Stackable Potato Tower

lalala...
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Stackable Potato Tower Growing potatoes is easy with this stackable planter. As the plants grow, simply add another frame and more soil.

Supplies:

8 2x6 boards (10 ft)
2 2x2 boards (8 ft)
screws
outdoor latex paint
paint brushes
power screw driver
saw
tape measure

Steps:

Cut the 2x6 boards into three equal pieces. You will have 24 boards. Cut the 2x2 boards into twenty (20) 5.5" pieces and four (4) 3.5" pieces.

Create each frame by screwing four (4) 2x6 boards together. Predrill the holes, then use 2 screws to attach each board, as shown below.

Attach the 5.5" 2x2 pieces, 2 inches below the top edge of the frame. This will create the legs that will hold the frames together when stacked. The bottom frame uses the 3.5" pieces and the wood does not hang below the edges the frame. Tip: We cut a 2" block to help hold the leg at the right height while we attached it.

Sand all of the edges of each frame and the legs. Test fit the frames together, trim and sand as needed to get them to fit.

Then paint the frames with outdoor latex paint (with primer). Follow package instructions for applying additional coats and drying times.

Once the paint has dried completely, the tower is ready to plant. Place the bottom two frames onto level ground and fill with garden soil. Plant the seed potatoes 4-6 inches deep, 12 inches apart, with the sprouted eyes pointing upwards. Water well and keep the soil damp but not soaking wet.

When the plants are about 8 inches tall, add another frame and more soil, leaving the leaves exposed at the top. Continue adding frames and soil until all of your frames are used.

The potatoes are ready to harvest 1-2 weeks after the plants have flowered and begun to whither. Simply begin removing the frames and dig the potatoes out of the soil. :)

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Sally
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 116 Feedbacks

May 5, 20152 found this helpful

My husband Doug grows spinach and lettuce in a similar system as a cold frame. Planted at the very end of February. Photo from May 1st.

As they grow up another 2X4 frame (or more) can be added and still be covered with ridged plastic at night to keep the deer out.

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godson

October 14, 20150 found this helpful

I like this idea for we moving on to the farm and there is no top soil at this time cause of the building and heavy equipment.I also like the potato box idea also.We also just found that some people use straw bales for raised beds ;),also good for people like us where we are just starting out.

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Helmut

May 1, 20170 found this helpful

I did something similar in the Yukon. I got a bunch of same size tires from the dump, stacked them, hammered in two pieces of concrete rebar for guides just inside the tires, and then tossed dirt and potato pieces into it. The tires absorbed more heat, and in spring I used a plexiglass lid for a greenhouse roof.

Potato harvest was adequate considering the low effort put into it.

I learned a much more effective and productive method later.
Raised bed for fashionable ease on ones aching back,
filled with compost, containing a fair bit of fish heads and tails, and forest dirt.
Then I tossed potato pieces onto the dirt, and covered it with an old bed sheet.
Then I bent some concrete rebar into tunnel hoops,
sleeved them with old garden hose, and covered the tunnel with plastic.
After a couple of weeks the bedsheet raised up in spots, where potato plants were growing underneath. So I duck-taped a sharp fish knife onto a rake, reached into the tunnel and stabbed the sheet where plants were raising it.
After that they grew fast! Naturally I watered them whenever they looked wilted.

From mid summer on I could reach in under the sheet and harvest a meal`s worth of clean potatoes.

Those cheater harvests did not slow them down at all.

Naturally, you don`t really need a high-bed, if your back is good and you like bending down. The potatoes dont care.

Potatoes grow OK in northern climates, but much better with a bit more heat and water. Putting a plastic tunnel over them at least doubles the crop.
Have FUN!
DearWebby

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