potatoes/beginner

[Jungle Jane]

The compost bag I have says it makes "100 litres when mixed" the bag is maybe 800 grams ?

What compost bag is it,that's less than 1 litre? Is it co co coir & you sit it in water to bulk it out?

[Kirk]

The compost bag I have says it makes "100 litres when mixed" the bag is maybe 800 grams ?
So you mix this in with regular dirt up to the 100 litre mark. So as this potatoes bag has 50 litre I need half the bag of compost.

I'm needing the dirt to go in the bag ,,I,understand potatoes arent very choosey , but exactly what should I be looking for? My garden centre replied to my email something about compost ( which is what I'm going to get at Thompson. ) I suppose they don't understand the question. So you can't just buy the dirt- suitable for growing? I thought it would be peat or something

Use a reasonable compost, many seem to still be stuff that is still composting down and needs another year. Then add a bag or half bag of manure to it. Mix well and use in the potato bag to grow the things in.

Compost on its own tends to be a medium to put the plants into and act as somewhere for the roots to support the plant but they are not a long term growing medium. The nutrients tends to be added and equally washes out or gets used fairly quick. The manure acts as a longer term supply.

You can get dirt/soil or whatever ( a bag of topsoil) but you will likely be in the same situation. In order to bag and sell I suspect that the soil has been steralised, so again you need some nutrients added for the potato's to develop and grow in.

One thing I have done in the past is a bag of compost and then added quite a bit of pelleted chicken manure. Occasionally somewhere like Wilkinsons do them reduced. In which case the pellets take the place of the manure.

[Zelenina]

The compost bag I have says it makes "100 litres when mixed"

I don't understand that bit. Could it be some kind of compost activator you bought?

Maybe as a beginner you're getting confused by the two different uses of the word "compost". One kind is the stuff you make by composting or rotting stuff in a compost heap or a composter. That's used mainly as a soil conditioner and fertiliser. Most plants don't really like growing in pure compost of that type.

But compost is also a word for a soil substitute used for filling pots and containers to grow plants in. I guess that's what you mean by dirt. Some people call it potting compost or potting mix. Americans call it potting soil. Some brands contain sterilised soil, but mostly nowadays it's based on peat or wood fibre with other essential stuff for plant growth added in.

It comes in several varieties. The main ones are seed compost and multi-purpose (or general purpose) compost, but there are also special types for particular kinds of plants. You can buy it in big or small bags at a garden centre or DIY shop and fill your containers with it. Generally the bigger the bag you buy the cheaper it works out per litre.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Just put my earlies in last years MPC mixed with grow more and potato fertiliser

[redkoatz]

Chempak® Multipurpose Compost Base - Chempak Products - Thompson & Morgan

It says "makes 100 litres" it looks like a bag I saw at Tesco which is another smaller bag which makes up about 80 litres.
It seems to me you have to mix it? So now ill have to go to a garden centre and ask for potting soil?

[Zelenina]

Ah, I see what it is now. You mix it with pure peat and sand or perlite to make potting compost. It contains all the stuff plants need that aren't in the peat and sand or perlite. So you'll need to buy the peat and sand to mix it with, in the amounts it gives in the recipes.

Or else take it back to the shop and say you bought it by mistake and you want to exchange it for multipurpose compost (that's what you're calling potting soil but we don't usually call it that). That would be much easier. Or did you buy it by mail order?

If you want to use it you need to buy peat and sand from your garden centre. Adding it to already made potting compost will overdose the plants with nutrients and they won't thrive.

So to use the whole bag of that compost base you'll need 70 litres of peat and 30 litres of sand or perlite. Add your bag of stuff and mix them all together very thoroughly and fill your containers with the mixture.

Or else go and buy something like this which is ready-made and can be put straight into your containers. http://www.thompson-morgan.com/publi...tCode=t56335TM

[Jay-ell]

Plus 100 litres of Multi purpose compost is going to cost way less that the cost of that compost base + peat/sand/perlite

[cheapskate chaz]

It might be of interest to you of a book I bought called....Potato! It`s by Alex Barker and Sally Mansfield published by Hermes House. I bought for only £4.99.
It explains all about potatoes, where they come from, which variety, and most importantly, how to cook them! and you thought you just boiled or roasted them...
There is a small section on growing them, mainly into soil, but there are a numerous videos on you tube, so you are not in short supply on info.
I have used bags before, the first problem I had was with ants! a whole bloody bag of them! Maybe you may want to consider using buckets or larger containers, you will need to put stones in first for drainage, just covering the bottom, then add compost and soil 50/50. I add Potato fertiliser which I get from my local garden center. Watering with containers needs to be monitered as you could easily drown the potatos, bags, on the other hand can dry out quickly.
If you chose to place then directly into the soil, then consider the likelyhood of eelworms. If the soil has been largely left un-dug, then this pest will be about. It`s a small golden creature that like potatos as much as us, I had them devouring mine in the first year along with ants in the grow bags.
Again you can look these pests up on google/you tube on how to tackle them.

[redkoatz]

Plus 100 litres of Multi purpose compost is going to cost way less that the cost of that compost base + peat/sand/perlite

So potting soil/multipurpose compost =same
Add potatoe fertilizer.
Garden soil / multipurpose compost 50/50.

I suppose I can't re use that dirt for a few years because of blight? I suppose I'll just peel back the lawn spread the dirt underneath and roll the sod back over the top so I don't have to have a pile of dirt dumped in the garden.

Btw appreciate all the replies, don't know how to multi quote so responding to a few people here.


Thanks all. 

[bikermike]

If you have a lawn, could you turn a bit into a veg bed?

Just cut away a few square feet of turf at one edge, preferably one where it gets plenty of sun, and then tip the contents of the pots there. You can grow pretty much anything except potatoes and tomatoes in it next year (try courgettes, they are pretty easy).

"So potting soil/multipurpose compost =same - well potting soil isn't a thing". There is multipurpose compost, and there is soil (which is pretty much the stuff you find in your garden). You can buy soil in bags, but it's not cheap
"Add potatoe fertilizer."
"Garden soil / multipurpose compost 50/50." - the advantage of this is that it gives the potatoes some body to hold up, pure compost expands and contracts with the water content much more.