Have you ever tried growing potatoes in tires?

So, I've been reading this book called 1,001 Ingenious Gardening Ideas and found this idea about growing potatoes in tires. Has anyone ever done this? If so, what was/is your experience? So far, I've found this book to be incredibly informative for the gardener that works with limited space and/or lower budgets!

The book states:

Place a tire on the ground, fill it with good, loose potting soil, and plant a few seed potatoes. When they begin to sprout, place another tire on top of the first one and fill it with soil. Each time you see potato sprouts pushing through, add another tire to the stack and fill it with soil. Continue until you run out of tires or the stack gets too high to be stable. When it's time to harvest, unstack the tires. Your yield depends on how tall your tire stack is, but the estimate is that you should get 5-6 times more potatoes than you would if you planted them in the ground.

My Dad tried that method several years ago. He said the yield wasn't good, and inside of the tires were filled with slugs.

Hopefully other posters will have more promising reports. :)

People have definitely tried this and failed, I know that. I read threads about it last year. I tried something similar last year, using closely-woven plastic netting instead of tires, which I don't have lying around. I got potatoes, but nothing like what I would have gotten if I had planted them in the traditional manner. And it was a lot of work to pile all that stuff up and then dig through it all to find the potatoes at the bottom of the pile, which is where they all were. This year I am planting them the traditional way. No straw, no tires, no leaves, just scrape a little trench, put the potato in, and hill up repeatedly. If it was good enough to feed the Irish before the potato blight struck them, it's good enough for me.

I have a theory that the potato tire thing works in the UK because their summers are cool. Doesn't work here because ours are hot. Just an idea. I have no scientific proof.

My easiest crop of potatoes was to plant and then cover the ground with 2 or 3 wet newspaper between the rows, then top the paper with dried grass clippings about 3 to 4 inches thick. As they emerge you occasionally have a few to rescue from under the paper edges but ___you never weed, never water, (in Iowa we get a good soaker every week) just watch them grow and dig when you want. It's the only way I do taters anymore. (I'm not a fan of weeding)

I would be very concerned about toxic chemicals leaching from the tires... I think there are better ways

I think Dovey is right,leaching creepy toxins,and heat,plant flowers in your old tires !!!! better yet take them to the recycle center

This message was edited Apr 21, 2009 9:15 AM

thank you dovey--I cringe at a lot of what I see people growing things in. Esp. in the deep south. Plastic + heat = release of toxic chemicals.

rubber and plastics are petroleum products--one of the main components is benzene. probably the most carcinogenic substance on the planet.