I am really excited to try some new varieties now. You can always dig down to check on the size of the developing tubers. You're aiming for short, stubby shoots before planting. I worked so hard to diligently cover this large quantity, and had at least 16 - 20 large tire stacks. indeterminates, like some tomatoes, will continue to create "fruit" as they grow, therefore hilling is more important for an increased yield. "My experience of growing potatoes in bags is completely different to that described in this article. ", "I've been reading that the best potatoes for containers or bags are indeterminate types. Hopefully you'll have better luck next year. You can also apply a liquid feed (such as one made from seaweed concentrate) once the plants are growing strongly. ", "Hi Patricia. So yes, four per dustbin (or up to, say, five) would probably be the limit, but the extra 'room' for the tubers will result in a bigger-than-average harvest. ", "thanx tom for the advice i have put my potatoes in now i wait for them to grow ", "I wonder if you can maximise the growing by succession, ie start with the earliest, then turf them out to start main crops and follow that with some late spuds for Christmas, all in the same containers and more or less the same compost? Second earlies can be harvested when quite young, following flowering, or left to grow on all summer long to produce larger potatoes for storing. I'm determined to grow potatoes this year. Do I need them to flower before hoping to start harvesting? If the pail was white or very thin, then light could have got in to the root zone. It certainly was frustrating to do all that work for no gain. ", "Hi, I got brave (?) The whites popped up and in a week were almost six inches high. Two tubs used in this fashion is better than 55-gallon barrels, as the top tub is easily toppled. This mix is light and easy to work with. Yes, it's generally best to wait until the plants flower before harvesting. So why did I diligently plant them all with the sprouting bit; which I know full well is roots; pointing upwards? ", "Yes, the list you provided gave some good varieties. Do I really need to buy seed? You want to leave a bit of leafy growth for the stems to carry on growing, otherwise you'll smother the plants. I'm starting to wonder if they will flower at all...some of the foliage is starting to turn a little yellow, our porch gets full sun from 7am until around 3pm...any thoughts or recommendations? ", "Given that you should cover the leggy stems to encourage tuber growth, what if they're in a tower and the greenery is extending from the sides? i do not live in the same place, my garden is much smaller, my problem, nobody in this town sells seed potatoes, so im going to use the store bought and see if i can get them to grow in containers, wish me luck, as the weather gets warmer i do have to put a sun shade to keep my vegetables from getting sunburned. Good luck with your crop - hope you get lots of spuds! Butte ", "My 2nd earlies (Charlotte) produced 4.3kg from 2 bags which were 18" square and 24" deep, a very good harvest. An eruption of lush foliage, courtesy of a few carefully positioned pots, can even become a feature, particularly on the patio where they would make the perfect foil for showier specimens. ", "Thank you. So the type of liquid feed is not available here but never the less thanx i appreciate for the info. The advantage of using seed potatoes is that they are guaranteed to be clear of any disease, and are primed to do really well. You could certainly try growing them again to harvest and eat. I use straw instead of "hilling up" the soil. I planted my potatoes in 50 gallon storage tubs. Cut down the foliage as the leaves wither and yellow, and protect your spuds from frost by either covering your potato growing bags with a thick layer of straw or moving them into your shed or greenhouse. Nevertheless, the crop was very respectable, particularly given an almost complete lack of rain and no watering. It is the yield per bag that matters. ", "Hi all, I live in the UK and am new to growing veg. Thank you for your advice like you we have had a really unusually hot summer and I must admit that I always put my potatoes in the sun to try to maximise growth. Glad you like the site - there's plenty here to read! All will be peat free, half will be ericaceous, half will be neutral compost. Any suggestions will help, Thanks. ", "Hi Paula. ", "Hi Manomano. This post is having messages for almost 5 1/2 Years and still active. You could give it a try, but I suspect you wouldn't get any potatoes this way and the plants may collapse/become infected with something beforehand anyhow. It is possible to harvest one or two tubers while leaving the rest to grow on. I put seed potatoes in the bottom tire and filled in with a compost / soil mixture. Space your seed potatoes, sprouts uppermost, evenly throughout the container. http://learnlandscape.com/container-growing-landscape-design-idea", "I have had a problem with common scab on my potatoes. You could try growing potatoes from true seed harvested from the fruits, it could be quite fun. ", "This is my 5th year growing in mineral supplement tubs discarded by local cattle farmers. If you decide to cut your seed potatoes, that’s fine, but do leave them to dry for three or four days before planting in the usual way. I'd probably look to harvest those spuds now. Cover your potatoes with plenty of soil to prevent them from turning green. I also have been starting Sevin dust [worm/insect deterrant. Check out my latest blog entry on growing potatoes for Christmas too. Yes indeed - anything of a reasonable volume is suitable for growing potatoes. One bag of Charlotte is in ericaceous peat free, one in peat based ericaceous. The humble potato is a staple on many dinner tables around New Zealand. All four have out grown their containers by 5-7 inches or so. One bag with Swift is in general purpose peat free, one of Swift in ericaceous peat free. Thanks. Charlotte is the classic salad potato that sets the standard for all other potatoes in this category. 