POTATO BARRELS

[pigletwillie]

Having had my potato crops decimated by slugs over the years, I now grow my potatoes in tubs. Having seen the price of the ones from the seed merchants and nurseries I was at first put off but then came up with an idea that recycles a waste product from where I work which happens to be a granite quarry.

We get through hundreds of gallons of different types of synthetic oil a week, most of which is supplied in 25 litre barrels with a handy carrying handle on. These barrels are just skipped for disposal once empty and are ground up into granules to be made into other plastic items. I just cut out the top of a barrel with a knife which is supprisingly easy, and wipe it out with old newspaper and dispose of this sensibly. Like the blue barrels used by many people for water storage, these barrels do not absorb any oil and are safe to use.

once clean, I drill a few small holes into the bottom and add a little grit to deter slugs from trying their luck. The barrels are then half filled with a mix of compost and 10 year old manure, a potato tuber added and then topped up to the three quarter level and once the haulms break through, top up to the top. Harvesting is just a case of tipping them out and picking out the tubers. The quality of the resulting tubers is fantastic and of course none are speared by a fork or touched by slugs, the yields are very good as well. An added bonus is that your crop is portable and can be moved around as the tubs have handles and are not too big to lift. I harvest the crop by tipping the barrels out onto a bed that is empty and fork in the compost manure mix as a soil conditioner.

Another variation to this that is used on our allotments is to cut the big blue barrels generally used for water in half, fill as before but add three tubers. Results are again much better than in the ground with more yield from less tubers. If any body local to me would like some barrels, let me know.

David

[Chantal]

Hi Pigletwillie, yes I think I would please. I'll send you a PM later.

Chantal

[Geoff]

That was good news. I have access to square 25 litre containers (we make the firefighting foam that was all over the television screens a few weeks ago and use lots of them), unfortunately our design has the handle built into the top so I'll lose that when I cut them but the volume will be the same as yours. I was wondering if they were big enough and you have confirmed they are. The plan is to use Rocket, start them in the kitchen, move them to the heated greenhouse when I start it up then to cold greenhouse when I run out of space. I've put 5 tubers to chit on the kitchen window ledge and intend to plant them next weekend, when do you reckon they will be ready?

[pigletwillie]

I will be planting my first earlies mid march and they should be ready in 10-12 weeks, the maincrop will be planted mid april to harvest Late August onwards.

David