Grow Your Own Magazine

hi everyone, question from a newbie

this is my first year growing spuds and as I have limited space I am going to try some in containers, swift and charlotte. can anyone tell me what is the optimum size for the container? and what type of container works best?

dobies were selling the spuds and buckets together, a bucket 40cm by 40cm with 5 seed potatoes but this sounded a bit overcrouded to me.

I read somewhere that someone grows theirs in the large supermarket trolley bags, the big square ones you open out and put in the bottom of the trolley (obviosly ) and this sounds quite a good idea as they are large and cheep too. Anyone have any other sugestions?

Hello serenity , what a lovely name!
The film/series or the state of mind?

Tub trugs
Builders' bags
IKEA bags

Growbags: cut off top and stand on its end. Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage. You might want to feed if it's a cheap growbag

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not every situation requires a big onion

well I aim for the state of mind but having 2 kids.....well...we're all human

Ikea bags are a great idea. they are flat on the bootom too so won't topple over. thanks supersprout.

I was thinking of buying those buckets from dobies too but if i keep getting new things i will be skint i think i will try the grow bag idea i started chitting my potatos yesterday in egg boxes on a cool windowsill

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they were very expensive. sure you could pick something up much cheeper in wilcos

nearest wilkos is chester an hour a way

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when you have nothing else to do,do something!

Hello Serenity, good luck with the potatoes. I grew Charlotte in buckets last year and they were excellent. I think 5 to the bucket is too many. I used 3 and that worked well. You can also use empty compost bags. Put holes in the bottom, roll the bags down and just roll them up again as you go.
I also tried growing them in a dustbin as I had a few spare since before we had the wheelies. I was disappointed with this as I got 4lbs potatoes from each bucket but only 7lbs from the dustbin. Seemed a poor return for all the extra compost and manure. I'm going to stick to the buckets as it works well for me.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

thats good to know alice. I had been thinking that the potatoes would not perform as well in a small container but it seems the opposite is true. I think that I am going to experiment this year and grow some in a variety of different containers and see which works best. Morrisons sell black flower buckets, 5 for a pound so I plan to use these too but vary the amount of seed potatoes I put in each

Hi there - are we talking 3 to a normal bucket-sized buckets here or large ones

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Hi Serenity - after advice from a Grape here last year I bought cheap grow bags, cut into two, stood on end, with two spuds planted in each. Had quite a good harvest, but did have a bit of a job watering the bags (oooh just had a great flash of lightning......) so going to tubs (way... there goes the thunder!) this year.

Sunbeam, we're just talking bucket sized buckets.

Serenity, that sounds like a good plan. Keep a written record of what you do. We all think at the time we'll remember what we planted in what - but we don't !

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Alice, interested in your evaluation of relative merits of buckets and bins. Thinking bucket-sized buckets would be too small I grew in pots of about twice the volume. I also grew in a similar number (10) of redundant refuse bins. I filled the bottom third of the bins with whinstone pieces, and planted on top. I agree that the bins were relatively poor value but I was able to plant four tubers in each, and only 3 in the pots. I'm going to try the buckets this year. Thanks for the tip. How many did you plant per bin, please?

I.

Grow bag idea is a good one. This year I am going to grow some tumbling tom tomatoes in growbags hanging over the wall like a horses saddle. the bag hangs over a wall or fence with roughly half the content at each side, make a cut just above the level of the compost on each side and plant through this. It might work for spuds too if the top growth isn,t too tall. Any sugested varieties for this?

This sounds like a good idea for tumbling tomatoes but will potatoes be too heavy?

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Hello Ber, I planted 3 tubers in eack bucket and averaged 4lbs per bucket. The varieties were Charlotte, Nicola and Nadine. One lot of Nadine burst the bucket. I thought Charlotte had the best flavour.
I grew one bucket of Rooster, only one tuber in it, and got over 6lbs, so I think I'll grow some more of that.
I had Charlotte in the dustbin, 7 tubers, and got 7 lbs, so not as good as the buckets for all the extra compost. Also although I put a hollow pipe down to the bottom of the compost I found the watering difficult to judge, and was never sure if any water was getting to the bottom.
This year for all my containers I'm going to drill the holes round the outside edge, rather than just the bottom, and that way I can see if any water is running out.
Hope you get a great crop.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Drilling the edges - that's a good idea Alice. Never thought of that one.

I'm drilling the edges Jennie becuase last year I found some squash standing in pots of water they were not draining well when watered. When I looked at the holes underneath the pots they were clogged with roots. I drilled holes in the sides (at the bottom) and this solved the problem.
Also, the dustbin - there was just no way to guage if water was getting to the bottom - so drill the holes down there and see if water runs out. I think I'll do it with all my pots now.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

I gave my parents a few of my left over seed potatoes from last year (i ordered far too many as per usual), my Dad refused to put them in his veggie patch so they used empty compost bags. Worked a treat and although i don't know how many kg's they got they were very happy with the yield.

I'm going to try to grow some potatoes for exhibition this year so have ordered 10 x 36 litre 'potato growing bags' from T&M, they were only £7.99 which seemed fairly reasonable. They suggest 2-3 tubers per bag, depending on variety. The remaining tubers (of which there will be lots - i've overordered again ) will be going in the plot - hopefully i'll get a better yield this year.

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Do you have the catalogue number for these bags? they sound really good value

Empty compost bags are good too - turned inside out (black side out) and rolled down, holes in the bottom/side, 3 tubers.... as they grow, you can unroll a little more of the bag and earth them up

Serenity, Gteetings to you.
I used buckets last 3 years and they were very successful. You can buy the buckets in B and Q for 98p( good value). Drill 3 or 4 holes holes in the side of the bucket about 1 or 2 inches from the bottom
and you've got a little well of damp compost at the bottom of the bucket. About 3 spuds would be great. Good luck.
Cheers
Tomas.

hi tomas,
are these the orange buckets?

Hello Serenity, yes I think Tomas is talking about the orange buckets. Sometimes they have them in black too. Take the black ones if they have them as they are more heat absorbent.

Thanks Tomas for that information. I had said I drilled holes in the side so that I could see if water was getting right down there, but your right about it also making a damp reservoir in the bottom. Good tip.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Hello Serenity,
Yes I am talking about the Orange buckets, but sometimes they have Black ones as well. I noticed the other day Tesco had some Black buckets
but they were a little shorter than B& Q's buckets.Still they work just as well

Tomas.

Sorry for the slack response Kimbo - they are on the 'sundries' page on the website (potatoes & garlic sectio