Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Grubbypaws on May 15, 2011, 09:40

Title: potatoes in containers
Post by: Grubbypaws on May 15, 2011, 09:40

I have no choice but to grow my tatties in containers and bags. With the bags I fill the bottom 6" or so with compost and then earth up as I go rolling the bag up. Easy. However, I am unsure what to do with the containers. They are about 50L (big). If I use the same technique and put the seed tuber at the bottom will they get enough light?

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: arugula on May 15, 2011, 10:09

When we grew potatoes in a fixed container, we started off with about 6 - 8 inches of soil underneath the seed potatoes, then as the growth came we kept covering it up until the soil came to near the top of the container. Quite a successful crop, but you really do need to keep an eye on the watering.

:)

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: SG6 on May 15, 2011, 12:18

Always put in 4-6 inches of compost then the potato's then another 6 inches of compost and add as the things grow.

Throw in something like chicken manure pellets as well since the food in the compost will wash away.

Always been good for me and easy to harvest - roll up sleve and plunge in. Keep them watered. Otherwise no problem

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: solway cropper on May 15, 2011, 22:22

If I use the same technique and put the seed tuber at the bottom will they get enough light?

Roll down the tops of the bags when you plant the potatoes then roll them back up as the potatoes grow and you fill with compost.

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: DD. on May 16, 2011, 05:19

If you read the OP again, that's what she does.

The query was to do with solid containers.

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: m1ckz on May 16, 2011, 07:02

boom boom  lol

Title: Re: potatoes in containers
Post by: Kristen on May 17, 2011, 07:18

I grow in both bags and large pots (about 50L sounds right, they might be a bit bigger).  I've never rolled my bags down and can't say I've had a problem with either bags or pots.  When the foliage gets up to just above the level of the rim I fill it up, others fill it up as the plant grows.

I prefer the large pots to the bags. I find it much easier to pull out one of the plants and then excavate just that plant to get the spuds, and then gradually encroach on the adjacent plants for subsequent meals. But that may just be a factor of the pots being quite a bit larger than the bags (I plant 4-tubers per pot, and only 3-per-bag)