Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991                   TAG: 9104110033
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Lelia Mayton
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

POTATOES GROW FINE IN OLD TIRES OR BARRELS

We searched through some Virginia Gardener news releases and came up with the following information.

To grow Irish potatoes in a bottomless barrel, garbage can or stack of old tires, a well-drained, sunny location must be selected. The potato-seed piece preparation and the planting date (very early spring) are the same as the traditional planting method. Use disease-free, certified seed pieces, just as you would in planting potatoes in the traditional garden method.

For each stack or bottomless barrel location, place two potato-seed pieces 4 or 5 inches apart on a bare ground that has been prepared with two tablespoons of 10-10-10 garden fertilizer lightly dug into the soil.

Then, place one tire or a fairly short bottomless barrel or garbage can over the seed pieces to make a circle with potatoes in the middle. Cover the seed pieces with approximately 3 inches of good garden soil placed inside the tire or bottomless barrel.

As soon as the potato sprouts appear above this soil, add several inches of mulching material such as leaves or straw. It is important to mulch immediately after the sprouts poke their tips through the surface. If the sprout is allowed to leaf out before it is covered with another layer of mulch, it will not produce potatoes along the stem, reducing the yield significantly. Leaves or straw are added until the above-ground potato container is full. Add additional tires to the stack as needed.

Care of the potato barrel is fairly simple. In addition to regular watering if the weather is dry, water the barrel or stack with a soluble vegetable garden fertilizer, according to the manufacturer's directions, about four weeks after the growth begins and again after about a month. After the potato blooms have died, you can start grabbing potatoes for use.

During the warm part of the growing season, unused potatoes should be left alone in the leaves or straw, where they will stay cool under the protective cover. Of course, as with traditional potato planting, the potatoes should be harvested before frost in the fall.

Lelia Mayton is the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service agent for home economics in Christiansburg. If you have questions call the Montgomery County extension office at 382-5790.