoal with it.but this item is a rare thing as everything is plastic these days. one thing i noticed early this spring i had cleaned out the smoker back in winter and just tossed out my little shovel full i use on some redclayish poor soil....in early spring the grass around the char was a bright green and grew before the other around away from char.just relating what i saw...hope it helps someone.

one thing i noticed is squirrels or ***** love to stir around in this stuff and i been finding pieces strewn about between yard and woods.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

what i get from smoker or woodstove or campfire is not the best bio char but its better than nothing.here mark baker of bakers green acres talks about it a bit.this has been used by native americans and in amazon for 1,000 of years....mark says burnt char is not as good as char made in a gasifier...but the natives didnt have a metal drum or metal anything so i have no doubt they done best they could with what they had....and thats what survival is all about...ok i rambling now...lol 


[YOUTUBE]P1kg5tEI1UQ[/YOUTUBE]


[YOUTUBE]JnTV90JHoCM[/YOUTUBE]


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]ts1koR7Cxos[/YOUTUBE]


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

This is so interesting! Thanks!


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

Trial and error, till you find out what works best for your situation.

Last year we tried potatoes ON the ground, covered with straw. Our neighbor has a bumper crop every year like that. Ours? No so good. Lots of small, and some rotted. We're back to IN the ground, but added lots of sand in that area.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

tom when i tried taters under straw...the mice,voles and rats had a field day chowing down on them...glad i had regular taters in ground too.

you just never know what kinda crazy things i might try....lol


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## BillHoo (Mar 16, 2005)

To your mixture....Throw in some crushed eggshells and water every couple weeks with a mix of 1 part urine and 10 parts water and you will have all the nutrients your plants will need!

The urine is like a nitrogen bomb and promotes fast leaf growth. Ease up on it when you want the plant to go into fruit production mode.

Commercial corn producers use artificial nitrogen fertilizers derived from ammonia at 10x normal dose to get corn to grow super fast. This, at the the expense of pollutiing the rivers with runoff and promoting algae and bacterial blooms that kill off aquatic wildlife.



elkhound said:


> test #3 bio-char jalapenos....char from smoker box,chicken manure and woods dirt. i have 2 of these one has only manure the other has manure and bio char. i wanna see if i can grow these out super fast.these holes are 12inches deep. i used stone on these i have now used all the blocks from a chimney i tore down cleaning up the homestead.the 2 longer pieces i pushed straight down in dirt to see if that might help the roots out to along with the bio char leeching into soil.
> 
> any how...such are the things a peasant does on his mtn homestead.
> 
> ...


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Wife planted a few feet of potatoes in the hoop house mid February. Vines were falling over like they were done, so we dug about 6 feet of the row today. Got a 5 gallon bucket of new spuds.

Vines on the either end weren't looking as droopy, so we left them.




















Outside, we have 4 rows 125' long going. Below that are two of our experiments.....black oil sunflower ( the low, light green stuff ), and hulless oats (dark green)


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

pop corn cans the nearly 5 gallon cans that popcorn comes in around Christmas , are good for making charcoal and often easier to find than metal 5 gallon pails.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

You guys are making me anxious to get spuds in the ground. Hubby says must finish fixing up retirement house first. Must garden. Must garden.


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## Peasant (May 18, 2013)

I tried growing potatoes in 20-gal tree containers a few years ago. Pretty good results. I used compost from the municipal composting facility as potting soil; can't remember but I might have added some seedmeal and lime.

Yield from 2 seed potatoes (Nicola) in 20-gal container:









Yield from 3 seed potatoes (Piper Maris) in 20-gal container:


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## kbshorts (Dec 6, 2005)

Potatoes are impossible for me thanks to the moles and voles. This year I am trying them in tires with screen underneath, filled with compost and chicken litter. I have added a tire and filled it as they grow. So far so good and got some sweet potatoes started over the weekend. Keep us updated, I'm very interested.

KB


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

I tried the on top of the ground with straw method to grow potatoes and something got most everyone of them and growing them underground was a so-so success due to moles. I have been growing them in 5 gallon plastic buckets for about 3 years or so with great success.


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## wes917 (Sep 26, 2011)

I did the bucket potatoes, first year it was super wet and they rotted. Second try had decent results but not as good as in the ground.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

just thought i would show whats happening.


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## Pam6 (Apr 9, 2009)

Those look like they are doing really good!


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

look what 4 days has done....grow baby grow...theres cracks in ground where more are busting through too.


