potato tubs/ barrells - advice please

[moggssue]

Well, I didn't have any green spuds but I couldn't say whether that was down to the black outside or not! And Hazel, you're quite right - my OH would have objected to me advertising the make of compost outside his new decking haha!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Well, I didn't have any green spuds but I couldn't say whether that was down to the black outside or not!

Actually, from a practical viewpoint, I think that the black on the outside will absorb the sunlight and warm the soil inside. Might give a degree or so difference?

[Alice]

NSB I used compost from a grow bag and added in some manure of the type you buy in bags in B & Q. I put 3 tubers in a bucket. I added some liquid fertiliser to the watering can when watering. I drill holes in the sides of the buckets at the bottom so that I can check that water is getting right down to the roots.
I have 16 buckets, and as I empty one I replant it. That way I can get potatoes about 7 months of the year. I don't store any. Hope you get good crops.

[anthonyjb]

Alice do you drill holes in the bottom of your tubs as well as the sides
Only I bought 3 potato tubs with holes in the sides only the water cannot drain out 3 " of stones are at the bottom of the tubs

regards
Anthony

[NSB]

Thanks Alice and everyone for their advice - I'm going bucket shopping this weekend

[Alice]

Yes Anthony I put holes in the bottom as well. I put a square of porous membrane in the bottom as well to stop slugs climbing in. I put the holes in the sides so that when I am watering I can see that water has got all the way to the bottom as I can see it running out there. Hope that helps.

[jaykay]

Another question for Alice!
Do you use new seed potatoes when you replant your buckets, or do you use a couple of potatoes just harvested?

I'm hoping to try this next year, and would like 1st early types, but assume that seed potatoes will sprout by March/April.

Thanks

[Alice]

Hello Jaykay, I'll get shot down in flames for this one, but I use potatoes from the supermarket. I do this for 2 reasons
1)
The reason for using seed potatoes is to get disease free potatoes and avoid contaminating your ground. But if you are growing in containers you won't contaminate your ground. Just don't dump the spent compost from your buckets on any area of ground where you might want to grow potatoes in future.
2)
I live in Scotland. That's where all the seed potatoes come from - disease free. I just look in the supermarket for potatoes from a Scottish grower eg marked grown in Tayside etc.

You might want to grow a variety not found in the supermarket and that justifies buying seed potatoes for me.
I'm not entirely sure what your question was about but no, I don't plant potatoes which have just been harvested.
As to sprouting - any potato will sprout if left out in the light. It doesn't matter what month it is.
And this might help and clear some confusion
The terms first early, second early, mains and lates - don't refer to when they should be planted but how long they will take to be ready.
Roughly earlies 10 - 13 weeks
mains - lates, 18 - 22 weeks.
Any of them can be planted at any date as long as you have enough frost free weeks to maturity.
I think a lot of the confusion arises because of dates set by gardeners who want to get more than one crop out of the same piece of ground ie plant your potatoes on whatever date after you have harvested whatever out of the ground. Or plant by whatever date so that you can get potatoes out in time to plant whatever.
Hope this helps and doesn't add to the confusion.

[jaykay]

Thanks Alice, your answer has helped.

I think I'll work out when I'd like the potatoes to be ready to eat and work back from then to give the planting time.

Best wishes

[veg4681]

Hello Jaykay, I'll get shot down in flames for this one, but I use potatoes from the supermarket. I do this for 2 reasons

1) The reason for using seed potatoes is to get disease free potatoes and avoid contaminating your ground. But if you are growing in containers you won't contaminate your ground.

2) I live in Scotland. That's where all the seed potatoes come from - disease free. I just look in the supermarket for potatoes from a Scottish grower

As to sprouting - any potato will sprout if left out in the light. It doesn't matter what month it is.

The terms first early, second early, mains and lates - don't refer to when they should be planted but how long they will take to be ready.

Any of them can be planted at any date as long as you have enough frost free weeks to maturity.

