Comments on: Growing Potatoes In Straw

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:12:58 +0000

Proper moisture is really key to a good crop of potatoes. Straw should help keep the moisture at an adequate level.

By: kelly

kelly — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:26:46 +0000

thisis what my potaoes looked like, yet still very few potaoes when the vines died and I dug them out.
any comments?
[img]http://www.albertahomegardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Picture 001.jpg[/img]

By: kelly

kelly — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:21:03 +0000

i had my most impressive looking potatoes in 2010, big plants very large vines, they bloomed till real late in the yr. (first time I didn’t kill the blooms with bug spray for beatles) and of course here in kentucky it was an unusually dry yr again. yet when I went to dig the potatoes, there was hardly anything under them, some vines had only one potatoe. I am going to try and plant some in straw this yr for first time. hope I do better. I usually plant the red potatoes as my wife and I love the taste more Great for frying with a little green pepper and onions. Red potaotes to me have a very unique taste.

By: claire

claire — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:58:22 +0000

We tried potatoes for the 2nd time this year in a tiny urban back yard. I’m trying sub-irrigation pot growing this year, so in order to mulch the potatoes, I had to construct a tower around the pot of chicken wire to hold in the straw. But I’m guessing from the comments here, that you need dark moist compact straw/dirt to get potatoes to form? My tower goes up almost 4 feet high (was hoping it was like the tire model but without the petroleum leaking into our food). Anyone know for sure what conditions the above ground potato stems need to make potatoes as you stack mulch higher ?

thanks!

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:56:41 +0000

Amy: Great ideas! Should work quite nice – have you peeked and stolen any baby potatoes yet?

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:11:51 +0000

So I’m a first time potato grower and am trying the straw method. Well sorta. I have raised beds so it makes it kindda hard to hill them with dirt and we have an abundance of straw bales, so I decided to hill them with that. I started them out in trench about 6 inches deep and covered with soil, but when they came up and got 8-12 inches tall I packed straw around them, and then a second time as they got even taller. Now I have about an 18 inch thick layer of straw for potatoes to grow in, and the plants themselves are looking pretty impressive so far. Since our summers are pretty hot, I put a layer of dirt on the top of the straw so it will stay cooler, darker, and moister underneath where the potatoes are growing. What do you think of this idea? I thought it was pretty genius myself, but then I never have grown potatoes before and so I’m seeking the opinion(s) of all you experienced potato growers Oh, and I am watering them with a soaker hose wound between the rows right on top of the dirt with the straw covering it. I do overhead water every once awhile to keep the straw moist.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 29 May 2011 02:10:05 +0000

Hay and straw of course, becomes terribly compacted under the onslaught of rain and heat, especially after several bouts.
I wonder what the effects of the compaction of the growing medium (hay, leaves, wood chips, straw, etc. has on the spuds or their parent; the actual plant of course.

By: Theryn

Theryn — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:27:17 +0000

We tried this last year and it worked great. We want to do it again this year, but so far I haven’t been able to find anyone selling bales of straw near Edmonton. Can anyone offer a source? I have a pickup truck to come get them.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:15:03 +0000

Remco: I really couldn’t say. I would have doubts about spontaneous combustion, but you never know until you try!

By: Remco

Remco — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:10:18 +0000

Can you use this straw method and build up inside tires? I just worry that with the tires heating up in summer, the straw may combust? Any chance of something crazy like that happening?