Potatoes

[the flowerpot man]

whos colin?

[the flowerpot man]

haha just seen it now! missed that post lol

[the flowerpot man]

wow colin 120lb thats great! will remember what you did! and hope i have better luck next time,thanks for that Ali

[Potstubsdustbins]

Newton 5 for main crop, 4 and a couple of old plastic water tanks for second earlies and then 16/17 smaller pots for first earlies.

You may gather I like growing in containers.

Colin

[veggiechicken]

Pots, Would it be indelicate of me to ask just how many containers you use?

[Newton]

Ptd would it be possible to see some photos? I would imagine that it is an impressive site when in full flow. I have just harvested a pan full of baby new potatoes grown in plastic planters. Not a great yield but very satisfying. I plan to do more next year. In the ground and possibly in dustbins. What growing medium do you use to plant and earth up in the bins? Could you earth up using shredded cardboard? Or doe the materiel need nutrients?

[Potstubsdustbins]

VC not indelicate at all but it has just stunned me when I did a quick count up. 106 of various sorts and sizes not including proper plant pots but I know I have 120 or so 3" pots plus the rest 5" 6" and so on.

Colin

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hi Newton, I have posted pics somewhere on here will try and find them. I use home produced compost for the initial planting about 6/8 deep in the bottom of a bin. Then I earth up with recycled multi-purpose. I have never tried to use cardboard but I know there are others on the vine who use all sorts to earth up maybe they can advise.

Colin

[Potstubsdustbins]

Newton, I ahve a quite look back through the posts but it was some months back when the sun was still shining. I have put a few on below to give a feel for how I go on.

Colin

[veggiechicken]

VC not indelicate at all but it has just stunned me when I did a quick count up. 106 of various sorts and sizes not including proper plant pots but I know I have 120 or so 3" pots plus the rest 5" 6" and so on.

Colin

I'm impressed!!! Not just by the number of pots but that you can count so high! I run out of fingers and toes after.. hang on a mo.... 40. Your photos make me feel ashamed of my pathetic efforts growing in the soil. I suppose I am lazy when it comes to watering and feeding, relying on nature to help me along. As my school reports always said - "Could do better. Must try harder" Maybe, next year, I will. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I had to get SWMBO to take her shoes and socks off and then use a calculator.

Glad you approve of my efforts thankyou

Can I go back to being a nutter now it is much more fun than sanity

Colin

[veggiechicken]

I had to get SWMBO to take her shoes and socks off and then use a calculator.

Glad you approve of my efforts thankyou

Can I go back to being a nutter now it is much more fun than sanity

Colin

Don't you think that actually counting all 226 of your pots confirms that you are a fellow nutter? Most sane people would have said over 200. As for your long-suffering SWMBO.....

[the flowerpot man]

Hi me again when is the best time to harvest potatoes! when still in flower ? or when flowers have droped off ?

[VirginVegGrower]

Hold up a bit here. Spuds will grow brilliantly in bags with the right growing medium provided there is sufficient of that medium for the number of spuds grown in that bag. So how big were the bags to start with and how much compost was in the bags i.e. were they full? In a 17ltre bag and growing for exhibition, that gets 4ozs of calcified seaweed + 4 ounces of Vitax Q4. i.e that is a lot of feed. In addition, the spuds will get at least ac ouple of foliar feeds with liquid seaweed.

Conclusion, spuds will grow equally as well in bags as they do in the ground, but to get a decent crop, you will only get out of the bag what you put in.

I find a lot of people growing in bags forget the need to water pretty much daily through growth. Certainly in that very warm April I was. Rainy May I kept feeling and topping up moisture levels. June and July saw pretty much daily watering again. Where does the moisture come from if people don't water? It can't draw from the soil as when planting tubers you've got 4-6 inches of subsoil to draw from.
I feed mine with seaweed now, never used to.

[Newton]

Colin. Thanks for posting the photos! Your growing is very very impressive. The watering regime must be very strict. Did you get a chance for a holiday during the season? I can't imagine trusting anyone to be able to look after such a magnificent crop.

Inspired.".