Potato Yields....what can I expect?

[quark1]

There has been much talk on these pages re yields and how spud barrels/tubs don't necessarily give xtimes the yield given the extra space.

Is yield to some extent down to variety? I'm sure some must be more productive than others.

What kind of yield should I anticipate from a single spud grown in a flower bucket? Would between ½-1 kilo per seed be over ambitious?

Grew Vivaldi and Magic Red with some success both last year - Vivaldi now gone a few M.Reds left to enjoy.

Am repeating Vivaldi this year along with Salad Blue, Ulster Sceptre, Lady Christl and Mayan Gold. Also Ratte replaced by Anya - wanted this for my son's benefit who calls my Jack Russel terrier 'Ratos' the mean b****r and Sarpo Uno an experimental freebie!

My aim is to be container based this year as the crop is so much easier to get at and cleaner at harvest. I propose to use the spud tubs for the longer growing/later varieties. A single trowel of chicken manure pellets will be placed/mixed in each flower bucket - 3 in a tub.

This year I will place the 3 I put in the tubs at different levels perhaps 3-4 inches above and offset to allow more growing space? What is the best space above bottom of flower bucket to place the seed 3-4 inches?

Any opinions and/or yield stats much appreciated - probably not only by myself but others trying this method 'in anger' for the first/second time!

[Norm]

I've grown spuds in tubs for years. The average yield for main crop from 8 seeds is about 20lbs. In the tubs I can get 30lbs from 5 seeds. My tubs are halved blue plastic 56 gal(?) drums. I put 4" compost/muck in the bottom and 6" on top of the seeds, then feed more compost in as the shoots come up until you get to the top. Hope this helps.