This year’s potato tower trial was a qualified success (see Potatoes Grow to New Heights) I had a similar yield to past years for the amount of seed potato used: seven pounds of potatoes from about one pound of “seed.” The footprint for growing that amount of potatoes was much smaller, so I could grow a lot more in the same amount of space if I use this technique for all my potatoes. It appears that some of the plants did not produce any potatoes at all. They probably needed more watering than I gave them considering the dry year that we had.
Here’s what I did. On September first the potato plants were yellowing and dying. I could have left them a little longer, until all the tops had died back, but was anxious to see the results of the experiment.
Ready for harvest (photo: Michelle Zeiger)