i had no luck with spuds

[Does the Cooking]

Well I planted spuds in a black bag; covered up green shoots as they arrived. Allowed the green leaves to die off. harvested. out of the eight seed spuds I planted - I got a pound and a half of spuds.

eat them last night and very tasty too.

Is this unusual or have I done something wrong?

[maximepaul]

No idea as i had exactly the same thing happen to me

[SlugLobber]

How many spuds did you plant in the bag? If it was 1 or 2, then that's a reasonable yield for this pants summer! I've kept a rolling crop going with my spuds this year, taking a little 'un from each bag and planting it, so I've had spuds from March and still got lots going for it, now. I'm not measuring mine in weights, though. As far as I'm concerned, if I get more than 3 spuds per seed-spud, I've made a 'profit'!

[kwa50]

The small amounts of pots I had were delicious. Dont know what variety (need to get a bit more organised next year) - but they really were tasty. BUT having said that I did only get a small amount from each bag (3 pots to 6 bags). I then decided to grow from supermarket potatoes but wont be doing this again as they were very small and green(ugh).

kwa50
CraftChallenge.co.uk - Home

[Norm]

I grow spuds in halved blue plastic water butts, 4 in each butt. I put 4" of soil and muck mixed up in the bottom, then the spuds. When there is about a foot of growth, I sprinkle a small handfull of bone meal on the soil and add MP compost until just then top 2" are showing. The process is repeated up to the top of the butt.
I usually get 2 or 3 layers of spuds and each butt will usually yield 30 to 35 lbs of spuds.
I grow Maris Piper and Pink Fur Apple.

[Two_Sheds]

You don't get a huge crop when you grow in bags.
Spuds really appreciate the space they get in open ground

[SlugLobber]

Not an option to grow in open ground at the mo, as the soil is too clayey. Might try that tub approach, though!!!

[Demeter]

Not an option to grow in open ground at the mo, as the soil is too clayey. Might try that tub approach, though!!!

How clayey? I'd be astonished if your soil is more clayey than my garden. I mean, it's all clay round here but my garden was literally red clay subsoil with the slimmest veneer of turf...yuck. I dug out a big space, chucked on a bit of home-made compost and, for good luck, a bag of sand, and planted some spuds. The soil was positively revolting, but I hoped something good would happen - and it did!

The yield was not as good as at the city farm plot and I had more slugs and things eating the potatoes BUT I did get potatoes, and quite a few per plant. Would had had more/bigger/quicker if the garden wasn't so shady (my garden is crap, innit, no wonder my Dad advised me against growing veg in it...) but I was reasonably happy given the state of the soil AND the soil was noticeably better after I dug the potatoes out... There is kale in there now, haven't decided what to grow there next year - maybe sweetcorn!

So the moral of this story is - maybe it is worth giving it a try in open ground after all, I mean alongside the tubs rather than instead?