• Home
  • ABOUT
  • VIDEOS
  • Contact
  • SHOP

The Impatient Gardener

Edibles, Garden

THE POTATO TOWER EXPERIMENT: THE RESULTS

October 8, 2014

Remember the potato tower experiment? This was a method of growing potatoes I tried in part to get a crop of potatoes without using precious garden space. I also thought they would be easier to harvest.

Last weekend I attacked those towers to get a feel for how successful this experiment was.

I’m not going to keep you in suspense: it was basically a failure. (But since pictures of failures are horrible to lead with in a blog, I offer you this photo of some of the potatoes I did grow looking pretty.)

Honestly, I knew that it wasn’t going well a long time ago. The towers never were covered in foliage like they should have been. And while a few nice shoots grew for a time, the plague of slugs (plague may be dramatic but after speaking with other gardeners, I’m convinced that the mass quantities of slugs were a common problem in our area) defoliated most of what was there. By late summer there were only a few sad leaves still hanging out of the towers.

Before I get to the depressing results, let’s just take a look at the towers when they were fresh and new and full of hope.

When it came time to harvest my potatoes, I pulled out the metal stake that was supporting them and then knocked the first one over onto a tarp. And what I had was a big old mess because then I had to move all that soil and straw to the compost bin, and there was a lot of it. I got a little smarter with the second one and actually dug out the soil from the top with my hands as far as I could and then leveraged the wheelbarrow under it to catch most of the rest.

It wasn’t easy to find the potatoes. Since my harvest was small in quantity and size, I was feeling through each bit of dirt for little potatoes that might be hiding in there.

One of the biggest earthworms I’ve ever seen peeking out from the great soil in the towers.

At this point one very good thing became clear. Those towers were creating some amazing soil. I pulled out several of the most enormous earthworms I’ve ever seen from them. And as far as I’m concerned, the quantity and quality of earthworms is the single best indicator of soil health there is.

After I cleaned up the potatoes, it was the moment of truth. After I added up all the costs that went into making the towers and figuring an average cost of $2.50 per pound for organic potatoes purchased at the store, I calculated that I would have needed to produce 22 pounds of potatoes to break even.

And this is all the potatoes I harvested.

And here’s the moment of truth.

Don’t get excited. The scale (an antique from Mr. Much More Patient’s grandmother, I think) might say 6.25 pounds but that’s before you subtract the 3-pound bowl.

For the math challenged, that means that I grew 3.25 pounds of potatoes. From 3 pounds of seed potatoes.

I’m not ready to say that potato towers don’t work. There were a lot of factors that contributed to my lack of success. But the fact is, other than not taking up precious space in the garden, they don’t have a lot of advantages. They were difficult to water, requiring me to spray the entire thing thoroughly. I think a PVC pipe with holes drilled in to stuck down the middle would help with watering the bottom layers, though. And they were a huge pain to harvest because cleaning up all of that soil wasn’t easy.

It’s not a total loss. First of all, I learned a little something, even if it was about what doesn’t work. And I have a whole bowl of really pretty potatoes waiting for me to make something yummy with.

experiment potato tower
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
14 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

View all posts by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

Related Posts

  • THE WILLOW EXPERIMENT CONTINUES
  • EXPERIMENTS IN HORTICULTURE (WINTER BOREDOM EDITION)
  • THE STATE OF THE GARDEN (AKA WHAT’S HAPPENING)
  • TOMATO WRANGLING GETS EXPERIMENTAL
previous post: A LAST CHECK ON THE SUMMER’S CONTAINERS
next post: LOOKING FOR A BETTER VIEW

Comments

  1. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: October 8, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    Not a big harvest but sure are pretty. I pretty much think gardening is learning something new each year. The question is, will it be helpful or useful in the future.

    Reply
  2. Rachel Baddorf says: October 8, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    I tried potatoes for the first time this year too (one bed and several bucket containers) with a similar success. We had incredible earth worms as well with very few potatoes. I don't chalk it up as a total loss. I'll probably try again next year.

