[braders1234]

I have seen a few articlrs on growing spuds in poly pots and this seems like a really good idea to me.

has anyone done this?

I am looking for advice on the size of bag - 17" seems to be recommended for a single spud,  can more than one be grown in bigger bags?  

I have not seen any advice on earthing up, does this not need to be done in a poly bag.

Primarily I will be using this to grow some really nice salad spuds.

Any general advice or experiences using this method?

Thanks in advance

[Bluedave]

Wotch yer Braders,

I used 70litre compost bags this year. Put 3 seed potatoes in each bag with about 4" of soil below and just covered them with compost - as soon as I saw green I covered it up until I got to the top of the bag.

Easy peasy - got about 18-20 nice salad spuds - will be doing it again next year.

[Bluedave]

Found a pic - they're still in the greenhouse so must have been early april when this pic was taken.

[bigben]

You can use specialist spud sacks, they are basically double thickness bin bags, the 40litre plastic trugs with handles are great but need holes drilled into them. One thing you might want to consider is what you plan on using to fill them. It can be pricey to fill with multipurpose compost. You could bulk this up by mixing with well rotted horse poo -epecially if it is free , and also the contents of your compost bin. If you part fill then put the spuds in and bury, them. Then keep topping up as the tops appear, until you run out of pot. Hopefully this happens before the last frost date otherwise you end up losing a few to frost like I did this year.

[braders1234]

Thanks for the replies, interesting. 

I assume that the compost/rotted manure (not free i am afraid!) combination I would use would be suitable at the end of the growing cycle to spread  as a soil conditioner on other beds (as long as spuds not going there next year)?

[Christine]

Sure but it's not suitable for related plants (like strawberries) in the next season.

[JaK]

This is the only way I can grow spuds at the moment due to space being an issue. I always get a very good crop from the bags. I also like to grow a different variety in each bag so that everyone is a surprise.
This is a great link for getting started-  PoIlfe6bGwk

[bigben]

Thanks for the replies, interesting. 

I assume that the compost/rotted manure (not free i am afraid!) combination I would use would be suitable at the end of the growing cycle to spread  as a soil conditioner on other beds (as long as spuds not going there next year)?

Better than that - use it to grow late crops of anything that can be planted from about June onwards - I have used my pots to grow Kale, french beans, late carrots (baby size) and lots of types of salad. Have stuff already on the go ready to put in. Then when you have harvested these things - then chuck it on your beds!

[TheSpartacat]

You can also "earth up" using straw! I know a few people who've grown spuds in a straw bale... you get nice clean spuds when harvesting and can compost the straw afterwards

[braders1234]

Thanks Spartacat, I have seen other mentions of putting straw on beds as a soil conditioner/mulch, in normal cicumstances would you just put fresh straw on a bed and let it rot down,?

[Yorkie]

Straw takes a long time to rot down and robs the soil of nitrogen as it does so, therefore I would not use it as a soil conditioner unless already fully rotted.

[TheSpartacat]

Thanks Spartacat, I have seen other mentions of putting straw on beds as a soil conditioner/mulch, in normal cicumstances would you just put fresh straw on a bed and let it rot down,?

No, I'd add it into the compost heap to let it rot down fully. It helps the pile to stay aerated- particularly if, like me, much of what you have available for compost has a lot of wet matter like veg peelings or grass clippings that can all stick together