But in fact, you can grow potatoes in little spaces using wood boxes.
There is well-known method of planting your potatoes in layers within a tall box where you’re essentially building a potato growing high rise.

Building the box

First of all, you need for building the box:
* six 2-inches by 6-inch boards eight feet long and eight feet long;
*one 2-inhes by 2-inches board 12 feet long;
*2 ½-inch wood screw(96 of them) (You’d better use pine, cedar or redwood, which will resist rot londer).

To build the box cut the 2-by-2 into four lengths of 33 inches. Cut the 2-by-6 boards into 12 lengths of 12 inches, and 12 lengths of 24 inches.

Per-drill the screw holes in 2-by-6 boards and attach the box bottom row on the 2-by-2s.

Planting potatoes in box

Place over prepared soil and full with soft soil and mulch. You should plant seed potatoes four inches deep in prepared soil.

When the vines are about 12 inches above soil, add another board to box and fill with soil.
Be careful not to cover more then one third of the potato plant.
As the potatoes plant grows and you can fill the new space with mulch or soil adding sides to the box.

Harvest

You can wait for a full harvest or if you’re getting antsy for some garden fresh potatoes you can pop a board off the bottom and steal some of the mature potatoes.

Rather soon after planting, you can start removing the bottom boards from your box and carefully reach in for the new potatoes. Replace the soil and the boards. Next time you need potatoes, remove the second board of box 3and “rob” potato tubers from that level.

Growing potatoes in boxes is a really great solution!

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Less energy will be used to heal the cut surfaces, making more energy available for growth. All cut surfaces should be smooth. Any jagged or torn surfaces will invite seed-piece rot.

Seed of potatoes can be freshly cut and planted into soil.
If the seed potatoes are cut well before planting, place them to store at 50 to 55 degrees F and over 90 percent humidity. This will help the cut surfaces to heal. The healed seed pieces can then be held at low temperatures until planting.

How to plant seed potatoes

You will need 8-10 pounds of seed potatoes for every 100 feet of planted row.
Mark out rows (60cm apart for ‘earlies’ and 75cm apart for main crop varieties) by drawing a straight line with a trowel, marking both ends with a stick
Dig hole 12cm deep for each seed potato, placing the seed potato shoots uppermost and then fill in the hole.
Proceed onwards digging holes (30cm apart for earlies and 40cm apart for main crop) until all seed is planted at the appropriate spacing according to the type.
Generally, soil is hilled or mounded around the plants as they grow. Hills provide room for the tubers to develop, provide added soil drainage, and minimize tuber greening later in the year. It is best to hill around the potato plants within 4 weeks of planting.

Chitting (Sprouting) of potato seed

It is very important that your tubers using as potato seeds are kept in a frost free area. Spread them out in a cool, well ventilated place prior to sprouting (called ‘chitting’).

All seed potatoes can benefit from chitting and the formation of strong ‘chits’ over several weeks gives faster growth when planted out and heavier crops.
For chitting seed potatoes you can use seed trays, shallow boxes or empty egg cartons. You will notice that the immature ‘chits’ are all at one end (called the rose end).
Place the rose end upwards. Keep in a dark, dry place until you see tiny shoots appearing, then move to a cool (8-10°C), well lit place. Sturdy ‘chits’ will form which should attain 25mm (1 in.) in length.

Tubers can safely stay in their trays until planting conditions are right. If the seed develops a lot of long, stringy sprouts, break off and discard all but one or two; lay these horizontally in the trench when you plant.

Potato seed piece size

After selecting seed potatoes, cut them into seed pieces weighing approximately 1.5 to 2 ounces. Smaller-sized seed pieces usually result in weaker plants and reduced “recovering” capabilities when a late frost injures emerging potato vines. Each cut seed piece should contain at least one eye or short sprout.

An important practice to discourage rotting of potato seed pieces is to “heal” the freshly cut pieces by storing them at room temperature (60–70˚F) with fairly high humidity for 5 to 7 days before planting.
This allows the freshly cut surfaces to develop a protective coating that will help prevent seed decay.