    Reply
  3. davelucasreports says: October 8, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    Gardening is trial and error.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says: October 8, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    I had about as much success with my peppers. I got one each from two plants. I'm so glad I chose the "Better Belle" variety – makes me wonder "better than what?"!
    Caroline, Calgary

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 15, 2014 at 2:41 am

      Oh yeah, peppers are another thing I've never had luck with.

      Reply
  5. Heather - New House New Home says: October 9, 2014 at 11:49 am

    Oh no!!! I had terrible luck with potatoes this year too – not much produce and lots of leaf damage from slugs. And that was the traditional method. Next year, I'm moving them to a different location in the garden to see if they do better.
    Oh well, you got some good compost out of it!

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 15, 2014 at 2:41 am

      Those damn slugs! Argh.

      Reply
  6. Loi Thai, Tone on Tone says: October 9, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    You are a trooper! I admire your patience and creativity. My very first time seeing potato towers 🙂 So what did you make with them??

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 15, 2014 at 2:40 am

      I had enough for a few dinners, but the best was a little salad nicoise!

      Reply
  7. Janet K says: October 9, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    I am so enjoying not only your frankness about your garden, but also the grace and humor that infuses your writing. (:

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 15, 2014 at 2:41 am

      Thanks, Janet!

      Reply
  8. Pamela Groppe says: October 14, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    I tried rooting roses in potatoes…instead of roses I got tons of potatoes. 🙂 Go figure.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: October 15, 2014 at 2:40 am

      This is hysterical! Maybe next year I should try that in hopes of increasing my potato yield!

      Reply
  9. Angela says: November 12, 2014 at 3:45 am

    Potatoes, like their cousins tomatoes, come in determinate and indeterminate varieties. If you used a determinate, they will never succeed in towers. You must have an indeterminate variety to achieve success.

    Reply

Leave Your Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About

The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

Here's some more about me.

CONNECT

Awards

Garden Comm award

MY FAVORITE GEAR

https://www.amazon.com/shop/impatientgardener

Instagram

impatientgardener

Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I toured 12 gardens over the long weekend and I no I toured 12 gardens over the long weekend and I noticed that many have little mascots around bringing joy or peace or protecting the garden. Here are a few. 

Photos 1, 2 and 9 are from @jennyrosecarey amazing garden @northviewgarden 

Photos 3 and 4 are from @paxsonhillfarm 

Photos 5 and 6 from @edgewood_gardens 

Photo 7 from Michael Bowell and Simple’s Create a Scene garden

Photo 8 from Carol Verhake’s @lastingimagelandscapes amazing garden 

#gbfling2023
The koi at @chanticleergarden are a very friendly The koi at @chanticleergarden are a very friendly bunch. They are also very big, which is good news for them and bad news for the heron who was hanging out looking for a snack.

*I definitely didn’t get into the pond to film this. Action camera on a very long stick. 😀
We’ve reached the stage of my garden visits in t We’ve reached the stage of my garden visits in the Philadelphia area where the number of photos showing amazing bits and pieces has out measured my ability to post and label everything properly. So here’s a photo dump of some gorgeousness and you must tell me what you love most. Some of these are from @chanticleergarden and others are from private gardens. 

#gbfling2023
Scenes from the amazing @brandywinecottage What a Scenes from the amazing @brandywinecottage What a treat to visit a garden that I’ve studied in books and seen in many of David Culp’s talks. Beautiful even in a tropical storm (and perhaps even moreso). 

#gbfling2023
Load More Follow on Instagram

SEARCH

Popular posts

  • HOW TO MAKE A HOLIDAY WINDOW BOX
  • How to find and deal with tomato hornworms
  • GARDEN TOUR: WHERE CONIFERS AND TEXTURE RULE
  • Three ways to grow annual poppies

Find us on Facebook

Archives

  • ABOUT
  • TALK TO ME
  • TERMS & DISCLAIMERS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Home

Copyright © 2023 · Prima Donna theme by Georgia Lou Studios

Copyright 2009-2021 ©The Impatient Gardener