This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Potatoes
lynnezee
Posts: 5
in Fruit & veg
Hi, I am a newbie so this is my first post. I look forward to getting to know you. So here is my first quite stupid question. I have grown potatoes in rows before, many years ago, but this year I have planted some seed potatoes into large garden containers which are half full of soil. Heres the thing which confuses me- I have just got some green growth about 2-3" high. Should I just cover this up in a heap of new soil, and continue doing this til I reach the top of pots? Do I add some fertilizer pellets to this new soil? Thank you for your help, and sorry to be so dense!
0
Posts
Thank you Edd. Was just confused as when grown in a row theres limit to how high the peak gets before the soil rolls down the side. I started with my tub about half full so wanted to be sure I could keep going. Thanks again.
Hear, hear! No question is stupid (within reason) and I'm quite sure no one will judge or look down their nose at anyone on here - we all started somewhere - enthusiasm is the key!
I grew (and am growing) spuds in pots and bags last year / now. I earth over, just like they're in the ground - you can use soil / compost / grass cuttings / shredded cardboard/paper if you like or mix it up. You cover up to start with to protect from frost - keep well watered and if like me, you make "road apple soup/tea" (horse manure and water mixed and left for a few days) feed them occasionally (it's fairly weak) or a 10 to 1 mix of water and your own water (if you get my drift) but again, just now and then. I guess it would depend on how fertile the soil is, they're growing in
Hi Lynnezee,
Welcome, and please don't feel that your question is stupid. Gardening is one of those things that takes a lifetime to learn and we all get puzzled by things now and again. Hope the spuds give you a good crop.
Thank you Road Apple Stew and Ceres. I do make a fertile tea- I use horse muck and comfrey with nettles whose heads have been chopped off. But for the spuds I have just sprinkled some pellets in. I am such a dolt- I thought perhaps I should continue to add some spuds on top as they grew upwards? ( I have stupidly not left a lot of soil in bottom before sticking the potatoes in- about 4 to 6 inches.)
The bag / pot / container would need about 10" to a foot depth of soil in and there's usually about another foot to top of container for you to 'earth up'.
hican i just nip in? i have no concentration or brain at the moment, i am growing potatoes for the 1st time, in black plastic bags ( offer from gw mag ) so, if I read the 1st reply correctly.. do I cover the leaves with compost?
no such thing as a stupid question, I teach basic gardening skills, I've had some bizarre questions over the years from novices.
I had one person ask if they could eat the fruit of a potato as it looked like a green tomato, not stupid but hugely dangerous! the same person planted daffodils in with their onions! another dangerous mistake. without asking you could be in trouble.
I dont think mine will survive then as less soil than that. Shall I just chuck some more on top as the lower down ones will just rot down and compost ?
I think they will be fine - all the instructions for growing in bags say to put 4" of soil in first, then the potatoes and then another 4" of soil and then as they grow keep earthing up until you get near the top of the bag (or in your case ontainer).
I think spuds are one of those plants that grows roots out from the stems if they get covered, so by starting shallow and getting deeper you encourage them to make tubers at all levels throughout the soil, not just at the top. Although one website (is it T&M) claim you can just plant the spuds 4" down in a full container and they will grow down to the bottom, presumably because you use fresh non-compacted compost/soil whilst in the ground they would reach a firm layer and give up? I don't know, I'm new to growing spuds, just saying that what you have done doesn't sound any different to all the stuff I read before I started
Main thing is not to start them too deep or they will run out of energy before the shoots break the surface and start collecting sunlight!
rosemummy - I'm also confused about earthing up, should we be completely covering all the shoots or just partially covering them each time? I have been partially covering my Arran Pilot and have just about reached the top of the bag, but I have shoots from the other varieties now and I'm having doubts because the way a lot of people write it, it seems like maybe I should have covered all the leaves each time?
We earth up when they first appear (on first earlies) to protect from frost as far as I know - but within a couple of weeks, you'd need a bulldozer to keep them covered so that's when to stop