Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: shokkyy on January 13, 2010, 21:36
-
The space I have for growing spuds in my garden isn't very big, so I'm toying with the idea of upping my yield (and variety choice) by growing some on my patio, in the polyethylene planters for spuds that all the seed suppliers seem to be selling now, maybe one of the 3 packs with 5 tubers each of 3 varieties. Anyone tried them? If so, did they manage to produce a useful crop? And isn't 5 tubers rather a lot for one planter with a 14" diameter?
Last year I didn't get any blight in my spud crop (though admittedly I didn't get too many spuds either) but I did lose all my tomato plants to it. So this year I'm a little nervous about blight hitting the spuds and I was thinking of trying one of the new varieties that are supposed to be immune to blight, i.e. Setanta, Sarpo Mira or Sarpo Axona. Anyone tried any of these? If so, what did you think of them?
-
I like to grow different varieties of spud, but every year I grow Sarpo Mira, as I know if the others fail through blight, they won't.
-
We had useful yields in plastic tubs last year, from Maris Peer :) :)
-
We had useful yields in plastic tubs last year, from Maris Peer :) :)
Were you using the 18" X 14" tubs I'm seeing everywhere? And did you plant 5 tubers per tub with no problem?
-
I like to grow different varieties of spud, but every year I grow Sarpo Mira, as I know if the others fail through blight, they won't.
That sounds good. What were they like for taste and cooking versatility?
-
As a lot of people will tell you, they're not the best for taste, but they're fine for mash and as the tubers are large with a hard skin they make great baked spuds with a crunchy jacket.
The other advantage to the hard skin is very, very few slugs & other nasties.
-
I've been looking around at what's commerically available. I'm amazed at the prices they're asking for something you can do on the cheap with a bit of improvision, the contents of a growbag & a bag of seed spuds from Wilko's.
-
I've been looking around at what's commerically available. I'm amazed at the prices they're asking for something you can do on the cheap with a bit of improvision, the contents of a growbag & a bag of seed spuds from Wilko's.
Yes, I thought they were asking a lot for soft poly containers that likely won't last very long. I was considering having a search around a few bargain shops to see if I can't find some kind of container big enough that would do, but nothing I've got lying around is big enough. How about if I cut a plastic dustbin in half, or does it need to be breathable? One of those big baggies they use to deliver building materials would be ideal, if you could get them in a smaller size.
And I would like to try just a few tubers each of a few varieties, since I'm a newbie at spuds and there's so many different varieties, but it can be quite difficult to buy just a few tubers. My local garden centre does sell loose but only has a few of the most popular varieties. What I'd like to do is fill my main bed with something blight resistant and then use tubs to try out a few things to see which I like. There is a chap on ebay selling lots of 5, 10 tubers or 1.5kg in a big range of varieties, but postal charges would be very high.
-
We had range of sizes, from largish like you mentioned to freebie Morrison pots and with one tuber in, these gave amazing yields -- 4.5 kg from 3 pots :D :D :D
-
There's many things you can use, no doubt someone will be along and tell you what they've used. Things such as the "bags for life" from certain supermarkets.
There's a list of local independant nurseries that sell loose spuds here:
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=49027.0
perhaps there's one near you.
Perhaps you could pop your location into your profile, it can help.
-
shokkyy there are no blight immune potatoes but some are more resistant than others.
If you are groing maincrops in containers plant one potato for every 20 litres of compost you use. Earlies I use 17litres of compost and it seems to work nicely.
-
http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/
this place has a selection of blight resistant spuds
also if you check homebase out they do a patio kit for £6 or 2 for £10 each one has 3 varieties and patio bags included , earlys second earlys and a main crop
-
http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/
this place has a selection of blight resistant spuds
also if you check homebase out they do a patio kit for £6 or 2 for £10 each one has 3 varieties and patio bags included , earlys second earlys and a main crop
They sound quite reasonably priced :) :)
-
yes this year im growing 6 veriaties of spuds in 1mtr square and conducting my own little survey :)
-
one per sq m ?
-
all in bags on my patio, 6 bags all different veriatys 3 spuds in each bag and all 6 bags on 1sq metre of my :)yard
-
all in bags on my patio, 6 bags all different veriatys 3 spuds in each bag and all 6 bags on 1sq metre of my :)yard
That should work out quite nice and give you some variation.
