Growing Potato's in Tubs

Posts

• raisingirl Posts: 7,093

  December 2018

  I've never had much success growing them in pots, either. They need quite a lot of water and a lot of richness. I find it much easier to grow them in open ground. 
  
  Based on the differences I can see, I would say the medium you grow them in is critical. They'll grow in anything, but to produce good spuds as opposed to lots of leaf, probably a soil based compost with a good dollop of rotted manure at the bottom (replicating what I do in a trench - richness under the plant) and sub soil watering regularly and often. Avoid getting the leaves wet. 
  
  I'm not sure what else you can do except experiment with varieties. Almost certainly there will be some that do better in pots than others.

  Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
  
  “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 

  0
• cornelly Posts: 970

  December 2018

  I have grown potatoes in a very large pot for a few years using a mixture of garden compost with garden soil, giving good results, they do need to be kept well watered,
  what ever potatoes that are left from what are planted in the garden are the ones I grow in the pot.
  

  0
• purplerallim Posts: 5,287

  December 2018

  I've only grown potatoes in those bag things. They hold alot of soil( I used half compost and half soil with a handful of slow release feed) kept well watered and fed. Don't remember which variety but mid season harvest. From four seed potatoes per bag got about two trays full of small to medium sized. Not a bad haul I thought for my first try.

  0
• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  December 2018 edited December 2018

  All other things being equal (variety/growing medium/temperature etc) the most usual cause of poor yield with potatoes is lack of water. 
  

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  0
• cornelly Posts: 970

  December 2018

  Yes like all container grown plants potatoes need watering often, I also give a weekly feed of liquid fertilizer to ours, when planted soil compost mix about 6 inches below and the same above, then top up with the soil compost mix as they grow

  0
• Market Boy Posts: 101

  December 2018

  Thanks for your replies.
  Maybe I should ditch using Garden Center compost and use my own Compost and
  garden soil as a mix and water more often. I will try again this year and report back.
  Thanks for your advice.

  0
• Road Apple Stew Posts: 100

  January 2019

  I tried the bags - useless - this year I used a plastic recycling box (ex newspaper container) with holes in the bottom - put in a mixture of soil compost and well rotted manure up to about 5 or 6 inches - 4 seed potatoes and then earthed up until the box was only a couple of inches off full - put it on a couple of bricks so the water could run off (don't want them rotting) - they did OK, much better than the cylindrical bags

  0
• BLT Posts: 525

  January 2019

  I set potatoes to chit today for planting out about mid Feb.. I have tried those potato bags and they are too flimsy and bio degrade before the crop matures.. I used tubs and some heavy duty planters I have used previous years.. I teld to put 6 in a tub etc...I plant up every 2 or 3 weeks another tub..To creare succession.    I even had christmas new potatoes this year ay! but not a big crop...  Happy New Year everyone..

  
  

  0
• Market Boy Posts: 101

  January 2019

  Thanks for the comments

  0