So a buddy was cleaning out his shed and gave me like 6 milk crates -asking if I wanted them... HELL yeah! I've just seen something about using them as stacking potato planters on Facebook! I was wondering if anyone had any luck using them for sweet potatoes? I'm planning on using them, since sweet potatoes seem a little easier to grow and harvest.
I've grown the little russets, regular white potatoes, and purple potatoes in grow bags. I want to focus this year on sweet potatoes, because they seem easier. The bugs didn't bother them much two years ago. (I managed to take a whole five gallon bucket from a 3x3 raised bed.)
One simple tip from my neighbor helped me a lot -use a small bucket of water with a little dawn dish liquid in it- suds it up, apply twice a day or at least once a day during watering to keep the bugs off your plants so they don't destroy the leaves. Water them around 7pm. The potato bugs can wipe them out pretty quick and those stink bugs wiped out a 3x3 raised bed full of yellow squash in about a week (vacation 2 yrs ago) we came back and that raised bed was leveled by those stink bugs. They ate everything in the bed down to the dirt. It was crazy.
I'm also planning on Jerusalem artichokes because they are easy to grow, and will keep coming back if you don't harvest all the roots. It would be nice to have a patch that I could let grow every season. Since any storms tend to level my garden, I might have to find a nicer location out of the wind to try to grow them.
Anyhow- hopeful on planting this year, because I think it's going to be needed at this rate of social decline.
~Fitzy
