"Some Of The Cultivars Did Not Even Form A Tuber" - Potatoes Don't Do Well On Warmer Earth

[Farmer-Rick]

1. I learned that the hard way

A while back it was all the rage to plant potatoes in tires filled with good soil. As the plant grew, another tire with soil was added, and another until the end of the season. Since our top soil is very thin before you hit shale, and used tires are free, this sounded like a great way for us to grow potatoes without using our scarce garden area.

At the end of the season, we had big seven tire tall plants in 3 different areas. But as we took off each tire and the rich damp soil came spilling out, all we got were tiny little potatoes if we got any at all. In one tower the soil got a bit dry and the few potatoes looked as if they had been cooked.

The problem: big black tires in the southern heat of summer. Unlike in deep soil that stays cooler (especially with mulch) and gets cooler the deeper the plant goes. The tires absorbed the heat and made them nice tall heat sinks. Live and learn