I wouldn't suggest using tires if you are at all concerned with chemicals getting inside of your plants....which you will then consume.

There are many ways to grow potatoes easily...I can tell you what I do....I dig a 6 inch trench, place the potatoes in (spacing may vary), cover with 1 inch dirt. I wait for the plant to pop it's little head up and then continue to cover until the trench is full to ground level.

You could also plant them in a food-safe plastic container with holes drilled in the bottom. Like I said there are lots of ways you could do this.

Check my experience with potatoes so far by clicking on the link below. My potato plants are now about 12 inches tall :)

Here is a link that might be useful: My potatoes....so far!

I'm going to try planting my potatoes in cardboard boxes this year. Take the paper ream boxes from work, line with pine needles, put in layers of compost/peat moss mixture, lay in potatoes, cover, and repeat as they grow. Do you think this will work? My main concern is that they'll overheat or get too dry.

I also wouldn't eat potatoes that were grown in tires. I would be very worried about lead from the brake pads as well as many other chemicals from the car, road and the tires themselves. As far as growing potatoes in cardboard boxes I would think that they would break down and split open over the summer. My flower boxes and hanging baskets do need a lot of watering compared to garden grown plants. Hilling potatoes really isn't that bad. I have read that some people grow potatoes by covering them with a lot of straw. Continue to keep adding more straw over the potatoes as the summer progresses. Any potatoes exposed to the sun will turn green and be inedible because of the chemical that forms when the potatoes are green.

jmdj1994, you might want to search gardenweb for "potato bins". I know there has been a lot of discussion on this and one of the gentlemen in here has designed a really nice, easy to build bin to grow your potatoes in. I plan on building a couple myself. I have already bought the 2x2 36" wooden pieces for the four corners and am going to one of the sawmills around here to get 6" wide slabs for the sides. You can also grow them in the large storage totes and clean rubber type trash containers. Just search around and check out Container Gardening, too. Its great growing potatoes right in the ground and I have done it, but the bins will be easier for me now and would help people with a space problem.

g'day marie,

mmm no tyres for me either, check pic's of our instant potato patch we get good results with this method almost no work involved and no chance of chemical leeching.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

In case you're interested in the alternative I found for tires, check out the link below. It works very well if you follow simple rules of thumb. I've outlined it all in my blog page. Of course there are plenty of other ways to grow potatoes, this is just my favorite for limited space.

Good luck and enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's Build-As-You-Grow Potato Bin page

Last year I used large lawn and leaf bags with slots cut in the bottom for drainage. I rolled the bag edges down, layed compost and hay on the bottom then the potatoes, 6 per bag then more compost and hay and watered often. I unrolled the bag edge and added compost and hay as the potatoes grew. At the end of the season I dug around with my hands and grabbed the potatoes out of the bag. I had a nice batch of potatoes from each bag about 3 lbs. Best part was no wire worms, no potato beetles and no munched leaves. I wasn't as diligent as I could have been about watering so I think that may have limited my yield but the potatoes were beautiful.

sinfonian, your build as you grow potato bin was what I was referring to in my response. I liked it so much that I plan to have at least two and maybe a couple more this year. Thank you for posting it.