Container Potatoes

[gasdoctor]

Hi,

I quite fancy having a go at growing some potatoes, in a container.

Any suggestions on which variety?

I`d be more inclined to grow a salad or a potato for baking etc rathe than one for mashing/chips etc to appreciate the flavour.

Cheers

E

-- gasdoctor

[aem]

I'd be inclined to go for a very large container -- a half barrel, say

-- and some kind of fingerling potatoes. -aem

[Glenna Rose]

Using larger planter pots and/or barrel halves, I've grown several varieties in containers (in the Pacific Northwest, Portland area, U.S.A., similar climate to London most of the time). It's a good way to discover what you like best (you know exactly what it is when it's harvested!). Of the several varieties grown here, there doesn't seem to be a better or less good, just personal preference. Mine include butterball, fingerling, reds, a couple varieties of blues, etc., experiment. When you visit the farmers markets in the summer/fall, buy some and save a couple of what you like best and plant them in the spring; one seed company employee said her mother planted on Presidents' Day. Of the ones I planted in the ground in

2000, I still have plants coming up all over the garden (rototiller spreads them around) which I've relocated or marked for fall harvesting.

Suggestions:

- Large containers

- 15-20 inches of soil (lots of natural compost/manure) beneath the seed (at least a foot)

- Four to six inches of soil on top of the seed (looser can be six, but "tighter" should be closer to four)

- As a layer of generous leaves appear, keep adding soil to increase production, always leaving ample leaf surface to absorb sun and air (4-6 inches of leaves above the soil line seems adequate for us)

Most important is water:

- Be sure you have allow for ample drainage at the bottom of the container

- Be certain to keep them well watered (soaked once a week or so) throughout the growing season, remember, they are in containers and have no opportunity to find any moisture that is in the ground.

Harvesting is Soho easy in the fall!

Some folks add straw instead of soil as the potatoes grow. However, that did not work for me at all, it was too coarse and actually reduced the yield in those containers. As always, your mileage may vary. Great thing about gardening, there's lots of room for experimentation; also, what works well one year may not the next and vice versa.

Good luck and have fun.

Glenn (One potato only? Try one of the blues, if only for the effect on the plate.)

[greenthumb]

How many potatoes do you harvest from a large container Linda, NY

[someone here]

How long is your piece of string? Ah! not the same as mine,

The answer to your actual question is... depends! How big is your container? How good is your compost? How well do you water? Quantity and timing.

I have in the past harvested thirty to forty tubers from a single tuber planted in a large barrel. (Salad potato) Weight wise about four kilograms from a single tuber (Baking potato)

Harvest from a container is easily comparable to open ground cropping, however requires more observation and intervention, watering/feeding. Open ground requires more effort digging/weeding.

If you have space and time available, try both styles at once and run your own comparisons.

Hope this helps your decisions

Dave

[KyBarrels]

I saw an article in Mother Earth News some years back about a fellow that planted potatoes in a stack of old tires. When they were ready to harvest he just tumped them over and harvested the crop. I am going to use white oak Kentucky whiskey barrel halves this year.

Kentucky Barrels