I have 10 seed potatoes, organic Yukon Gold, planted in 6 square feet. The planting directions stated to space them 18 inches apart. But, I figured, if they don't all sprout, that will work just fine.
I'm also using a method to build up the ground around the plants to generate more potatoes. This is from an article in Sunset Magazine on creating a potato tower. Check out the Sunset site for Potato Towers. I'll post pictures later as I keep you in the potato loop.
So, I made the second level last week. I took straw and covered the lower level of plant leaves. The straw holds the leaves down while you then cover them with compost. I must say, it is working really well. I added some potting soil over the compost to give the leaves more nutrients to put down roots and grow the tubers. Although the Sunset instructions is to build the tower frame first, I find that this would make it difficult to work with since they are in raised beds, 2 feet tall. So, I built a little fence with chicken wire. It is folded over right now to give me the room to work. I'll fold the wire up as I build the ground up higher. The plants grew about 2 inches in 2 days with the sun we had (before it started to storm again) so I'm ready to cover with level 3.
And those original 10 potato seed... they all sprouted and so now I have a large amount of plants in a small space! I'll just need to keep them fertilized to make up for the fact that there are so many plants taking nutrients from these 6 square feet.
I wonder if I can get 100 pounds of potatoes from 6 square feet???? Let's see.....
Off to the dirt!
