[rogertb]

I thought I might grow some potatoes in containers but looking at advice it looks like I could spend £10 on compost for £4 worth of spuds, am I missing something ?

[Goosegirl]

TBH, yes. Unless you want to grow a particular variety that you can't get from the shops or a local farm produce place it's not worth the bother. I'd grow some dwarf French beans, baby carrots and beetroots, spring onions, and herbs like chives, parsley, marjoram, basil or some garlic.

[rogertb]

Echoed my thoughts goosegirl, almost the same as my list plus some lettuce and a couple of other things, I'm looking forward to the challenge... keep well.

[bazial]

Yes you are missing something . You will get clean potatoes ,no slug holes or wireworm holes , less scab.
Plus you will get twice as many potatoes from tubs  per seed potato as you would from the ground .You don't
have to dig up all your potatoes and store in sacks were they chit or go bad over Autumn and Winter ,you will leave your tubs of potatoes were they grow covered with a waterproof sheet and empty a tub when you need some potatoes .Plus the same compost is used for 2 yrs at least and refreshed with some FBB fertiliser .

      regards
                Bazial

[rogertb]

Thanks Bazial, as I am quitting my allotment I did have some seed pots chitting so will not waste them this year and will grow them in a container "out of interest" and live with the financial  "hit" so I will hopefully experience your enthusiasm ...

[Yorkie]

Plus you will get twice as many potatoes from tubs  per seed potato as you would from the ground .

Can you point us to where you read this, bazial?  Yields can be quite poor in sacks / pots, often.

Plus the same compost is used for 2 yrs at least and refreshed with some FBB fertiliser .

I would advise against reusing compost for potatoes.  it goes against crop rotation, and you have no way of knowing whether you have viruses in the retained compost that will infect your new crop (and any other crops that might be around locally).  There are good reasons for the plant hygiene rules around potatoes in particular.

[bazial]

Hi  Yorkie
     If you look at this video from Simplify Gardening on Youtube you will see the doubling of the crop .kzrIYt6d8fA . Most of the allotment sites on YouTube grow there potatoes in 30lr tubs ,one is" Allotment diary" they have been doing it for years .
 Have you heard of Charles Dowding of no dig fame he's been on Gardenners World ,Beechgrove many times and he as grown potatoes in the same ground for 4yrs with no drop in yield ,
  regards Bazial
 

[Mr Dog]

Yield can vary widely with variety. My own (not very scientific) results from 2019:

2 tubers/pot, yield/tuber
Anya; ground (traditional method); 490g (total yield from the 10 tubers I grew this way seems to be on the very low side although they were grown nearer to the hedge that runs down the side of my plot than I've grown them before)
Anya; 30L pot/MPC + straw; 430g
Anya; 30L pot/MPC; 840g
Belle de Fontenay; 30L pot/MPC; 890g
Charlotte; 10" flower bucket/MPC; 315g
Charlotte; 30L pot/MPC + straw; 850g
Charlotte; 30L pot/MPC; 1235g
Jazzy; 30L pot/MPC; 1220g
Kifli; 30L pot/MPC + straw; 1160g
Sarpo Una; 30L pot/MPC; 1405g
Ambo;30L pot/MPC; 1620*
Blue Danube; 30L pot/MPC; 1500
Carolus; 30L pot/MPC; 1940
Kifli; 30L pot/MPC; 1600

*2 widely different results from the 2 pots: 2200 and 1040 due in part to some rejects in the second pot which was harvested a couple of weeks after the first (think I should maybe weigh them to see how that would affect things) - a few rejects in the 2nd pot of Carolus also but nowhere near as many.