Potato planter - How much is a good yield?

[New2Gardening]

Hi,

I'm new here and in fact quite new to gardening.
We've only got a small garden and therefore not much space to grow things however we do do have a 10m/sq veg patch and a green house.

I wanted to try growing potatoes this year but as space is limited and as our soil was contaminated by blite (sp?) 3 years ago I decided to grow them in 40L potato planters (the bag type).

I am just wondering now for 4 potato seeds per bag, how much can I expect to harvest per bag and what is considered a good yield?

Whilst I'm happy with my first efforts I felt a little disappointed to realise I only collected enough potatoes for 2-3 meals (about 2kgs worth) per bag and most of these were collected in the first 15-20 cm of soil and nothing below that. I now have found out that I haven't done the hilling correctly and that is why there were no potatoes deeper down in the compost.

So anyway, I'm about to plant some winter potatoes for Christmas. I have gotten some organic Fish, Blood and bones fertiliser (didn't use any fertiliser first time round). And was curious as to what is considered a 'good yield' for a 40L potato planter?

Anyone has the answer?

[Davyburns]

I got around the same yield from my planters

[VirginVegGrower]

Water well and don't rely on the weather to do your watering for you. I add potato fertilizer to mine at time of planting and as soon as tops appear I cover them over until I am two-three inches from the top of the planter/bag.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Like VVG says water well take no notice of whether it rains or not, a 40ltr container will need a gallon a day when the tubers are developing. When the haulms have developed feed with tomorite or other potash rich fertilizer. The pic is the harvest from a 40 ltr plastic container, they are Lady Christl a first early but have been left in the ground to develop.

Colin.

[New2Gardening]

Thanks for the feedback. I have been careful to water them a lot! A full watering can per bag. But must admit not everyday... more like every other day.

Also I have since read that when hilling, I should leave the plant grow at least 5-6 inches before adding 2-3 inches of soil and so on. What I did was, as soon as the shoots were popping their heads I was covering them with 3-4 inches of soil and so on. I now know better about the process.

I have bought some fertiliser for my winter potatoes so hopefully these will produce a lot more.

[Potstubsdustbins]

N2G Christmas spuds are fickle some years they produce, some years very poor yields.

It would also help if you put your location in your profile as different areas of the country will get different advice.

Colin

[New2Gardening]

Sorry... yes I'm in Bristol in the UK.
I did read winter spuds can be fickle so just gonna try my best shot at them..

[solway cropper]

It's worth pointing out that the yield will depend to some extent on the variety of spuds. First earlies at 4 to a planter should give around 2kg if picked small as they should be. With maincrops you should be looking at something like 4 to 8kg or more if they are fed and watered properly.

[scarletrunner]

Found one seed potato per bag to be as productive as 3.