Container potatoes - hype or not?

[Thomzo]

Think I might already have said this but I found indoor potatoes to be particularly prone to aphids which is odd as the outdoor ones never seem to suffer. I suggest keeping them in a smallish pot that you can carry outside and jet wash the buggies off.

Zoe

[Derry]

our spuds in pots in the garden have had greenfly, and some leaves have been totally destroyed by caterpillars.. i sprayed 'em with some stuff, and theys have dieded =D

[ina]

our spuds in pots in the garden have had greenfly, and some leaves have been totally destroyed by caterpillars..

Do you know what kind? That's the first I hear of caterpillar damage to potatoes.

[wolfsong]

hhhmmm...
The only reason we've grown tatties in containers is to get super-earlies, a nice treat after surviving the cold winter months...
half-oil barrels work...
if you want christmas potatoes why don't you clamp them or store them in a cold pantry? or is a space problem?

[ina]

if you want christmas potatoes why don't you clamp them or store them in a cold pantry? or is a space problem?

I think it's more that people want new potatoes for Christmas... Seems to have become a must-have lately. Personally, I like my roast potatoes - as a treat for Christmas. I don't usually have them as they waste a lot of energy, doing them just for one!

[Rohen]

Yes Tip if you plant desiree they will re crop every year

I have desiree coming up on part of my plot this year


I have King eds in a bin which has a hole under neath for drainage, and some others Have three in total

Have earthed up and earthed up

Finally the King eds are showing so Im going to wait until they flower and fall over before I start emptying the bin

I better go take a picture and then I can show you

[Odsox]

I think it's more that people want new potatoes for Christmas... Seems to have become a must-have lately. Personally, I like my roast potatoes

I agree Ina, but I like mine on Boxing day with the inevitable cold turkey.
Also there is a certain amount of smugness involved as I don't think it's possible to buy fresh new potatoes at Christmas, even in Toss-co.

[ina]

Also there is a certain amount of smugness involved as I don't think it's possible to buy fresh new potatoes at Christmas, even in Toss-co.

Oh, I'm sure you can buy them somewhere - imported from Kenia, most likely.

That's just an assumption, btw - I've never actually tried to find out, seeing that I avoid these shops like the pest, and would definitely never go near on around Christmas time!

[Derry]

our spuds in pots in the garden have had greenfly, and some leaves have been totally destroyed by caterpillars..

Do you know what kind? That's the first I hear of caterpillar damage to potatoes.

ive never heard of it or seen it before either =/
it was a little green one, about a centimetre long.. i saw it on the stem one day. must have been more than one though because most of the leaves are just shredded

[Cornelian]

I've been trying to grow potatoes in containers for about 5 years. I have used the wire cage in straw and compost method - got them to five feet tall - but only had potatoes in the very lower portion of the cage - the rest of the growth was a waste. I've grown them in pots - again really only got spuds where you'd expect to get spuds - not growing up the length of the stalk. what I have done in pots though is to put in a new layer of seed potatoes every time I have topped up the compost - so I get mroe spuds per square foot than I would in the garden.

The bestest container for potaotes are my compost bays! (A metre square) I just harvested two of my compost bays yesterday and got a lovely crop of mid-winter King Edwards out of them, which was a bonus. I have no idea how the spuds get in there, but get in there they do.

I would like to find the perfect container to grow potatoes in as I don't like putting them in garden beds as then I never ever stop having potatoes growing there.

[MuddyWitch]

The mystery of the spuds in the composts is easily solved....peelings with eyes sprout & grow if they are in the ideal position: ie your lovely compost heap!

MW

[godfreyrob]

I'm so glad others have doubted the claims about contianer grown spuds.

Another thing is the cost - I got a 'kit' of 4 woven plastic bags + 4 ses of seed potatoes for £24.99. So far I have used 2 bags of compost covering up the stems and they are still only half way full. If I follow the instructions and fill the bags up to the top I will have to use at least another 2 bags of compost. Whatever spuds I get, they are starting to look pricey!

[Thomzo]

Last year I earthed up my potatoes with a combination of shredded paper, grass clippings, straw and saw dust (or should I say I used the output from the hen house). I had planted the potatoes in garden soil so the mulch wasn't coming into direct contact with them. It seemed to work quite well although there were a lot of worms in the soil and worm holes in the potatoes.

I don't think you need to use bought compost, try ordinary garden soil (if you have some) or home made compost.

Cheers
Zoe

[stevejohnson53]

Yesterday I threw some seed potatoes I had forgot about, they had chitted nicley but being new at this GROWNING Game I thought it was too late to plant them. After reading this thread I am off to go through my wheely-bin. Wont tell OH they had been in wheely-bin til after Christmas (Yeah I'm a coward)

Steve

[MKG]

The observation continues - the second lot of earlies has been exposed. These were in a much bigger bin than the last lot, so they had lots of width in which to grow. The bin is three feet high, the seeds were put in on 4 inches of compost, and the plants were earthed up all the way to the top (and then grew another two feet or so of height). Once again, they were Swift variety so I didn't expect tons of spuds. From 4 seeds, I have 5 lbs of new potatoes - and every single one of them was in the bottom foot of compost. I measured it just to be sure. I carefully examined the haulm, and there was no "budding" whatsoever more than one foot above the base of the stem.

I can't say anything conclusive yet, because the results for second earlies and maincrop won't be in for a while. However, I think I'm pretty safe in confirming that for Swift (certainly) and probably earlies in general, anything over that first foot of compost IS a waste of time. I'm beginning to wonder if, in fact, it's actually counter-productive forcing the plants to put on height instead of concentrating their energy on tuber production. Maybe that will be OK with the extra time allowed for maincrops - we'll see.

Mike