-
Thanks everyone for all the great advice, this is really helpful to a newbie.
We had range of sizes, from largish like you mentioned to freebie Morrison pots and with one tuber in, these gave amazing yields -- 4.5 kg from 3 pots :D :D :D
Blimey, that's impressive :) What would be the diameter/height of a small pot to take just one tuber?
And thanks, Iain, that's just the sort of rule of thumb info I need. Trouble is, my brain doesn't work in litres. The containers on general sale are 18" high and 14" diameter, but they don't say how many litres that is - can you tell me, so I've got some idea on dimensions? And do the containers need to be made of something breathable or is plastic ok?
Digalotty - I had no idea Homebase sold things like that, I'll give that a look.
DD - I hadn't worked out the profile yet, but I'm in Swindon, Wilts.
-
if you go your local supermarket and ask them for the buckets they use for the flowers they usualy give you about 20 for free or just a £1 you can put 1 spud in each.
-
Shokkyy I would say those containers would hold 40litres of compost.
I don't think it matters if you use buckets or the green potato planters but you must make sure you have adequate drainage in what ever you use.
One tip is that biggest is not always best when growing in containers.
You have more cost with compost and fertilizer to fill a big container.
From a 5 pack of spuds and 5 17litre containers I quite easily could harvest 10kg of earlies. Spuds cost me £1.50,containers 20p each, compost £4 and a box of fertilizer was £3.39. I still have loads of fertilizer left, the containers will be re-used and I will use the compost again as I have had it bagged up outside in all this cold weather just ready to go.
-
Thanks for that info, Iain, that's very helpful. I do actually have a bunch of plastic tubs that I've been trying to think of a use for, as I keep getting another one every time I buy supplement for my horse. They're about 8" high and wide. I thought they'd be too small for spuds but maybe I'll try a few with one spud each. I'm trying to be as organic as possible with the veggies I grow, so would it be ok to just use blood, fish and bone as a fertilizer or would that not be enough in a container?
-
My brother used a big black plastic bin (about 120 litres or more I think) and cut holes for drainage. I'll ask him what variety/how many he used if you like.
-
I've given up on spuds on my Lottie until I get the drainage improved... so I received a set of four potato bags with 5 spuds for each bag last year.
They grew really well but I was very disappointed with the results... I suspect I may have under watered them and they probably got a bit neglected whislt we were away for 2 weeks hols. The bags took way more compost than the instructions recommended which could work out very expensive for the amount of spuds you get!
I am going to persevere with just 2 bags this year... some salad spuds and maybe some Roosters.
Just out of interest... does anyone give spuds in bags a feed at all?
-
I did feed the ones in the morrison pots -- pelleted chicken manure :)
-
will a tomato feed work? as they are the the same family.
dd help please :)
-
I've given up on spuds on my Lottie until I get the drainage improved... so I received a set of four potato bags with 5 spuds for each bag last year.
They grew really well but I was very disappointed with the results... I suspect I may have under watered them and they probably got a bit neglected whislt we were away for 2 weeks hols. The bags took way more compost than the instructions recommended which could work out very expensive for the amount of spuds you get!
I am going to persevere with just 2 bags this year... some salad spuds and maybe some Roosters.
Just out of interest... does anyone give spuds in bags a feed at all?
I'm not growing in bags again. As you say the compost costs too much for the harvest you get. I think mine were probably the most expensive potatoes I've ever eaten and they weren't even very nice (Hunter) ::)
-
will a tomato feed work? as they are the the same family.
dd help please :)
I'm not a spud-in-a-barrel person, but you may be right.
Have a look at this:
http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/vegetables/potatoes/potatoes_in_barrel.php
-
thanks dd the answer will be yes then :) :)
-
Im going to try Blue Danube from Thompson and Morgan. Apparently they have good blight resistance - and those purple skins look amazing.
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/potatoes1/product/zww5370/1.html
The other guys on my allotment site have told me they suffer terribly with blight so some Sarpo mira might be good also.
-
When I was hunting round for info, I did find one interesting site that seemed to be saying barrels are no good for spuds cos they don't allow them to get enough light - http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/pot54.html. He's recommending 2 or 3 gallon buckets (how many different ways can you describe the size of a container :) ). If you go to the other pages on growing in pots, he gives a good breakdown of his results growing in pots for a long list of different varieties.
