Homesteaders

[Chicken girl 15]

I went to YouTube to see what I could find about potato buckets and found this gem lol

I like that. I'm going to try it in a Rubbermaid tub. I have a family of 7 so 1 bucket would be only 1 meal. I will keep you posted. Starting it Monday. I'm also going to start one of carrots. We buy them in the off season so if I can grow them year round that would be fantastic.

 

[Woodsdweller]

Quote:
Potatoes like cooler soil so they do well in my basement garage. I have started using full spectrum, 85 watt compact fluorescent bulbs They don't use a lot of energy and last way longer than incandescent grow bulbs and only cost a couple of bucks more than incandescent. 1 bulb will work for a 4'x 4' area. The major drawback with multiple buckets of potatoes indoors is that they take up space for 90-180 days and since I haven't figured out how to water them when I'm traveling (I shut off the water for the house before leaving) I have to start from scratch every time I know I'm going to be away for more than a week. <sigh> The tomatoes, peppers, squash, cabbage, carrots, onions and whatever now get planted in DIY earthboxes that have a water storage area. They only need watering once a month or so. I could plant some potatoes in the earthboxes, but the time I experimented with that, a lot of the potatoes ended up growing in the water storage area and rotted. That was a mess.

 

[rancher hicks]

I totally agree! I watched a few where the people said things like 'I see a couple leaves have died back so i am going to dump the bucket' and then they are disappointed by the small taters.

I definitely am going to try and grows some bucket potatoes and maybe some carrots too next year but probably will put a few rows in the ground as well. Has anyone ever tried sweet potatoes? I may do a bucket or two of those. I am zone 4b so the ground isnt warm enough for long enough, but maybe in a bucket! we dont eat much sweet potatoes but it would be a fun experiment!

You might consider setting them in the drive near the house like this. The tarvia get hotter and holds the heat forming a sort of micro climate. This area for me gets the morning son and the plants need watering everyday with clay pots. Plastic buckets might not. I expect to paint the foundation black as well so it might be even warmer during the hottest part of summer.

 

[KlopKlop]

Potatoes like cooler soil so they do well in my basement garage. I have started using full spectrum, 85 watt compact fluorescent bulbs They don't use a lot of energy and last way longer than incandescent grow bulbs and only cost a couple of bucks more than incandescent. 1 bulb will work for a 4'x 4' area. The major drawback with multiple buckets of potatoes indoors is that they take up space for 90-180 days and since I haven't figured out how to water them when I'm traveling (I shut off the water for the house before leaving) I have to start from scratch every time I know I'm going to be away for more than a week. <sigh> The tomatoes, peppers, squash, cabbage, carrots, onions and whatever now get planted in DIY earthboxes that have a water storage area. They only need watering once a month or so. I could plant some potatoes in the earthboxes, but the time I experimented with that, a lot of the potatoes ended up growing in the water storage area and rotted. That was a mess.

you could do a gravity feed drip waterer? Up a bucket of water higher than the potato bucket with a tube and some kind of dripper at the end. You could control how much water they got by only filling the top bucket so full.

 

[Beekissed]

Some folks will do that with a milk jug of water sitting right down in the bucket of soil, with a small hole in the bottom for leaking out into the bucket as time goes along.

 

[KlopKlop]

I might get one of those big CFLs for my herbs. I saw a website one time where a guy cut a metal garbage can in half the tall way then attaching them to make a reflector hood. Then i could put my herbs and strawberries under that and use it for my seed starts in the spring. Some of my house plants could use a little extra light time too!

 

[GodofPecking]

Has anyone ever tried sweet potatoes? I may do a bucket or two of those. I am zone 4b so the ground isnt warm enough for long enough, but maybe in a bucket! we dont eat much sweet potatoes but it would be a fun experiment!

I thought they are a vine?

 

[GodofPecking]

I went to YouTube to see what I could find about potato buckets and found this gem lol

That is priceless. An awesome way to teach and promote. Thank you for sharing that, I shall share it with friends.

 

[GodofPecking]

It is an AWESOME IDEA to check the prices of LED's coming out of Asia right now, the prices continue to fall and fall.

LED's are the most efficient form of lighting available, even better than CFL. It is well worth checking.

Although being able to solder might help cut the costs even more, there is no need really, there is plenty of plug in bargains to be had because of the advancing technology.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Grrrr!!! My husband tilled my garden!!! I love him so I guess I'm going to have to make a sign that says no machines allowed. That an make my raised boxes heavier so he doesn't want to move them. Now I have to start my layers all over again.