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## farmgal (Nov 12, 2005)

I think I will add some straw on top of mine to keep soil moisture up. I have those tiny heirloom purple potatoes going. Purple on the inside too.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

I am growing potatoes in a barrel also. My soil mixture is 3 parts mushroom compost to 2 parts peat moss. 
I started with 6" of the soil mixture and added the seed potatoes. When the plants got 6" tall I added more soil up to the lower leaves and have continued that all the way up the barrel. The plants are approx. 15" taller than the barrel right now which would make them 45" OAH from the time they started growing.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

here is a few pictures of my potatoes in a barrel. Hopefully they will be in order from the first to last picture


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## Freya (Dec 3, 2005)

Subbing to see how this turns out! :gaptooth:


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

susieneddy said:


> here is a few pictures of my potatoes in a barrel. Hopefully they will be in order from the first to last picture


Wow. Those are pretty. The heat has already killed mine off. Were going to dig around and get what we find. What ever we miss will come up this fall.


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## BadFordRanger (Apr 26, 2014)

I had a friend a few years back that grew potatoes in 25 separate 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out that he turned upside down and he used his rabbit manure 50/50 with the garden dirt. 
He had more potatoes that year than you could shake a stick at! And for the most part they were all very large baking size potatoes! 
But I haven't tried growing potatoes yet because we can still buy50# for $11.99, and I don't see the worth of trying to grow them yourself at that price. 
What I want to do is build a dehydrator and slice the potatoes up in thin slices and dry them for long term storage! 
Maybe I can next year! Too much to do this year before the winter gets here again and hands us nearly $600 heating bills! 

Ranger


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

BadFordRanger said:


> I had a friend a few years back that grew potatoes in 25 separate 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out that he turned upside down and he used his rabbit manure 50/50 with the garden dirt.
> He had more potatoes that year than you could shake a stick at! And for the most part they were all very large baking size potatoes!
> But I haven't tried growing potatoes yet because we can still buy50# for $11.99, and I don't see the worth of trying to grow them yourself at that price.
> What I want to do is build a dehydrator and slice the potatoes up in thin slices and dry them for long term storage!
> ...


For me the worth is the learning curve. We have to plant very early or late, late summer. We've had to re learn how to grow things since moving here. Similar temps and soil but the elevation and large day/night temperature swings take some getting used to. Not to mention the windy/blowing sand season.


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## BadFordRanger (Apr 26, 2014)

Please excuse me because my fingers didn't type what my brain told them to, or my brain went on break one! 
Please change yourself to myself because I was only speaking for myself! 
Some may have to pay more for the potatoes than I do and some, as a lot of times can't, might not be able to buy them in the 50# bags. 
I guess what I was thinking was that I'd rather pay the 12 bucks a bag and spend the time dehydrating them for storage than I had growing them! 
I came up with that idea when I made some au' gratin potatoes one night and started eating the dehydrated potato slices from the package and thought "hey, now this is something we can make and store for years to come!" 
But I certainly didn't mean to step on any toes here so please forgive me.

Ranger


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

BadFordRanger said:


> Please excuse me because my fingers didn't type what my brain told them to, or my brain went on break one!
> Please change yourself to myself because I was only speaking for myself!
> Some may have to pay more for the potatoes than I do and some, as a lot of times can't, might not be able to buy them in the 50# bags.
> I guess what I was thinking was that I'd rather pay the 12 bucks a bag and spend the time dehydrating them for storage than I had growing them!
> ...


I've had 2 goats, a horse and a kid(2legged kind) step on my toes today but not you. I was just saying that some of us NEED to grow thing to get it right. I've only dehydrated hash browns but someone, I think elkhound??, posted pictures of some really nice looking dehydrated potato slices. Need to learn how to do that.


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## puddlejumper007 (Jan 12, 2008)

ok one question about the potatos in a barrel, are there drain holes in bottom or sides? i am going to try this, nice post everyone...


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## wildcat6 (Apr 5, 2011)

Have any of you all ever tried using chicken wire for potatoes? I saw a video of someone using it. He just fashioned the wire together so that it was in the shape of a barrell. He just used crushed leaves, compost and a little dirt to fill part of the way and planted the plants. As the plants would grow he would add more fill until he reached the top. Once ready for harvest he just cut the zip ties holding the wire together and gathered all the potatoes. Seemed like a very cheap and easy way to grow. I have always wanted to try it but have yet to do so.


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

puddlejumper007 said:


> ok one question about the potatos in a barrel, are there drain holes in bottom or sides? i am going to try this, nice post everyone...


I have drain holes (1/4") in the bottom and the side. I water mine when needed but I have never seen them drain even when we get some heavy rains. 

