Potatoes in Pots

[Andy Hamilton]

Has anyone ever grown potatoes in pots? Was thinking of putting an article up about it but have never done it myself and it would be good to have a bit of first hand experience to quote.

[FluffyMuppet]

I have, although I haven't had great successes. I have two specially designed potato barrels, which have a piece that slides up at the bottom, where you're supposed to dig the potatoes out. I usually end up just tipping the lot into a wheelbarrow and sorting through it there.

The first year I planted 5 each of Charlotte and Desiree, bought from the potato day at Ryton. They did OK - the Charlotte made enough for a couple of dinners and were lovely. The Desiree were affected a bit by scab, but were otherwise OK.

The second year I bought 3 sets of 5 potato microplants - heritage varieties. I had Salad Blue, Skerry Blue and Mr Yelthom's Little Gypsy and I don't think I harvested much of anything. One set got left in as seed potatoes for a second year, but they didn't come to much either.

In the other barrel in the third year I planted Pink Fir Apple. And they weren't even worth digging up.

I think it can work quite well but I was a bit slow with earthing up and they need a lot of watering and feeding which I only ever manage to do erratically. I have heard people say that they grow a good grop in those thick black rubble sacks though, without much in the way of effort.

This year I wasn't going to bother.

[Wombat]

G'Day Mate,

Years ago I grew potatoes in a 200 litre drum and did OK, but I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to how much I grew.

I have tried potatoes in cast off rubber tyres and not done so well. The theory is that as the plant grows you stick on another tyre and add more soil, when the plant dies you lift off the tyres and harvest a bumper crop of spuds. also the black tyres absorb the suns heat for winter growing.


Unfortunately for me they persist in dying! One of the problems is getting the right sort of soil, rich but with good drainage. My options in an urban situation are somewhat reduced (you get shot for digging holes in the neighbours lawns) so it means I have to buy it in which seems to defeat the purpose.

Jackie French (an Aussie self sufficiency writer) advocates just tossing in weeds and letting them rot down around, and fertilise, the spuds but I haven't tried this yet.

Nev

[mbeirnes]

I tend to do mine in the ground, but this year I have been given permission to 'grow a few veg on the patio'

So sweetcorn and spuds it is

[Gav from Dav]

What about 'no dig' potatoes ne1 tried that?

[alcina]

I'm growing potatos this year in plastic dustbins with holes drilled in. You put 6" compost in the bottom, lay on your seed potatos, cover with another couple of inches of compost. As soon as the sprouts break the surface you cover with more compost, until the bin is about 2 foot full. The advantage of the bins is that I could put the lids on for the nights when frosts are forecast!

I got the idea from gardenweb.com - however, opinion seems to be divided as to when you add more compost! Some say it should be as soon as the sprouts appear and you cover them completely, others that it should be when the tops are about 8" tall and you hill them up 4". One party argues that you don't get the correct roots that produce the tubers once the tops have turned green, others believe that you do!

It's my first year of trying so I picked one method - covering as soon as you see the sprouts. Having said that more than one of my sprouts turned green and had a couple of leaves (though were no where near 8" tall!) before I got around to covering them, owing to being laid up with stomach flu last week Only time will tell what the end result will be!

Alcina

[shiney]

I haven't tried growing spuds in tyres or dustbins, but it is something I'll try next year as we have already put in a row of spuds in a tiny part of our garden. It was a sort of useless peice of ground about 10ft long and 1 and half feet wide.

Bought some spuds at a posh garden centre (we usually just go and look) that were reduced cos they had sprouted a bit. Don't even know what they are called but they are growing like mad out of the ground. I wonder if anything is happening underneath!

[hay331]

I too am growing potatoes in dustbins. Since Fife Council replaced all the dustbins with "wheelie bins" there are a lot of unused bins lying around and I managed to get hold of 2. I am using the method from here: http://www.hdra.org.uk/schools_organic_ ... barrel.php

I bought Kerrs Pinks from local garden centre as it was last bag of seed potatoes in stock. They are looking well so far and when I harvest I will weigh and take pics. Maybe everyone could do this for the different varieties and type of growing then we would have a bit of a database for "tatties".

[alcina]

Not a lot to photograph with mine yet - it's just compost because I keep covering them! I'm growing desiree. I wasn't sure how many seed potatoes to put in, so I put in 4 - I'm glad to see from the HDRA site I wasn't far off!

I switched the tv on just after Gardener's World had started this evening only to see Monty hilling up potatoes in a barrel! From the brief glimpse I had of this section it looked like they are advocating the let them grow to 8" and hill them up 4" method.

The race is on!

Alcina

[Haddock]

I'm really interested to see how this all works out, and will definately have a go next year.

[hay331]

Mine are just starting to flower now, here is a pic

[Wombat]

They look great!

[Sue]

going to try spuds next year - best crop I got was by accident at a previous home by literally chucking out a couple of old spuds - they grew like crazy
No doubt I will preen and pamper next year to no avail but hey worth a try
Think I'll do the tyres piled up - a la Gardeners World - not sure what colour to paint them - girly pink - or turkish blue? will probably depend on what colour paint is left over!
I'll let you know the result - when do I plant them? I'll be going for the chuck a load of soil on - but not sure when to start (noting the "winter growing" comment)

[JayBee]

Being in Ireland potatoes have to be the my biggest crop. I have them coming out of my ears. What? I can't hear you!

Anyway, I grow them in many ways. Outside in the deep bed. My beds are no-dig.



I also grow potatoes in a polytunnel where they go in the ground, in the halves of the large blue barrels I find in the sea all the time and in tyres.

Blue barrels are about the size of 55-gallon oil barrels and are used by mussel famers with one end attached to the barrel and the other end anchored. The rope acts like a piece of seaweed and the mussels attach themselves to it. A storm usually dislodges a couple and I row out to the islands and pick them up. I cut them in half for growing, cut them into sheets for building material and they can be cut in half lengthwise for Savonius wind turbines.



There are also loads of tyres in the sea too for that particular method of potato growing. Quite a bountiful place, the sea, I get a load of firewood from it too. Fish, of course.

The polytunnel extends my season for early and late potatoes. However, I got the blight last week and dug the remainder up. I grow varities that are supposedly blight resistant in the tubers. Cara, Sharpes Express and Golden Wonder. I think I prefer Sharpes. Nice and floury. Bakes, chips and boils beautifully.

Growing in and outdoors, in the ground and in containers allows me to grow in different places so as to reduce the chances of disease. All my growing is in self-made soil. My valley is mostly glacical rock and it is pointless scratching away at the surface because there is no soil in it and what soil there is has no humus. I build my soil from seaweed, grass, weeds, kitchen scraps and grit from the beach. A couple of months in the compost bins and it's fine.

[ina]

I've actually just planted some potatoes in pots, which I intend to stick in the polytunnel. This tunnel is not terribly warm (I'd have to repair the sides for a start - can't pull the plastic up over some of the netting). Anyway, I am hoping for, if not young tatties in the middle of winter, then VERY early in spring! Does anybody have any experience with tatties this time of the year?

I also think it might be a problem using "normal" eating potatoes, seed potatoes not being readily available this time of the year...

Ina