First: Potato - potahtoe - potatoe... It is all the same starchy tuber.
I can confirm that using straw to "hill" your potatoes does work, although I did mine outdoors.
The key is to understand that the actual new potato tuber is spouted off a runner from the STEM of the plant. Very few actual tubers are produced by the roots.
For this reason, you want to "hill" a growing plant with more dirt or, in this case straw, which will induce the plant to send out runners and grow more tubers.
Normally, only one "hilling" is needed, which adds about six to ten inches to the depth of the cover over the original planting. BUT you can make multiple additions to the "hill" as the plant grows upward.
I have done up to three separate "hillings", first using dirt and the next two using straw, for a total added depth of about 20 inches.
I got LOTS of potatoe tubers in the straw layers. Consider this a recommendation.
Now, you can do this indoors too, with a suitable container. My recommendation here is to start with either a 5 gallon plastic bucket or a larger diameter barrel (20-30 gallons). Drain holes are needed, which means the bucket/barrel will no longer hold water...
You plant the tuber "eye" in about 12-15 inches of good soil, this will feed the plant. You must leave some space below the top of the bucket or barrel.
Then you wait for the plant to grow at least six (6) inches above the soil.
Then you extend the height of the bucket or barrel by inserting a liner around the outside, I used 18 inch wide tar-paper to raise the outside wall height. Or you can use wood shingles, which you can make yourself...
Now add filler (dirt or straw) to raise the "soil" level several inches. Be careful to allow a few leaves to remain above the new filler.
Then you wait for the plant to grown another six or so inches and add more filler around the stem. You are burying the lower leaves, don't bother to cut them off.
You may add another level of tar-paper/shingles if needed to raise the rim. You are building a vertical tube which is being loaded with the filler (dirt or straw).
Since you do need to let the plant grow, I found that about three "hillings" was enough and still have growing season (light) to produce a good healthy plant.
If you do this indoors, perhaps under lights, then you could add more filling (equals more potato growing space), but at some point you want to just stop and let the plant grow.
Alternatives. You can use a tall (30 gallon) plastic bag as the growing pot. Start with about a foot of good soil (real dirt and compost) in the bag, plant the tuber and simply stuff the bag with filler in 6 inches increments as the plant grows up. When the bag is full, stop adding filler and let the plant grow.
If you use the plastic bag, I recommend placing it in a tub (small child's swimming pool), poking a few small drain holes in the bottom of the bag.
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