In Towers

Potatoes and strawberries lend themselves nicely to the use of vertical space. Potatoes especially can be grown in this manner using individual stacks of waste tires to contain the growing medium (compost) and provide room for the tubers to develop. The black of the tire absorbs heat and there is usually a heavy yield. Strawberries are a more economically advantageous crop as Louisiana State University has demonstrated. Grown in vertical stacks of pots, the university was able to fit the equivalent of 10 acres of strawberries into a 6000-square-foot greenhouse. Total space for each tower is 1 square foot and the reported yield is 32 pints from each tower. The growing medium is perlite and pine bark and nutrients can be supplied through either hydroponic or fish effluent fluids.