Spuduhelp

Hi, my wife grows earlies 1st & 2nd in this way on the patio, two types Rocket and Charlotte, she starts off one bag of Rocket 5 tubers in late February and then another in March, the Charlotte come 2 weeks later end March/April, all weather dependent. The only thing to really watch out for is drying out, if the top of the compost is looking dry then it is too dry, spuds will gobble water, if you have sufficient drainage you will not overwater, don't forget to feed every 2 weeks, poundshop has organic feed in 2.5 kg boxes

cheers Dave

i haven't had any trouble with flavour with potatoes grown in tubs, all i would advice is you mix top soil with compost as a lot of people have said they don't get enough nutrients from compost. if you make your own then it's probably not so bad.

you would have to get some soil from somewhere else that hasn't got wire worm though.

as for the wire worm. they should decrease if you keep weeds and grass down to a minimum. i grew brassicas and tried to keep on top of the weeding in the bed that was affected for a year and there isn't many at all now. if you take away what they feed on they should soon go off somewhere else. may be worth covering the area while growing potatoes in tubs on top and see what it's like in the ground next year.

I have a recollection (seen somewhere? ) that mustard gets rid of the wireworms? so maybe help to use that as green manure before 

No, not wireworms, eelworms. Different things entirely and eelworms do not make holes in potatoes.

Encyclopedia Britannica says:-"the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis, for example, is a serious pest of potatoes". I believe that mustard green manure does affect these.

Seem to have an emerging wireworm problem too. Occasionally come across them in the soil and had potato damage last year. Is it okay to use supermarket spuds for the kebabs, seems a waste of a good seed potato. Do you need to peel the spuds. Also Anyone got a picture of wireworm damage to a spud?

That brings back memories of when we first had our plot. It had been pasture previously and was riddled with wireworms.

The advice I can offer is to dig carefully, removing any you see (chickens love the btw) and then install potato kebabs down about two/three inches. Inspect these once  a week and remove any wireworms you see and then move them over and do the same again.

I had mine in three rows a foot apart, and moved the first row over the last row by a foot, if you see what I mean. After a month there were hardly any wireworms.

This time in the year they may be down deeper to escape the cold. It is better to do this when conditions start to warm up a bit. March is ideal

Sorry, I know your question was about growing potatoes in containers but I thought this might help overall. Wireworms make holes in lots of things, not just potatoes!!