[Jamie Butterworth]

We have recently got a new wooden compost bin as the old plastic one we have doesnt realy produce good compost, so know we have a spare compost bin and i was wondering if it would be ok to grow potatoes in?

[arugula]

It should be, we've done successful container grown potatoes before now.

[JaK]

Yes, go for it. At least it will still have a job to do in the garden and not be wasted.

[DD.]

First thought is how dark is it at the bottom?

[Jamie Butterworth]

First thought is how dark is it at the bottom?

It is fairly dark, theres no light getting in, will that be a problem?

[DD.]

Think spuds chitted with no light!

[JayG]

If it's a Dalek-type Jamie I would think it's too tall to grow spuds in for the reason DD suggests. You would have to almost completely fill it with soil first, which doesn't seem like the best use for either the soil or the dalek.

You could cut it in half horizontally to make two shallower (and bottomless!) containers but apart from the faff it still doesn't strike me as the best thing to do with it (swap it for something else with someone who does like daleks?)

[Kristen]

Slightly tangential point. I see people saying they use 1-tonne builders bags for spuds. My opinion is that we tip out a "bag" of spuds - that's 3 seed tubers for a bag, and 4 for the larger pots we use. That's a lot of spuds .... so we wind up eating from the fridge for a week - I grow to have the joy of eating fresh, week-old spuds I can get from the Supermarket (yeah, I know, that's not 100% of the argument ...)

so unless you are big spud eaters, or having a party that weekend, then consider how many spuds you will get from larger containers.

(I've tried furtling for spuds in bags, and I wind up killing the plant - it withers after a few days from the disturbance.  maybe containers with side-doors fair better in that regard? assuming all the compost doesn't fall out of the door!)

[Yorkie]

Another point to consider is how much a tonne of compost / soil will cost to fill the bag (or other larger container) as you gradually earth up ...

[Lulu]

We had some black dustbins that were made redundant by the wheelie bin revolution and cut them in half to use for potatoes but I gave up as they use a large amount of compost  and I felt needed more attention than the ones at the allotment for much less reward.   The bins are now being used for strawberries as it keeps them off the ground and they look better with strawberries in them.

[Jamie Butterworth]

Now theres a good idea, strawberries would be brill in them, maybe cut some holes in the side and have them coming out of the side