-
My brother used a big black plastic bin (about 120 litres or more I think) and cut holes for drainage. I'll ask him what variety/how many he used if you like.
I used a big black plastic bin last year (before I got my plot). I planted 6 wilja seed potatoes and it worked a treat.
-
I used a big black plastic bin last year (before I got my plot). I planted 6 wilja seed potatoes and it worked a treat.
[/quote]
You mean an actual plastic dustbin? Did you use it full height or cut it in half?
-
I used a black bin for my potatoes and it was very successful! I used the old type of household bin and didn't cut it in half. (they aren't that tall ) I planted four seed potatoes in each.
I also used those plastic type sacks specifically designed for potatoes. I ordered mine from Marshalls with the potatoes included.
The plastic bin was more successful than the sacks. I am not sure why but I do think the sack dried out faster than the bins. I didn't mind using bags of compost to fill my bins because I will grow a different veg in the ones I grew potatoes in this year.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/potatoes-bin-grown/
Jazz :)
-
I used a big black plastic bin last year (before I got my plot). I planted 6 wilja seed potatoes and it worked a treat.
You mean an actual plastic dustbin? Did you use it full height or cut it in half?
[/quote]
Yes, an actual dustbin - I just poked some holes in the bottom with a screwdriver, and filled it up with cheap multipurpose compost (I think the local garden centre were doing a deal - got enough to fill it for £5). On reflection, cutting it down would have been ok as the tubers and roots only went about halfway down. Ive still got it and Im going to chuck the rest on my plot this year as organic matter/compost. I was also going to use the same method for pumpkins but I planted them too late and the first frost killed the plant just as the fruits started to swell. :(
-
We had range of sizes, from largish like you mentioned to freebie Morrison pots and with one tuber in, these gave amazing yields -- 4.5 kg from 3 pots :D :D :D
I did the same this year as an experiment. Morrison's flower tubs with one spud in each, topped up with multi compo. really pleased with the results and will be doing the same this year, only more of them, it was also less time consuming than my ground grown spuds.
For a bigger crop, use the multi compo bags that are black inside, free potato growers.
Robbo.
-
After reading suggestions on this forum, I had a go in Morrison flower buckets and cheapo MP compost outside the kitchen door. Seed spuds were titchy ones not worth peeling from bought in taters that had started sprouting and have no idea what variety. 1 per pot into 2" and progressive earth up. Never quite got round to feeding them at all.
Some neglect in the watering stakes knocked 'em back a little but in general very pleased. No pests at all (20 yards from where they were to the nearest bit of proper garden so I reckon the slugs etc were simply too idle to make the trek) and while not being large (mostly between golf ball to tennis ball size) each pot provided the spuds for one meal for four adults. The potatoes produced were remarkably clean and allowed the lazy method of simply washing them off and boiling them in their skins. Delicious.
The final pot hasn't actually been used yet and is still there outside (foliage removed of course and allowed to dry out by having big pot upturned over it). When the weather improves (even dryish the contents of the pot seem still rock solid) I will knock 'em out and photo.
All in all a worthwhile experiment and one I intend to repeat.
-
The best looking containers I have seen for potatoes are back in Wilkinsons.
They are not in the general garden items but in the plastic storage items.
They are large round storage containers that are a deep green with a couple of decent handles on either side.
There are bigger then most garden pots (plastic) and cost £4.
Just drill a couple of hole and that should be OK.
When I plant mine I add half a pot of compost and chicken poo pellets, stuff in the potatoes and let them grow, then earth them up to about 3/4 with more compost with a couple of handfulls of chicken pellets, let them grow a bit more, then repeat until they are full.
Potatoes are easy to get at and the old compost goes on the garden. Tend to buy the cheapo compost at Wicks when 4 for £10. :D :D :D
-
Yes, I tend to use the cheapest compost I can find for all my potted toms/veg and it seems to work just as well as the expensive stuff. Just tends to be a bit lumpy so you wouldn't want to use it for seeds.
Another suggestion someone gave me today was to use the super strong plastic sacks that we get horse feed delivered in. What they did was stick a bit of compost in the bottom (with drainage holes), put the spuds in and then roll the sides of the sack right down. As the spuds grew, they kept putting a bit more compost in and rolling sides up as and when needed. From that they got a v.good crop.
