Tower Gardens

I love the concept. Can't wait til the gardeners come in and give us their opinions. Found this one too for more comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBh1fjMqjmI

The I found this one on the rain gutter grow system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyOIRVjatdg

I like the idea that a guy can save space and even relocate the plants indoors,etc, if need be. I like it the most because I'm lazy by nature and this seems my least effort option yet. 😆

Good find and post Old School!

In the pic you included, it looks like you could also use a 5 gallon bucket or plastic garbage can for this. Cut slices and heat above the cut enough to push in and create the indent. Too easy!

Would like some sort of moveable tower for potatoes ... that is affordable .

There are two different "Garden Tower"/"Tower Garden"s here.
The top is an aeroponics system. The image shown is "Garden Tower Project", which is a contained composting system, not aeroponics.

Tower Garden:
Pro:
Space
Physical ability needed, back injury
Water conservation
RAPID growth

Con:
Req's power (runs 12 min per hour, in 3 cycles)
Req's imported chemicals
Very expensive, and chems seem expensive, too
*Curious about what size grit would shut the pump shuts down, mostly to see if it could be converted to aquaponics to ease that hassle of that for beginners and provide a sustainable option

Garden Tower (pictured above, site: http://www.gardentowerproject.com/ )
Pro:
Ultimately sustainable (produce your own nutrients; once established, no more outside costs besides waste/byproduct for cycling)
Similar results to what is shown above
No power needed
Physically accessible for bad backs
Same plant list as the Tower Garden/aeroponics system listed

Con:
Terra cotta would be heavy (they sell plastic too)
Expensive (half the price of the other)
I'll bet that B**** is HEAVY

There are build-at-home designs for similar systems to both of these, as well as vertical towers built to work in conjunction with large and very small (aquarium + goldfish) aquaponics systems.

For those who aren't as handy, something like: http://www.problemsolvers.com/gardening-accessories/flower-towerand153;-freestanding-planter.htm?aff=5512&gclid=CMSr29aD_L8CFYMF7AodcCwAIg that already includes a watering tube and holes suitable for herbs, lettuce, small cabbage, and pest-control and edible flowers, might be an option. It could be converted to several things.

There are a ton of ideas for how to grow in less space on these pages:
http://www.pinterest.com/mijejo/gardening-vertical-methods/
http://smsf-mastergardeners.ucanr.org/Tips/How_to_build_a_strawberry_tower/
http://hydroponicsiscool.com/vertical-hydroponic-garden-how-to-build-your-own/
http://containergardening.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/bottle-tower-gardening-how-to-start-willem-van-cotthem/
http://www.backyard-gardening-fun.com/strawberry-tower.html

Goldie,
You can grow potatoes in 5-gal buckets or small trash cans, and in grow bags and in Rubbermaid totes (best results with the last, for me, for everything but fingerlings). Sit them on a dolly if you can't lift them. Scoot at will, dump on tarp for harvest, don't lose or spear spuds, relatively clean and painless clean-up.
The 5-gal buckets will fit into the slots of filing cabinet, here, with plywood used to replace the drawers and ramp them down. 2L soda bottles are drilled out on one end and along part of the side, and water is delivered through them so that it's hitting and staying on the roots.
A "tower" per say for potatoes is difficult because they're already such large heavy plants and you require access to the roots, and a movable tower is really a tall order. Still, you can lighten the weight with mulch or straw as a cover medium for them, instead of soil.

Here is my attempt at the tower. I have lettuce on top and strawberries along the sides. (I didn't have enough strawberries or time so there are a few gaps along the top.)
One of my rain barrels got damaged and wouldn't hold water. I was given a section of stove pipe to put in the middle to aid in watering. I didn't bother with the compost or hydroponic system. I chose this so that I wouldn't have to put any legs on it. When I need to fertilize I'll make up some compost tea and pour it in the stove pipe.

I saw designs on Pinterest and gave it a go. It was time consuming but not difficult to complete. It took about 10-15 minutes of using a heat gun to get the plastic workable enough to shove 2X4 in. It was a bit stinky so I elected to do it outside. The process took longer on cold or windy days. This delayed my hoped for spring planting, but kept my wife from getting annoyed with me for making the house smell like burning plastic. I got most of the work done when the kids were playing with their water table. I had to be outside to supervise them and it was warm enough that the plastic heated up quickly.

Pros:
Easy to defend from critters and birds. Bird netting can be easily draped over it. Drain holes should be kept small so that moles can't climb in.
Easy to weed.
Easy to harvest.

Undecided:
How well the strawberries will winter. I don't have anyplace heated to keep the planter so this is my biggest fear. In the winter I'm going to take most of the plants out and see how well they do.
Propagating from runners, they might not get so tangled. Time will tell how easy it is.

Cons:
Heavy, but I can still roll it onto a dolly if I have help.
Costly if you don't have the supplies on hand.