Thanks Alice for the honesty, think I might get me Anya and Vivaldi in a supermarket when I'm up in Scotland on holiday

I have small confession too. Before I got to know all about the concept of seed potatoes and season (earlies, main, late), I thought all you do was leave your kitchen potato to sprout and when they sprouted, I CUT UP the potato in many sections of each sprout and sowed them. I thought this was the normal way and they often work in countries where there's no winter, only summer all year round. I also did this years ago over here and the potato grew just fine but the pest or slug ate most of the potatoes as they were grown in the ground.

[Alice]

Hello Veg 4681, you should be able to get Anya and Vivaldi from a supermarket in Scotland. As for cutting up the potatoes, well, that can work but, I think it was a measure used by desperately poor people who just had to get something from a bit of a potato. Hopefully we can all afford to plant the whole potato for seed to get a better result. Good luck and do post the results.

[anthonyjb]

Alice thank you for your help perfick
Do you grow xmas spuds ? if so do you put the containers under cover .ie in a greenhouse
I left my potato buckets out side and with all the rain the compost got too wet am I doing something wrong, this is the first time i have used potato buckets.
If they are under cover I have control of the watering outside I do not ,does that make sence
regards
Anthony

[Alice]

Hello Anthony, I've no potatoes planted for Christmas. Last year I planted some and went away to Spain for a few weeks and left them outside. When I came back they had rotted in the wet. I think you would have to put them under cover and protect the top growth from frost.
I did put a few from an earlier crop in the freezer to have at Christmas and that worked well.

[mat]

I grow most of my spuds in containers - I get much better tubers and, given that there's almost no loss from pests, diseases, or forking them in harvesting, I reckon the yield is pretty similar.

Absolutely true that bigger containers are not necessarily better; I’ve had consistently poor results from things like old water butts, dustbins, etc.

My favourite containers are ... cardboard boxes. They may not look all that smart (!), but they work superbly; for one thing, they won‘t dry out easily in a normal summer, and they seem to drain very well without drainage holes. I use the heavier, more solid CBs - the sort you get heavy goods sent in when you buy mail order - rather than the usual supermarket types, because thin cardboard can collapse before the season’s over. A biggish CB - the sort that might contain, say, a telly - is ideal, with about 4 tubers planted in it.

One of the most important factors is keeping the growing medium “open” in texture - during the season, a heavier mix well tend to compact, leaving no air in the compost. For this reason I mix around a quarter or even a third (by volume) of perlite into the growing medium. In my experience, compaction of growing medium is the single biggest cause of failure in growing containers spuds. (Second biggest - at least in my case - is thinking “Nah ... I’ll water them tomorrow!”)

I’ve tried most of the various spud containers sold commercially through the seed catalogues. I’ve found that the tall types - often described as barrels - aren't much good. I think the mistake made here is providing too small a surface area: this means that the compost doesn't get wet, at least to any depth, when it rains or when you water it. I like the container to be as wide as it is deep, or near enough.

I have had very good results (especially for earlies under cover) with potato bags (I think Marshalls sell them as “Gro-Sacks”). These are the right shape and size, very light and easy to move, good drainage.

I also use 58 litre trugs bought from my local garden centre. They're rigid plastic, with handles, about 20” across by 13” deep. They work superbly - but I do drill a lot of extra drainage holes in them.

Using old compost sacks doesn't work too well for me; better than nothing, but it’s hard to get them to keep their shape well enough to keep the “mouth” wide open; thus, they dry out.

One final tip: once the plants are growing well, water them EVERY day, even when it rains; even during the rain, if necessary. Big foliage will keep most of the rain off the compost - so don’t rely on rain, get in there with a watering can.

If you've read this far, well done! To anyone who has never tried growing spuds in pots, I’d urge you to have a go. It’s not difficult, and it can work really well. The old gardening books usually tell you it’s a waste of time, or only worthwhile for earlies - they're wrong, they're out of date, ignore them. Have a go. For all sorts of reasons, as we all know, it’s important that we should all try to grow more of our own food, even if we haven’t got gardens or allotments. “Patio Farming” can help this country feed itself, and potatoes are one of the best value PF crops.

[Alice]

Great info there Mat. Might give the cardboard boxes a go.