A friend of mine did this a few yrs ago and he didn't get any potatoes at all. He tried it again and got a lot of potatoes. He said he didn't do anything different from one yr to the next :shrug:


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

puddlejumper007 said:


> ok one question about the potatos in a barrel, are there drain holes in bottom or sides? i am going to try this, nice post everyone...



just an open end..this was top section i cut off to make a barrel grill from the bottom section.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

a tater update



blooms started this week



stepped back view


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Wow. My taters blow.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

well finally dug taters...wasnt much...a gallon to gallon half maybe. i had no real labor in this as far as weeding and such so i guess it was ok....i still think taters do best down in ground in rows...or thats my opinion currently....lol...i think i can grow something better to save a bit more money on grocery bill.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

the tomatoes and peppers didnt do much either.i think it was to shady but i wont give up i will try again either with different varieties or something totally different.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Elkhound, I once planted a Porter tomato in a greenhouse by support post, it grew up the post and started across the ceiling supports before we took it down. That variety is a cherry type and always is the best one for me. Even in bad years, it still produces.
ED


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## susieneddy (Sep 2, 2011)

elkhound said:


> well finally dug taters...wasnt much...a gallon to gallon half maybe. i had no real labor in this as far as weeding and such so i guess it was ok....i still think taters do best down in ground in rows...or thats my opinion currently....lol...i think i can grow something better to save a bit more money on grocery bill.


your potatoes did a lot better than ours.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres this years row cropped kennebec's.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Why not make your charcoal the way they use to? 

If you don't want to move a lot of dirt, dig a hole, line it with brick, pack the hole with wood and start your fire, once its good and hot cover it to do its thing.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0HW4qk8dv4[/ame]


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

well one reason is amount of wind and steep terrain here and i join 30,000 acres of roadless area and i am super cautious about fire.

second is sometimes i just do small batches as i clean up.keeping brushpiles around has proven over the years to be a no no because of all the rattlers and copperheads.

but i have thought if i ever do a large batch i will just doze out a pit with loader bucket...cut and fill and cover and light...but i also wonder about doing a pit and just leaving it sorta like a hugleculture just not mounded up....any thoughts?


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

as a person that has never used coal, why would I want to make some if I have all kinds of wood ava.?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

various reason for charcoal....some folks dont buy todays briquettes pressed charcoal for grilling....this was tradition way it was made.it gets hotter...some places in u.k. you cant burn wood you have to use charcoal so people with those woodcook stoves use it.


my interest in it is adding it to soil to boost fertility....theres one guy up your way swan who makes and sells this in 5 gallon buckets.he runs it through a grinder.


lastly knowing how to make a small batch is a must if you ever wanna make your own blackpowder.takes a specific species of tree...or its best for it...but i will let folks research that on there own....lol


all i wanna do is find a way to use some of this fiber my homestead produces as i cant possibly use it in my stove...its a EPA model and its so efficient i hardly use any wood.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://bakersgreenacres.com/bbc/


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnTV90JHoCM[/ame]


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7REMpeJlf64[/ame]


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

7thswan said:


> as a person that has never used coal, why would I want to make some if I have all kinds of wood ava.?


When cooking with wood you reduce it to coals first.

But by burning the Fire that way you Burn a lot of fuel by the nature of the burn, a open fire is destructive.

But reduce it to Charcoal, it lights easy,burns clean. 

The process is not as destructive leaving more usable fuel.


Elk as far as digging the pit I think you would have very little to worry about fire. Its going to be covered. 

And even less should they be small batches.

Now as far as gun powder, most peoples down fall will be the sulpher needed. 

There are however other options... Hint look in the kitchen...


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## kycountry (Jan 26, 2012)

||Downhome|| said:


> When cooking with wood you reduce it to coals first.
> 
> But by burning the Fire that way you Burn a lot of fuel by the nature of the burn, a open fire is destructive.
> 
> ...


There is another reason a sulfur well is useful other than making sulfur antibiotics... You do get traces of other minerals though when cooking it down..


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

Hey Elk, be careful of over watering as that can cause the taters to rot..or to get disease. (been there done that!) too much water can cause almost as many problems as too little.

I have grown taters in bins like that and done well, but the best I ever did was to make a circle of hogwire, fill with layers of manure, dirt, straw, dirt, manure, dirt, and plant taters. Man did I make a lot of taters!!! It was amazing how many pounds I got off each one of the hogwire circles. Best thing, very few weeds came up and those that did were very easy to remove.

Good luck and I'll be following your success!


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

elkhound said:


> well one reason is amount of wind and steep terrain here and i join 30,000 acres of roadless area and i am super cautious about fire.
> 
> second is sometimes i just do small batches as i clean up.keeping brushpiles around has proven over the years to be a no no because of all the rattlers and copperheads.
> 
> but i have thought if i ever do a large batch i will just doze out a pit with loader bucket...cut and fill and cover and light...but i also wonder about doing a pit and just leaving it sorta like a hugleculture just not mounded up....any thoughts?



Elk, you are right to be cautious about fire..especially joining that much area.


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