Potato Experiment - How many seed potatoes per pot?

[Jonnyt]

I've done my own little experiment using Lady Christl.

First Experiment:
3 seeds in a 35L bag
1 seed in a 10L bucket x 2

All planted at the same time, watered together etc.

The 35L bag produced 1.8kg whilst the 10L pots averaged 500g. The 35L bag had some much bigger potatoes.

Second Experiment:
1 seed in a 17L bag
2 seeds in a 17L bag
3 seeds in a 35L bag

These are dues to be cropped in around 2 weeks,

[Potstubsdustbins]

It's great to see folks trying different things and taking note of the results, much, much better than just sticking stuff in the ground and hoping.

Then posting the results on here so we can all learn.

[Penellype]

Harvested the 3rd bucket of Rocket today. This is not a direct comparison as this bucket was planted 18 days earlier and harvested 15 days later (the reason being that the foliage on the later planted buckets was dying back earlier). The compost is also not the same - the later buckets were planted in a mix of hotbin compost and recycled compost, the earlier ones in compost straight out of the hotbin. All had vermiculite and BFB added. I thought the comparison was interesting anyway.

Result - 3 seed potatoes planted on 9th February (in the garage) in a 30l pot of hotbin compost (which could still have been rotting down and therefore be slightly warm) produced 3lb 11oz (nearly 1.7kg) of good sized potatoes:



I've included the compost in the photo as it is not quite as you would expect compost to be. It is extremely rough and chunky, but it does grow good potatoes, so I thought a photo might be of interest. It will now be sieved and the chunky bits will go back in the hotbin.

[Containergardener]

I'm trying to decide how many potatoes to plant per bag. I was going to use one per bucket but found 15 bags for tenner on eBay so ,
My question is shall I plant 1 per bag rolling bag down rather than filling completely,
2 per full bag or even 3
I'm late sowing mine , they've not arrived yet (ordered late)
I may chit some so staged planting season to give me more pressure and confusion .

Ps I won't use all 15 bags , what else could I plant in them ? I'm on with
Dwarf kale
Purple sprouting broc (think heavier pot for this)
Beets
Kohl rabi (think trough for this)
Sp onions
Climbing courgettes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Squash (havnt germinated yet)
Runners (heavier pot with the canes maybe or maybe not ?)
Dwarf bush purple beans

Going to try and buy some red onion plugs and leeks as these havnt germinated .

Thanks for any advice.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Silly question ...............just how big are the bags?

[Containergardener]

They are 40x40x50 , it says 2-3 on pack but wondering whether to half fill and do 1 potato, Perhaps need deeper though. I dunno , only used old compost bags n odd tub before.
Other veg maybe half fill ?
Thanks PTD

[Potstubsdustbins]

If I were planting seed potatoes this late I personally wouldn't plant them deep just give them 4" of cover. I would want the haulm up as quickly as possible to get the leaves doing their magic.

As your not going to use all the bags for spuds I would limit it to two seeds per bag.

As to the remainder any of those but the PSB folded down half way so you have a planting depth of about 300mm

[Containergardener]

thank you so much