Cinder Block Potatoes!
Last year I started an experiment, growing potatoes in cinder blocks. I had them sitting around and I had some potatoes that were going bad and growing in the bag they came in and I thought….waste not want not. I started by placing some 2 foot by 2 foot patio blocks down as a base. I put this base on top of the already existing patio. Once I had the base I put one layer of blocks down, filled it with dirt then put in the potatoes. After they grew to where they were around 3 inches tall I put more dirt on the plants. Once I did this a couple of times I had to add another row of blocks.
Last year I stopped at 2 rows and here is what I was able to harvest last year.
This year I decided to try again, I followed the same method as I did last year. The only exception this year was that I put on a 3rd row and I also planted potatoes in the small openings that run around the outside.
This picture shows what it looked like just after adding the 3rd row. I also want to note that not all openings had potatoes growing.
This picture shows what it looked like right before I harvested.
This last picture here shows what I was able to harvest.
Here is my take-a-way. Even though the plants grew taller this year and there were even a few more than last year just proves that you will not always get more produce. It has been an extra dry summer this year. What I failed to do this year was to make sure the potatoes got plenty of water, which I get from my rain barrel. Not being planted in the ground does have its disadvantages. The plants looked healthy and not stressed and that fooled me. I will do this again next year, with hopefully a better harvest. Taking what I have learned over these past 2 years will be valuable going into next year. If you don’t learn you’ll be destined to make the same mistakes again!
Has anyone else planted anything with cinder blocks before? Use anything else not normally thought of as a way to grow plants? Please comment below and let me know!
Thanks for reading!
nice tecnique - I was looking to do something like that last year.
I had nothing to lose so I figured I would give it a try! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
All my raised beds are made from cinder blocks, you have inspired me to go with a different approach. thanks for sharing, upvoted and now following.
Thanks @gardengirlcanada When you say that your raised beds are made from cinder blocks, in what why are you doing that? Do you have a post showing this?
I've heard that you can only hill potatoes so high before they won't produce more potatoes below. There is an effective maximum on hilling, I believe around 2-3'? I'm not 100% certain as I'm no potato expert.
Needless to say, your method is super smart for those who want a compact hill! Thanks for sharing.
~ Kevin
Never looked into seeing how high you can go. I think for me this year the issue was not keeping them watered. So I do plan on doing this again next year up to 3 rows. If I get the same sort of results next year then I won't do 3 rows. Thanks for checking out the post and commenting!
Pretty good idea. You are right. They looked good. I had the same issue. Mine looked pretty good, but they did not produce what I thought they would. Good post.
Yep..I was fooled! But not next year...well at least I hope not! Thanks for commenting and checking out the post!
I love conducting these kind of experiments. I keep a brief journal of them so I don't forget. I always think I'll remember, but I don't, haha.
Agreed! That is why I took some pictures! Thanks for checking out the post and making a comment!
neat idea, kudos on making great use of items just sitting around !
Thanks!
I had never heard of this technique before. Where did you get this idea? Since I grew up on a potato farm, I can’t help but find it strange that everyone plants their potatoes built up like this. But there’s more than one day of doing things! I love seeing all these new ideas.
I do not recall seeing anyone else doing this, I had the materials and figured I would try an experiment. I have had decent results. Grew up on a potato farm you say? What was the standard procedure for growing potatoes where you were?
https://pixabay.com/en/agriculture-potato-crop-field-2654157/
Not my picture obviously, but this is how my dad grew potatoes. I was still young at the time, but I did get to ride on the back of the potato planter a handful of times. The potato slices would get stuck once in awhile, so you’d have to use a stick to loosen them up. I also worked on the harvester once. Tossed out the clumps of dirt/plants before they made it to the truck. What I helped with a lot, though, was washing the potatoes. I wanted to take some pictures of the little assembly my dad had in the barn, but he had it all unhooked and whatnot. At one end, he would shovel in some potatoes and the small ones fell through a screen. Then they went down the line into a big steel water trough to soak. Next, they went through sprayers and scrubbers to clean up. Last, they went down the rollers where I would toss out any green ones/rotten ones etc. and in a potato sack they went. Oh those were some good memories!
Thank you for all the details! Glad they were good memories for you!