Best soil for growing potatoes

In fact potatoes will grow in almost any soil but prefer a sandy loam.
Potatoes yield the highest and produce tubers of the best quality on soils that are loose, easily tilled, well drained, and high in organic matter.
Very dry sands, shale, or heavy clay loams should not be used for growing potatoes.

If a cover crop such as rye, ryegrass, or wheat was planted the previous fall, it should be turned under before it exceeds 12 inches in height.
This can be done by tilling 8 to 10 inches deep, depending on the depth of the topsoil.

Potatoes require a porous soil to ensure an adequate oxygen supply for good tuber initiation and development. After tilling, level the surface slightly so that furrows can be made.

Waiting 7 to 10 days before planting the seed pieces is recommended to allow the cover crop to begin decomposing.

Never add lime before planting potatoes, as this can encourage scab.
Because scab disease (brown, corky tissue on the surface of tubers) may be a problem in alkaline or sweet soils, the soil pH should be kept around 5.5–6.0.
Potatoes should form part of a crop rotation plan and should not be planted in the same ground for four years.

Whet planting potatoes be sure that the soil is evenly moist and not wet or soggy, in a wet soil your seed potatoes will probably rot.

TIPS FOR GARDENERS

• Whenever possible use natural and organic fertilizers such as compost. Chemicals build up toxicity in soil, which leaches into drinking water.
• Fertilize before a rain whenever possible.

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If February is reasonably mild it would even be worth trying a few sowings of carrots (the variety Amstel, for examle).
Sow thickly but in very shallow drills with a minimum amount of soil to cover.

If germination is good, severe thinning will be needed, but the extra seeds will allow for the inevitable losses.

Even varieties which are suitable for early sowing will benefit from covering the soil with a cloche a week or so before sowing. Peas in particular will respond to cloche protection and growth will be advanced quite a few weeks. ‘Feltham First’ is the variety to go for.

Like you, the slugs will be eagerly awaiting the first appearance of those early crops so do sprinkle some slug pellets around to allow these vital early plants to reach maturity.

Shallots can be planted if the weather is good. Put them in, 6in (10cm) apart and 12in (30cm) between the tows, leaving the top half protruding from the soil.

When potato tubers arrive or are bought from the local garden centre, sprout these in a light, frost-free situation.

It is possible for an attack of green fly to appear on the tender new shoots so dust these with insecticide as soon as any of the pests appear.

TIPS FOR VEGETABLES GARDENER

You should use indoors to monitor the ambient general temperatures surrounding your seed environment. You also can use a heating mat to give your seeds a head start.

Make sure that the soil isn’t getting too hot.
For general seed germination, the soil temperature should be in the 60-75 degree range.

If your soil temperature is staying too warm, then the heat needs to be turned down or preferable off in the room where the seed flats are at. Seedlings like a night time soil temperature of 50-60 degrees so the plant can harden off gradually.

I had my heat mats plugged into my timer so at night when the lights and fan turned off, so did the heat mats. Once the seeds have germinated, turn off the heat mats permanently. They don’t need them and you want your seedlings to grow up stout and ready to go outside in the real world.

Consider the following information about soil temperature when you are going to plant vegetables.

• 60 F – tomatoes, cucumbers, snap beans
• 65 F – sweet corn, lima beans, mustard greens
• 70 F – peppers, watermelons, squash, southern peas
• 75 F – okra, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes

Tips for vegetables growing

• Organic pest control begins with healthy soil. It produces healthy plants, which are better able to withstand disease and insect damage.

• Specimen plants which need a warmer climate zone than you have do well in sheltered, south-facing walls. The wall acts as a solar collector, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, creating a small zone that is warmer than the rest of the garden.

There are two alternatives.

The first one is hiring one from a hire shop and this will give you the chance to get a strong powerful machine on the few days when you need it. The advantage is that there is no need to worry about maintenance. Disadvantage is that you should every time get it at home. You may need an estate car.

