1. Good question. I don't know much about growing sweet potatoes, but if they grow like potatoes, then yes you could grow them in bins.

2. You are correct. You add boards and dirt depending on the size of the plant. Specifically when the plant gets 4 inches high, cover the bottom 2 with compost, leaves, straw, whatever. When you need to add a board to keep the dirt in, you add 4 boards. Repeat until the top.

3. I hadn't thought about the 2x2s not wanting to work the next year, but I knew these wouldn't last forever. I sure am going to try re-using the wood for a few years. When it becomes too much of a pain, I'll replace the painful culprit.

4. Check out my blog page for build information and several of the pictures/blogs of folks that have the benefit of better climates to help growth along. Then if you want, build one or two and try it out. If it doesn't work use the hilling method which is similar but in a bed or row.

Good luck and have fun with it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Bin page

The only question that I have is concerning removal of the "soil" after the growing season.Looks like you would need a large container of some sort to store the mix in,because the following year-the same process would be duplicated.

You're actually not supposed to re-use soil for planting potatoes again the next year. I myself will augment a bed where I'm going to plant garlic in the fall. I expect my potatoes to be done about that time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

Ok, that's good to know....I guess a good approach might be to blend it in with maybe a compost pile,or something like that.

I'm going to give it a shot with sweet potatoes next year so I'd be curious to see how they turn out. My gut says that they'll be fine in a sinfonian's build your own bin style.

Randomly, sweet potatoes are not related to potatoes or yams, they're technically a morning glory "ipomoea batatas". So take that sinfonian, I knew you were a morning glory lover, heh...

from wikipedia: The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), commonly called a yam in parts of the United States (although they are not actually yams), is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum). It is even more distantly related to the true yam (Dioscorea species), which is native to Africa and Asia.

I've never actually tasted a sweet potato, so I can't say I love them... but it's only May and morning glories are trying to take over my rose garden and some flower beds. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

Arjo Reich, just FYI, sweet potatoes grow a little differently than regular potatoes. Regular potatoes form between the seed potato and the top of the plant, but sweet potatoes form below ground under the slip that you plant. Theoretically you could start with a tall bin to give the roots more room to form.

I planted four squares of sweet potatoes and I started with an extension on that 1x4 foot section to give the roots more room.

Sinfonian, great blog!

I have heard the same thing about not reusing potato soil the next year. I built a fabulous bin last year that worked so well. Without totally emptying it, how much do you think that I can leave in and mix with new soil/compost/mel mix. Or do I need to replace all of it?

Mcav0y, first off, that's a beautiful bin and great looking potato plants. Well done!

So, if I understand it right, you want to know how much you can leave in and mix with fresh "dirt" for this year? Good question. You took it apart or at least down to the base at the end of the season. Whatever's left in the bottom can certainly be used again. Realistically if you use disease free seed you should be ok for a year or two. Of course if you attracted pests you want to remove it all as they could leave eggs to infest again.

Good luck and glad you liked them!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's Garden adventure

I think you should be able to take apart the bin several times before having problems with the screws. If the screws won't hold, I'd bump up the size of the screws so they'll have new wood to grab into.

I've already disassembled mine (at least the front boards) 3 times (built it, took it apart, grew potatoes, took it apart, used it to store compost, took it apart).

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

The only thing I'm replacing this season are the 2x2s. They're cheap pine wood so they didn't hold up to being surrounded by all that moist dirt all season. They may have worked another year, but again, they're cheap.

sinfonian,
That makes sense. Now that I think about it a minute, it's probably cheaper to replace the 2x2's than the screws...

I think I was tired last night when I was reading the posts above and read it as replacing the bin because of the screws...

Any news on this years potato bins? How is everybody doing?

I have one that I made from leftovers from making SWCs. I'm going to pile my first pile of potting soil in the next couple of days as its been warm around here and they are shooting skyward. I have another that is a 25-gal nursery pot and that is a week-ish or so behind.

Dan

I'm using garbage bags. I filled w/ my mix and rolled down the sides, I but big slits in the bottom of the bags and they are sitting on cardboard. I've been adding straw and am ready to pull the sides up and fill w/ some more straw. I think I started them mid March, didn't see any thing for about a month and now they are 2 ft tall. I don't know how well this will work, I don't even know what kind of potatoes I have (store bought that sprouted last year). If it doesn't work this year, I'll get some late season french fingerling next year.

I am in Idaho, so I hope my potato barrel turns out well. I am actually in the middle of potato country, so I would be laughed out of town if my potato barrel bombs:)

I am using a recycled 55 gallon drum, made of hard plastic. With holes cut by my DH, we will be starting this weekend with the seed potatoes in the bottom with soil. Holes will be cut in the side as well for the leaves to get air and light.

The rest is the same principle; grow and cover, grow and cover. Good Luck to all. I hope to see lots of spuds by end of our short growing season!!

g

I'm using old tires, and stacking them up as the plants grow. Luckily, a friend of ours runs a tire business, and has loads to give away. But he told me that all tire stores would be happy to give away their used tires, as they have to pay to remove them. So... you could check into that.

You start with one tire, then it grows to 4 tires high by the end of the season.

I know 2"x2" boards are real cheap, but in the spirit of gardening and recycling (seems gardeners are kings/queens of reusing and recycling stuff).

Regarding replacing the 2"x2" boards because of the screw holes:

You can patch up the screw holes with a wood peg (golf tee, twig, etc.) and a little glue (wood or school). The screws will catch just fine for many, many, many years.