I do think that DD might be right though, that the bigger containers probably end up taking a lot more compost. Even in a big sack like that you'd probably only put in about 5 or 6 spuds but you'd use a heck of a lot of compost for it, whereas in a bucket with 1 spud you'd use an awful lot less. What do you reckon would be the minimum feasible height for a spud container? Maybe I'll try one or two big sacks and a few small containers and see how they compare.
-
Yes, an actual dustbin - I just poked some holes in the bottom with a screwdriver, and filled it up with cheap multipurpose compost (I think the local garden centre were doing a deal - got enough to fill it for £5). On reflection, cutting it down would have been ok as the tubers and roots only went about halfway down. Ive still got it and Im going to chuck the rest on my plot this year as organic matter/compost.
Much the same here, drilled a few holes in the bottom of a standard domestic bin then put in the compost, planted me spuds, earthed up as needed, dug spuds out in autumn. I have done this for 4 years now with 3 bins. Results have been mixed. Depth of planting was important. To much compost in first means no spuds in the bottom half yet you have bought the compost that fills that bottom half. Planted too near the bottom makes them (for me at least) grow pale and leggy. Regular watering without swamping them helped but not every year has been good. The biggest factor has been location within my garden. The patio was the obvious choice the first year but it was not a big success seemingly not enough hours in the sun. Now they sit on the path and get lots of sun almost all day. Much better results per bin but more watering is needed. Spent compost used to go onto the garden but now it goes on the plot.
-
After reading suggestions on this forum, I had a go in Morrison flower buckets and cheapo MP compost outside the kitchen door. Seed spuds were titchy ones not worth peeling from bought in taters that had started sprouting and have no idea what variety. 1 per pot into 2" and progressive earth up. Never quite got round to feeding them at all.
Some neglect in the watering stakes knocked 'em back a little but in general very pleased. No pests at all (20 yards from where they were to the nearest bit of proper garden so I reckon the slugs etc were simply too idle to make the trek) and while not being large (mostly between golf ball to tennis ball size) each pot provided the spuds for one meal for four adults. The potatoes produced were remarkably clean and allowed the lazy method of simply washing them off and boiling them in their skins. Delicious.
The final pot hasn't actually been used yet and is still there outside (foliage removed of course and allowed to dry out by having big pot upturned over it). When the weather improves (even dryish the contents of the pot seem still rock solid) I will knock 'em out and photo.
All in all a worthwhile experiment and one I intend to repeat.
Have been to Asda today and obtained some of these containers. Just one question - how much compost do you place in before you put your seed potato in?
-
I never put much in Suzie, about 3 inches, then seed potato, then just cover them over.
My biggest problem with growing in the pots was keeping them watered. Does anyone have any tips on keeping the soil moist in these flower buckets?
-
I also started with about a fist-height of compost so I suppose 3 ro 4 inches.
My tip fpr keeping 'em watered is to put the pots on the path right outside the kitchen door! Water run to get hot, cleanish rinsing water, pretty well any water that wasnt too soapy or food bits contaminated could go on the spuds when they needed it. In between, when the availability outstripped requirement I had a small mini-water butt (cut down old chemical plastic drum) and we chuck extra water in there. (Use it also for other things in pots in that area).
-
Thanks for your responses. :D
-
Perhaps you will allow me to encroach on this thread with a varying theme. I have received my seed potato and I have made a huge miscalculation. I have seed for 15rows instead of 10.
I have always grown early potatoes in trenches 1' apart etc and rows 2' apart etc. But now it seems Ok to put 3 about 6" apart and add another 3 higher up the bag.
What if I grew potatoes in a double decker fashion in the row? Dig out a trench 1 spit deep and put in compost. Every 1' plant a potato and then in between dig deeper and plant another potato.
The potatoes would develop on different levels and would be no more crowded than those in a bag. I expect yield would be affected but I have an extra 100 seed and this is the best ides I can think of.
-
Dunno, but I'd plant the extra in any pots (or bins!) you can get hold of and put them in any extra space you have.
-
I just tried Sainsbury today and got 5 buckets. All they ask in return is to put a few coins in the charity box.