Containers for planting potatoes?

[Bren In Pots]

The recycling boxes we have here are more the size I was thinking. Can't find any boxes that size though that aren't transparent or too expensive for a tub. Baps.

Babs our council went from boxes to using bins so I was lucky to end up with 8 unwanted dark blue boxes

[spamvindaloo]

I think those bags would work okay but a rigid pot would possibly be easier to move if required. If you only used compost and no feed then even with new compost the feed would run out after six weeks and I think that is probably why they were small

I use the 30 litre pots like Penellype and I use a slow release fertiliser called spuds galore. I've generally had good results. All that I do is put a couple of inches of compost in the bottom and then 2 (maincrop) or 3 (early) seed potatoes on top of this. I sprinkle some spuds galore around and between the potatoes. Top up to 1-2" below the rim and then all I have to do after that is water as all the feed required is already there and no topping/earthing up required. Easy to harvest too as you just tip the pot out and pick the potatoes.

[baps]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but it gives context.

Going to try Ikea bags as SarrissUK suggested, along with a couple of large pots. I was going to fill these with new compost and a little spud fertilizer, but just wondering what you guys use?

Baps.

[SarrissUK]

I put half finished home made compost in the bottom of mine, on top of cardboard, then a bit of well rotted chicken manure, then compost. It grew like there was no tomorrow during last summer, coping surprisingly well with the hot summer.
Let us know how it goes!

[Penellype]

Potatoes will grow in almost anything given enough feed and water. I use rotted compost fresh out of the hotbin, which is very chunky but contains a lot of nutrients. By the time the potatoes are ready the sticky, chunky compost has turned into something more manageable for other, fussier crops. I also use compost that has grown other things, including the contents of last year's hotbed which is basically pure rotted horse manure, with bfb added at planting time. I would only use bought compost if I hadn't anything else.

[Kirk]

I just locate the largest least cost plastic pots I can, usually been Wilko up until now. One year they had some really good plastic toy storage tubs that were low cost and perfect.

My mix is 2 parts compost and 1 part manure.
Think I fill about 1/3, then add potatoes then add rest of the mix to the top.
Depending on the pot I will add often 3 potatoes to grow, my pots are 50cm daimeter and either 40cm or 30cm deep. Either way half a meter across.

If memory is right half a bag of compost and half a bag of manure does a pot, the manure is a smaller bag.

Drainage is minimal as the big problem is maintaining some moisture, so giving it an easy escape route out the base seems counter productive.

I also grow in the pots, harvest by plunging hands in and when I have dragged out all the potatoes I will empty the used compost/manure on to the veg bed.

One odd thing is if I leave the old stuff in the pot then the next year it looks better (darker) then it was the first year. Have often wondered if the compost has composted down into something useful.

[Penellype]

One odd thing is if I leave the old stuff in the pot then the next year it looks better (darker) then it was the first year. Have often wondered if the compost has composted down into something useful.

Compost continues to rot down long after it is ready to use - it doesn't make any sense to say that it has "finished" rotting. This is why the compost level tends to drop over time. Therefore your mix of compost and manure will still be rotting and it will look darker and more rotted by the following year.

[baps]

Thanks guys. Looking forward to seeing how they go this year!

Baps.

[baps]

I grew tatties in an ikea bag that I mixed compost with soil after cutting holes in the bottom and around the sides, for drainage.
That worked very well and I had a healthy crop from that. I put eight potatoes in one bag. They are large bags And a steal at around £1.50 each!

Got some Ikea bags. Couldn't get measuring tape to focus, but they're ~75cm long. You put 8 spuds in that? Looking at it I was thinking more like 4.

Baps.