I just wanted to add that you CAN reuse the soil, just not for potatoes again. The soil is good for other plants, but the soil might carry diseases for the potatoes. With other plants, the soil should be fine. Just wanted to specify that in case someone read it wrong.

I would think that if you reused the board, you could just screw them together in another place on the board. Like maybe an inch lower. wouldnt that work or are you saying they will warp within a year?

Hi, I wanted to revive this thread for a minute. Last year, I grew sweet potatoes in my garden, just for fun. I noticed when I dug them up, that I had potatoes everywhere the plant sent down a root. It was hilarious! My soil was loose in most places, where it was packed down, no taters. I built a bin this year, two actually, one for regular taters and one for sweet taters. I will post later how they turned out.

I did the potato bin thing last year - but will not this year or any more.

It very well is the variety of potato that I planted (Kennebec), but I started the bed at one foot deep and built until it got to around 2.5 feet. Only one of the five potato plants survived. The one that survived made about one pound of potatoes at the very top - and the rest of the stem was completely rotten.

I've heard others say that they only had potatoes at the bottom of the bin and nothing on the way up - but my result was just opposite.

At any rate, it was too much work for very little produce. I've read dozens of other posts that had the same problems with no or very little extra potatoes using this method.

Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

I planted regular and sweet potatoes last year. In my regular potato bin, they were small but good. I used the golden something or other potato. The sweet potatoes, I got one good fat one that looked normal and the rest looked like roots. I was told they tasted good but just looked weird. I heard that was due to my soil being TOO good. I didnt think there was such a beast! LOL Anyway, the regular potatoes were small and that was kind of a disappointment but they were good. So maybe you should go with the golden potatoes? They look like they have been buttered when you open them. DELISH!! But I did mound soil on top of them which I will put straw if I can find some to mound instead of extra soil. But I was shocked for my first time to get a good 10 to 15 lbs of potatoes

Jengc -

You mean Yukon Gold? Yukon Gold is an early variety of potato that by all counts - do not work in bins.

The varieties that work are only the late varieties - such as the russet. Even the Kennebec is a mid-season and it didn't work.

I used 100% compost to fill my bins if it makes any difference.

Yeah Yukon Gold. They don't work in bins? Maybe mine isn't considered a bin then. It was a brick raised bed but I am going to put them in the ground with amended soil so hopefully there wont be any problems this year. They were SOOOOOO good! I also have another variety besides Yukon Gold. I think it is Russet but not sure right now. I wish they sold smaller bags. I am not going to use the 5lbs per bag I bought!

Yeah, a raised bed isn't really considered a "bin" in the term we use here.

What is meant by a "bin" is one that you fill up over time to be maybe 2.5 feet filled up. The idea behind it was that since potatoes grow up and you have to hill them, the bin would effectively allow you to continue hilling the potato in a more extreme method to try to get more potatoes out of it.

So by just using a raised bed (which is what I do), you put your potato in, forget about it for a while, then maybe hill up some soil around the stem once it is growing bushy.

My results last year were as follows: Yukon Gold grew potatoes only in the bottom of the SFG. I had one sq. and got about 3lb. from one seed potato. I got about the same from Norland again one seed potato in one sq. The Russian bananas did really well in one sq. and they grew all through the mix. I grew Katahdins in a 18 x 18 x14 planter. They performed really well and I got about 5 lbs. from one seed potato. The taste was my favorite. They are a late season so should perform well in a bin.
Keski

Greetings all! Grew sweets (Beauregard) in a rope bin. Harvested today. I was really nervous about them, b/c I had only seen vids and posts about regular potatoes in a bin.
I planted 7 Home Depot transplants: 5/6/10 using lobster compost mixed with topsoil. I kept adding soil until the vines reached the top of the bin, no fertilizer. I checked on them in early September, as we had a really hot summer and I wanted to see if anything was happening down in that bin. I found scrawny roots mixed in with purple scrawny roots. So I gave them a really good soak a few times over a couple of weeks, them left them alone when the weather started to cool. We had an early frost and the vines had yellowed, but I didn't have time to check the bin and several rains came and went until I decided to check them today - the leaves were blackened. It's been really cold - 30s, 40s, 60s, so I doubted anything was going to happen.

[IMG]http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx28/goofyboysmama/1289182167.jpg[/IMG]

If pic doesn't post (don't know what i'm doing) I got 8-9 usable potatoes. Really pleased with myself - now I'll have to see if they will cure in my cold, drafty house.

twoboysmama, Awesome job on the Sweet Potatoes! I have two potatoes bin and plan on using them for sweets next season (2011). Thanks for sharing!

Here is a link that might be useful: Liisa's Garden Journey

I built a potato box and planted a few potatoes. As the plants grew, l added more soil so the growth was still visible. I fertilized and watered then and watched the plants grow strong and tall. Each time adding more soil and boards until they reached the full box height of three feet. Today, after the three plus months I unscrewed the bottom two boards and found no potatoes. I then unscrewed all the boards on one side and after searching through all the soil found six thumbnail potatoes! What happened????? Any ideas???????

I had one bad experience with growing potatos in container. I read somewhere that they grow great in a trash can or barrel but after a dismal planting and harvest i got very little. I finally realized the problem, when you start at the bottom of the barrel with the seed potato you have to realize that during the early part of the day no sun gets to the bottom of the barrel the same goes for the afternoon so all you reaLY GET IS AROUND NOON TIME WHEN THE SUN IS OVERHEAD. so avoid this kind of planting. Best way i found is useing straw and you can find lots of info on the web concerning this method