Container Potato Growing

[crazy_red]

Hi Peeps,

I will have to grow my potatoes in containers, as I have very little soil area.

A lot of people have mentioned 10 litre containers, but how deep do they need to be, cos i've noticed they come in a lot of shapes

Having asked that, how many seed potatoes should go in a 10 litre container:

a. for salad potatoes
b. for 'normal' spuds

Also, will taties grow in shade?


Thanks.

Red

[Alice]

There's lots about this on here if you search for it Crazy red, but B & Q buckets (99p) are about the right size, and 3 potato seeds to a bucket.
I only grow 1st and 2nd earlies. I don't think maincrop are worth growing in containers - the shops are full of them at cheap cost. I keep my buckets for something special.

[terrier]

I use the deep, narrow buckets from Wilcos. 1 seed per bucket. Put the seed on some soil at the bottom and then fill the bucket up as the haulm grows. The more space the plant has, the better the crop. Potatoes like fresh air, that's what I was taught, they need to be in the open, if your in the shade, grow cabbages, but don't quote me on that

[piskieinboots]

I use dedicated potato bags, they will take three first earlies - start off with about 10cm of soil, spuds on top of that, then keep topping up with soil each time you see the shoots come through - this is the earthing-up bit.

It worked very well for me last year (I mean earlier this year!)

[shirlthegirl43]

I use the black flower buckets from Morrisons, one seed spud per bucket and you get an okay crop. The benefit of growing in buckets is that if you have partial shade, you can move the buckets about so that no one is always in the shade.

[gojiberry]

I am a big fan of the proper potato bags, I know they aren't cheap to buy. But they will last almost a lifetime. They will take about 40 litres of compost and 3/4 tubers. So on that basis I would only put one potato into a 10 litre container. You would find that the potato bag would take up less room than 3/4 black buckets. I will however be using the black buckets on the lottie but with the bottoms cut out. Used this method on some of my spuds last year and had a bumper crop.

Ian

[kitchengardner]

Hi Peeps,

I will have to grow my potatoes in containers, as I have very little soil area.

A lot of people have mentioned 10 litre containers, but how deep do they need to be, cos i've noticed they come in a lot of shapes

Having asked that, how many seed potatoes should go in a 10 litre container:

a. for salad potatoes
b. for 'normal' spuds

Also, will taties grow in shade?


Thanks.

Red

Depends on the shape ie tall and thin (plant 1) or more squat (ie a bucket - plant 2-3). Key is to ensure plenty of drainage. However I would recommend rubble sacks (again cut plenty of drainage holes) from B&Q. These hold a lot more soil (so you get more potatoes) and can be folded up for easy storage for the following season

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

[BarleySugar]

Last year I had 14 pots of early potatoes, most containers around bucket size. The ones I got were very tasty, but the yield for the amount of space and compost needed was very small. I used fresh, homemade and recycled compost mixed together with chicken manure pellets added. I grew Vales Emerald and Lady Crystl (sp?), and did not start harvesting until the beginning of July. Some of the plants had flowered, and the tops were beginning to die back a bit, so I don't think I lifted them too early. The potatoes that were there were a decent size, just not many of them
I'm sure most people have much more success, but I am going to used the space and compost for crops that give me more reward this year as space is at such a high premium in my tiny garden. I don't have anywhere I could try them in the ground either.

[magz.mccarthy]

Depends on the shape ie tall and thin (plant 1) or more squat (ie a bucket - plant 2-3). Key is to ensure plenty of drainage. However I would recommend rubble sacks (again cut plenty of drainage holes) from B&Q. These hold a lot more soil (so you get more potatoes) and can be folded up for easy storage for the following season

Regards

Kitchen Gardener

Hi Kitchen Gardener, how many do you plant in the rubble sacks? At 6 for £3.49 they seem to be a really good option (also there's a homebase 5 minutes rom my allotment woohoo!)

Homebase - Make a House a Home

[nicnac]

Last year I used the old green recycling boxes to plant potatos (we used to have these in our area before they got replaced with bins!) They were really good for potatos, I found. I actually put 6 seed pots in each box but this year I think I'll drop that to 4 per box. I was amazed by how many potatos I got from them as I didnt look after them too well at the start! I will also do carrots in these boxes this year. I think I will look in to potatos bags as I want to do more this year and some of the boxes will be taken up by carrots and maybe some other veggies if I am brave enough to try something else! Can anyone recommend any good and cheapish potatos bags please?

Happy New Year to all

Nicnac

[crazy_red]

I'm very bad..I was considering cutting holes in our wheelie bin and using it as a strawberry tower......

Red x

[tattieman]

The more light you can give to the potato shaws the better as they will grow fatser and grow you a bigger crop quicker.
1 or 2 potatoes to a 10 litre bucket I would say. Usually 5 tubers are put into 40 litre grower bags.

[lavender lou]

i actually grew potatoes in old tyres last year and it worked brilliant.

When the green leaves started to show in the first tyre we placed another tyre on top, and when the leaves started to grow on those we placed another tyre on top of that. and when we were ready for our harvest of spuds we got enough to last us a few weeks.

You can only grow three high though and all you do is fill each tyre with compost and wait for the results.

I only did one tyre tower cos i didn't have enough of old tyres to do it, but i've asked everyone i know and i've got enough to do about four this year and if you look at it too your recycling old tyres...

i tried growing them in buckets but found we had more spuds grown in the tyres than what we had in the buckets.

[Patsy]

I am a big fan of the proper potato bags, I know they aren't cheap to buy. But they will last almost a lifetime. They will take about 40 litres of compost and 3/4 tubers. So on that basis I would only put one potato into a 10 litre container. You would find that the potato bag would take up less room than 3/4 black buckets. I will however be using the black buckets on the lottie but with the bottoms cut out. Used this method on some of my spuds last year and had a bumper crop.

Ian

Being an ex-florist I've got loads of those black buckets. Did you put them over the potato haulms as they came up instead of normal earthing up or what please?

[crazy_red]

Yes, me too. I'm a bit confused about this 'earthing up' lark....do you just cover up the new growth, firm it down, leave it loose or what...?

Red x