[hermon]

i don't suppose i'm the first to think of this but as i am short of space but want to grow lots of spuds i am going to try heavy duty rubble sacks to grow them in, i tried garden sacks last year but they wern't turgid enough, i will also try carrots but do them low down to prevent carrot fly!
just pearce the sacks at the bottom and away you go! the price of these so called potato sacks are a joke! :shock:
Hope this helps with the credit crunch!!

[tallulah]

You're right, they are a joke!  And I've seen the 'potato buckets' for sale on well known mail order sites for £24.95 for 3!!  Just get a builder's bucket for a quid!  Madness!  I'll be trialing a range of containers for spuds and carrots this year - the heavy duty sacks that you mention, and some buckets and anything else I can find in a skip!  The other thing that irritates me price wise is the cost of hessian sacks for storage.  Hessian must be the cheapest of all materials to produce!

Last time I grew spuds in containers was quite successful - I used a square plastic pot - I suppose aprox 14" high and 12" across.  Got a nice little harvest, and whilst waiting for the haum to develop got a decent catch crop of coriander too.  Bigger container needed tho, to be realistic.

[hermon]

i wonder about those "hippo" sacks?

[Roll Roll]

:idea: I dont know if its of any use but most of us (poultry folk) have grain/feed in the plastic type hession sacks. We just get rid of them. I havnt any at the moment but ill start saving them if they are of any use to any of you.

[compostqueen]

I used rubble sacks (or Hippo sacks) when I first got my plot and had no soil prepared. Still using them as they're so successful. I grew squashes and courgettes in them but the world's your oyster. They have a limited life as they break down in about 3 years. When they begin to rip or get tatty I use them to cover my compost heap

You don't need to make holes in the bottom as they're free draining.  You pull them up as you fill them so they stand up better. It's a two person job I find

So, if you see one lying about, grab it     I have a new one at the moment which my chipped bark was delivered in so that will be pressed into service for growing courgettes probably.

I start mine off with compostables and keep adding it until it comes time to fill it and then I chuck manure in it.  If you leave it a bit the manure slumps and then you have room to add a bit more at planting time