The other alternative is to get together with neighbors or get your gardening club or allotment society to buy one you can all share.This again will help you get a good rotary cultivator at a reasonable price.
Now, what it can do for you. This depends on the cultivator you buy. The best rotary cultivator will dig over to a depth of about l0 in (25cm) by breaking up the soil into small granules and mixing them up.

You can distribute your compost on the surface and it will be interfusion with the soil more evenly than you could do it with a fork. Set to cultivate lightly it acts more as a hoe and is ideal for dealing with low weed growth amongs tpotato plants.

Attachments to rotary cultivators are available to help you earth up potatoes or to plough, hut only on the larger rotary cultivators are these likely to be successful.

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Potato Viruses Y and A (PVY and PVA) is the second most important potato virus. It is perpetuated through infected tubers and transmitted by aphids in a nonpersistent manner. Potatoes yield losses may reach 80%.

Symptoms of Potato Viruses Y and A

Symptoms of Potato Viruses Y and A vary widely with virus strain,Potatoes  cultivar, and environmental conditions.
Rugosity, bunching, twisting of leaves, downward turning of leaflet margins, stunting, necrosis of leaflet veins, necrotic spotting, leaf necrosis, and stem streak are typical.
Less sensitive potatoes cultivars may react by developing with only a mild mosaic, or they may be infected symptomlessly.
PVA is in many respects similar to PVY.
When present in certain cultivars, it is generally less severe than PVY.
Potatoes yield losses may reach 40%.
PVA causes mosaic (sometimes severe), as well as rugosity and crinkling, and leaves may appear shiny.
PVA symptoms are usually milder, but cannot be easily distinguished from those of PVY.

Management

Management of PVY and PVA is by clonal selection and roguing in seed propagation. Resistant potatoes cultivars are available.

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Symptoms of disease caused by Potato Leafroll Virus

Primary symptoms caused by currentseason aphid-transmitted infection are rolling of upper potato plants leaves, especially of leaflet bases. These leaves tend to be upright and are generally pale yellow.
With many cultivars, they are tinged purple, pink, or red. Late infections may not cause symptoms, whereas some cultivars are infected symptomlessly.

Potato tubers of highly sensitive cultivars develop net necrosis in the flesh. Secondary symptoms (of plants grown from infected tubers of subspecies tuberosum) are rolling of basal leaves, stunting, upright growth, and paleness of upper leaves.

Rolled leaves are stiff and leathery, and sometimes tinged purple on their undersides.

Subspecies andigena reacts differently: it develops marginal and interveinal chlorosis, especially of upper leaves, marked upright growth, and often severe stunting.

Rolling of lower leaves is usually lacking. Natural transmission is by aphids in a persistent manner, and through infected tubers.

Management

Potato Leafroll Virus can be managing by selecting healthy plants gor growing and eliminating diseased plants through roguing in seed propagation.

Systemic insecticides will decrease spread by aphids within the crop but will not prevent infection by viruliferous aphids from other fields.
Potato Leafroll Virus is the only potato virus known to be eliminated from tubers by heat treatment.

Resistant potatoes cultivars have been developed recently.

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Fusarium and Verticillium fungi are widespread potatoes diseases and persist several years in soil.
To reduce populations of these fungi is necessary a long crop rotation (4 to 6 years).

Avoid using any solanaceous crop (potato, tomato, pepper, eggplant) in the rotation. In case of Verticillium wilt also avoids the use of strawberries and raspberries, which are highly susceptible.
Rotate with cereals and grasses wherever possible.
It is important to keep rotational crops weed-free. As there are many weeds hosts of Verticillium.

Whenever practical, remove and destroy infested potato plant material after harvest.
Maintain a high level of plant vigour with appropriate fertilization and irrigation, but do not over-irrigate, especially early in the season.
If soils are severely infested, production of potatoes crops may not be possible unless soil fumigation is an option.

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