submitted 4 months ago by ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world to c/gardening@lemmy.world

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Just admiring the sprinklers in the morning light

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[-] Truffle@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 months ago

Great setup! Can you please tell me more about those pots/boxes where the potatoes are growing in? How are they built?

[-] Aermis@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Second this. I'm using the trash bag method for the first time and the bags just don't hold up after 3 or so feet. Hard to water.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

They’ll answer, but I believe it just some Tposts with some wire mesh as the structure. At the bottom is some landscape fabric as a pot/bag and they use straw as the filling medium.

[-] Truffle@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

I am sorry if this going to sound stupid, please bare with me: So the soil is in the bottom black part and the actual potatoes are growing in the straw? Or are the potatoes growing in the soil and going through the straw? TIA from a person without any potato growing experience.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

I don’t know if it’s soil or straw in the bottom as well, but it sounds like mounding the potatoes with straw instead of dirt works pretty well. Some potatoes you need to add dirt (or straw in this case) every couple weeks). I haven’t done potatoes myself, just what I’ve seen growmies doing.

[-] Truffle@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

Thanks

[-] Truffle@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago

I used the collapsed cardboard box method and I am not sure about how the whole thing is working out.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 points 4 months ago

I'm starting a test of using the grow bags with a good amount of perlite in it.

[-] ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yup! As was said, they're just cattle fence made into round cages. The bottoms I lined with some landscaping fabric for a growing medium (75/25 compost/soil) and planted the potatoes about half way down. From there I just mound up in straw.

Edit: I forgot a few details. They're held up on either side by t-posts. Nothing fancy, just driven in and wired to each post three times (top, center, bottom) for stability and support. I put sprinklers on the top because that's what I had, though I do want to do something different in the future. I don't like top watering, but I haven't quite figured out how I wanna do it otherwise. I'm thinking a strand or two of drip that gets mounded up with the potato as it grows, but that's experimenting for another time

There's some folks that will actually do a core of medium up the center for new potato roots to take hold in. I'm trying something that's a little more fertilizer-intense, but easier to scale up. Little blood meal every couple weeks while they're growing up then some 10-10-10 twice (once at the beginning and once again here in a bit).

If I can make this work in my home garden, I'm hoping to tweak it a bit for larger scale. We'll see