Vertical Potatoes.. testing 1..2..3

While browsing Pinterest one day I came across someones photo of a vertical potato project they were trying out... It looked interesting so I investigated how to do it then suggested it to my estate mate. We had another bag of potato seed left that wouldn't fit into our other potato bed so we figured this would be a interesting method to try out "The Leaning Tower of Potato".. here is the LINK*

Here is our step by step process of the attempted vertical potato bed...

1. Take a length of fencing, roll it up and put a bit of gopher fencing/chicken wire underneath. Use pieces of wire to "sew" up the vertical fencing, leaving half of it un -sewed so you can reach inside to do the fallowing steps..

 2. Mix up a rich sandy soil with manure, sand, compost etc.. to insure good drainage.

3. Use re-bar or a stake to secure the cage

4. Line the bottom of the cage with hay and start building up the sides to hold in the soil as you go.

5. Get your potato seed ready. What we did was take our whole potatoes (from the garden store) and cut them into small pieces with at least 2 "eyes"/sprouts on each piece. I rolled them in fire place ash to "callous" the edges. You can also do the same process minus the ash and leave them in a paper bag for a few days to dry out the edges.. This prevents rot.

6. Put in your first layer of soil mixture, about 3 feet deep at least, Put a layer of potato seed down and cover with soil.

7. Build up more hay along the sides. You want this to be fairly thick so it holds in the dirt and water over time...

 ... add more layers, more potatoes and more hay.. We did 3 layers then one layer on the top.

 .. The potatoes will grow out of the top and sides.. and this is where the experiment comes in... usually potatoes are grown in rows and as they sprout and grow you add layers of dirt onto the plants creating a mound. With this method we will be able to continuously add dirt to the top plants but not the ones that sprout out the sides... so we will see how they do...

7. Once you add your last layer of dirt and water the potatoes in you want to sew up a little more of the seam of the cage just to make sure everything stays in place.

 

So there you have it... a vertical potato bed... This is our first attempt at this so we are unsure of the final product..  I'm excited to see what happens.. If you have any suggestions or tips to share please do! I will give a update once they start to grow..