Taters aren't picky. I grew some last year by just tossing them on the ground and covering with 12-18 inches of leaves. If bagged compost is the plan, I'd think any brand would work.

Those are cool! I think the straw keeps things loose which potatoes like, I'd get it if you can, its cheap. The year I let the potatoes that sprouted in my compost bin grow they were small, I think the straw would allow them to grow easier.

Thanks for the feedback! This is my first experience with potatoes, so I'm really hoping this works out!

I provided information to the people running the neighborhood children's garden about Potato towers from Fine Gardening magazine last fall and they built two this spring and had a good harvest from them. A number of skeptical adults wanted more information about them after the harvest.

The only thing that matters about the compost is that it contain no manure which will put too much Nitrogen in the growing medium and result in fewer and smaller potatoes.

kimmq is kimmsr

Amber, I Googled "Best medium for growing potatoes" and got some good hits. One talks about using potting soil with high peat moss content. But another says to replace the peat moss with coconut coir. Peat is not an easily renewable resource whereas coconut coir, which is shredded, ground-up coconut shells use old shells that otherwise go to the landfill. I buy coco-coir for my vermi-worms at the local hydroponic store. There's not much nutrient value in coir so you would still need some type of soil-less mix or compost.

I think you can use your partially completed compost and let it finish in the potato tower. Does the community have an opinion about this idea??

Do you have access to a lot of sawdust? One article below says you can grow in sawdust.

Potatoes require well-drained soil. (They will rot under prolonged cold, wet conditions.) Adding organic matter (compost, cover crops, well-rotted manure or leaves) is a good way to improve soil before growing potatoes. Go easy on organic matter sources high in nitrogen (such as manure) and nitrogen fertilizer as too much nitrogen can encourage lush foliage at the expense of tuber production.

From Rodale's Organic Life - 7-ways-grow-potatoes

coconut-husks-replace-peat-moss-and-mulch-in-the-garden link

4-simple-steps-to-grow-a-hundred-pounds-of-potatoes-in-a-barrel

I have two grow bags I've never used, I'm going to order some seed potatoes and try growing in the bags. Amber, you enabler you!!

Sawdust would really suck up nitrogen to the point where there would not be enough for the plants (even though root crops don't want too much to begin with). This may have been what happened with your Kellogg compost: it had too much browns and wasn't finished composting.

Since the quality of bagged compost varies, you can hedge your bets by getting several bags of different brands and mixing them. If one is deficient in some way, it will be balanced out. You can't always tell by looking.

I would suspect that using materials that were too close to optimum composting conditions in a tower might lead to, well, composting. One might end up with cooked potatoes as opposed to growing potatoes.

I'm intrigued now. I'm going to try a couple of towers with wheat straw and well finished compost next year. One I'll build one as a completed tower and the other I will try the add as they grow method. Thanks for this topic.

Lloyd, That's a good point on the heat. Thanks for the reply.