Dear no question is a stupid question. In fact it is a basic Question. In the starting of my gardening habit it was one of my basic questions and i searched out and came to the conclusion. I am writing in the steps so you can easily understand.
1. Fill your container / bag with four to six inches of good quality compost.
2. Place your tubers onto the top of the compost, so the sprouts (if chitted), or eyes are pointing upwards. Space them sparingly - for a twelve inch diameter container, only use a maximum of three tubers. For a fourteen inch diameter container use about four tubers, and so on.
3. Cover the tubers with another four to five inches of compost, and water sparingly. From here on, keep the soil continuously moist but never wet.
4. If you are using a flexible bag as a container, it would be a good idea to roll down the sides, to help the sunlight reach the plant foliage as they grow.
5. As the plants appear and grow taller, continue "earthing up" by adding more soil so that only the top inch or so of the plant is peeking through the soil. The new potatoes will form in an upwards and outward direction from the original planted seed potato, so continue "earthing up" until you reach about 1.5ft(18in) to 2ft(24in) of soil depth.
Thank you everybody! I think these potatoes are a tricky subject for something which appears fairly simple. Martin Luther- thank you, and I will read and watch those links, and you have answered my other question which is "Do the new potatoes grow upwards from the chitted potatoes?" I think that is the most confusing bit as the preconception and confusion is that they would grow downwards. So I am now thinking that they grow above the chitted ones also, so that the more soil you can pile above, the higher the potato yield? I think I also need to pick your brains and experience ie leeks next! ie I have grown them in a field previously ( musselborough) but many years ago ie 1995 ish. I recall they did survive to harvest, but I cant recall earthing them up to blanche them which I am sureIi have read about recently. Does that mean you get more white stalk? I aim to plant some in tubs but they arent 10" deep as recomended. I am wondering if some bottomless containers on top of containers would work.
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Dear no question is a stupid question. In fact it is a basic Question. In the starting of my gardening habit it was one of my basic questions and i searched out and came to the conclusion. I am writing in the steps so you can easily understand.
1. Fill your container / bag with four to six inches of good quality compost.
2. Place your tubers onto the top of the compost, so the sprouts (if chitted), or eyes are pointing upwards. Space them sparingly - for a twelve inch diameter container, only use a maximum of three tubers. For a fourteen inch diameter container use about four tubers, and so on.
3. Cover the tubers with another four to five inches of compost, and water sparingly. From here on, keep the soil continuously moist but never wet.
4. If you are using a flexible bag as a container, it would be a good idea to roll down the sides, to help the sunlight reach the plant foliage as they grow.
5. As the plants appear and grow taller, continue "earthing up" by adding more soil so that only the top inch or so of the plant is peeking through the soil. The new potatoes will form in an upwards and outward direction from the original planted seed potato, so continue "earthing up" until you reach about 1.5ft(18in) to 2ft(24in) of soil depth.
Reference:
http://www.container-gardening-for-food.com/how-to-grow-potatoes.html
http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=231
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/container-potatoes.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2637Ga0YUgM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/fruitandvegetables/11422293/How-to-grow-potatoes-in-pots.html
http://truegarden.com/
http://greenupgrader.com/11708/4-simple-steps-to-grow-a-hundred-pounds-of-potatoes-in-a-barrel/
Hopefully these will help you alot otherwise PM me.
Thank you everybody! I think these potatoes are a tricky subject for something which appears fairly simple. Martin Luther- thank you, and I will read and watch those links, and you have answered my other question which is "Do the new potatoes grow upwards from the chitted potatoes?" I think that is the most confusing bit as the preconception and confusion is that they would grow downwards. So I am now thinking that they grow above the chitted ones also, so that the more soil you can pile above, the higher the potato yield? I think I also need to pick your brains and experience ie leeks next! ie I have grown them in a field previously ( musselborough) but many years ago ie 1995 ish. I recall they did survive to harvest, but I cant recall earthing them up to blanche them which I am sureIi have read about recently. Does that mean you get more white stalk? I aim to plant some in tubs but they arent 10" deep as recomended. I am wondering if some bottomless containers on top of containers would work.
Yes thanks for the comprehensive info Martin Luther
Thanks for such a useful info martin
Excellent info, and confirms I've been doing it right so far