'Chit' your potatoes in an empty egg carton. When the shoots reach 20cm tall, use a rake, hoe or spade to mound soil up around the bases of the shoots, covering the stems half way. 6 Replies 1513 Views July 17, 2009, 08:28 by hectic : charlotte potatoes Started by sprinkler1 on Grow Your Own. In fact, during the Second World War people often cut larger seed potatoes in half or even smaller divisions to make them go further. The most important rule is to match the number of seed potatoes to the size of container you are growing them in. That said, it sounds like you've been clearly paying attention to watering, so if the potting soil is damp then clearly dryness isn't the problem. Is this typical? Is this acceptable, or do I need a different kind of soil? Search the term 'A simple way to get high yields of potatoes' in the search field at the top of this web page. What could be better than unearthing handsome nuggets of potato from a chocolate-brown soil? The foliage can grow to about 2ft (60cm) tall or more. Here's hoping for some rain for the both of us! Actively growing plants will also benefit from a couple of liquid feeds during their growing time; use a balanced organic fertiliser such as seaweed extract. The mid-season varieties, such as 'Red Cloud', are harvested about 80 days after planting. I was wondering if when constructing the system should i include a watering tube (drilled pvc pipe, for example)down the center of the barrel to ensure watering reaches the whole plant structure? Already too late to follow your advice so we'll see how it goes. ", "Hi Steve. ", "Hi Ronald. For a summer harvest plant potatoes in early spring. Any idea why this happened? Regarding whole versus cut potatoes, you can cut up larger seed potatoes, so long as they have at least two 'eyes' - which will become the shoots from which the foliage grows. Now wait for two weeks before harvesting your potatoes so that the skins will have time to set properly. I understand that tomatoes are in the same family, so that also limits my choices. You have a few options here. But how do I know when they are ready to harvest? Make sure the pots are kept well watered in dry weather too - and equally, don't let them get sodden (make sure they've adequate drainage holes in the base). Each was filled with 100 litres of compost. However, in most instances this is probably verging on the side of over-engineering! Thank you. Determinate varieties that work well for a short growing season or a small yield include "Red Pontiac," "Chieftain" and "Yukon Gold" potatoes. Fungi can feed on organic matter - perhaps spores came in with the straw? It seems to me that others may have been lucky and chosen a variety that would set extra tubers, whereas I was not lucky. Numerous people will probably be benefited out of your writing. If the foliage is turning a little yellow it does imply the plants are maturing. A reliable, tried-and-tested method is to arrange them in empty egg boxes or seed trays. I am going to be careful for brussels. Good luck with the peppers. Tom ", "Really looking forward to growing potatoes this space-saving way this year. The main advantage of growing from seed potatoes is that they are guaranteed to be clean and free of any viruses and so forth. Second cropping potatoes don’t require chitting and can be planted straight away. ", "Hi Carol. I bet it was the heat. They also start growing very quickly indeed once the conditions are suitable, ensuring a guaranteed crop in most cases. Potatoes prefer a cooler climate and the conditions in Dubai would probably be far too hot to successfully grow them and achieve a meaningful crop. They were covered in the pail. I filled them to 1/3 then planted 3 seed potatoes, another 1/3 on top then 3 more seed potatoes placed so that they weren't above the others then added the final 1/3 compost. They sit on my back patio and get all early morning sun. Automatic irrigation drip systems with timers utilising mini drippers and soaker hose also allow me to customize plant needs without much cost and very little daily maintainence. Also do I add the fertilizer with both at first plant or later? Canela Russet They were: Casablanca, Golden Nugget, Sharpe's Express, Maris Bard, Lady Christl, Jazzy, Vales Emerald and Charlotte. Thanks so much! I'd pick them off to avoid sapping too much energy from the potatoes, though I don't think they'd do that much harm to them in the grand scale of things. ", "This year I plan to grow my potatoes in grow bags. It's also a lot better for the environment - peat locks in carbon and is home to a very complex habitat. Have a go Nick Posts: 334. Or plant in August/September for Christmas new potatoes, also called Second Cropping Potatoes. As the shoots grow continue to add further layers of potting medium until you reach within a whisker of the rim of the container. They will be ready when plants start flowering or soon after - it depends on the variety you are growing. But watering to keep the compost moist is crucial. Where space is limited, try growing potatoes in potato bags on the patio. In the case of the first and second earlies, direct comparisons were made by planting the same variety in two bags with different composts. Sadly the potato fruits are reported as inedible due to presence of the green toxic compound you sometimes get (at non-poisonous levels) in tubers. What You'll Need on Planting Day . Will this happen soon? Lehigh It matures as a late first early variety, towards the end of June, where you can lift a good amount of medium sized oval tubers with a very fine flavour. I'm short on potting soil but have a surplus of good straw. ", "Hi Susan. Foliage was tall and lush and I continually added mulch and tires for height until I was at 3-4 tires high. The best way to check if your potatoes are ready is to just delve into the compost/soil with you hand and feel for the tubers. Marie E - The general rule surrounding harvesting of first early potatoes is to check the compost for potatoes once the first flowers appear, but the only real test is to feel for the potatoes. They are about 30 gallon size. When might I begin the process? If you look closely at the shoots you can usually see that they are a combination of the fatter shoot that will form the stem, and then thinner, wiry roots coming out from the base of this shoot. You can indeed re-use the compost by adding it to bare ground or as a mulch around established plants. My hunch is that if the plants are flowering there should be a few potatoes by now. They have not flowered, although I spotted one nice baseball sized spud showing before I got it buried again. Irish potatoes can be grown in a small space and on a small scale in any kind of bag that holds at least two or three gallons of soil. They are wilting as well. I believe that's quite challenging. But having read a lot of comments on this site I reckon I may be a bit short on the watering. That's brilliant. If you face the sprouts upside-down, you'll likely just delay a tad their push through the ground. Plant in the bottom of the bag, adding compost as the plants grows. It’s hard to judge the size of your potato crop from above, so plunge your hand in and have a root around! ", "Hello. Tyres can leach heavy metals like cadmium into the soil overtime and potatoes are known to suck up cadmium. I grow above ground in boxes made of cheap framing lumber 2x8's. It would be nice to get a bigger crop next year. ", "Hi, maryG back...my 20 gallon bucket grew and now I've topped with mulch to wait for it to die off. These, I saw a mushroom growing out of your experiences growing 15. 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