Pathetic First Early crop

[Marb67]

Well, yet again a large pot grown harvest of first early potatoes has turned a pathetically small in number and size crop. Well watered and fed with organic potato feed granules and yet such a small yield. I would have thought that in a container they would have a really good yield. I spoke to a farmer who grew them on land for years and he once told you get better crop in containers than in the soil.

I had a furtle in the other 5 pots and in all there were 2 small spuds. Unbelievable!

[Nicos]

Have you pulled them a tad early?
What variety and when did you plant them?
The haulms look very healthy.

[Marb67]

It's sharps and can be pulled in June. I'll leave them a bit longer.

[Andraste]

sounds like a good plan Marb - we've grown sharpe's express and they need a good 12 weeks from planting for us.

[ameno]

It's sharps and can be pulled in June. I'll leave them a bit longer.

But when did you plant them? It's not which month you dig them out which matters, it's how long they've had to grow.

[Marb67]

But when did you plant them? It's not which month you dig them out which matters, it's how long they've had to grow.

so yes, you are right that they need a bit longer. Thanks.

[Marb67]

Ok, a month on and the foliage has died or gone pale and yet look at how pathetic the crop is !!! Absolutely can't believe this as it was given water, organic potato fertilizer in the base and well drained etc.

This is proof that you cannot get good yields of potatoes in containers. It just doesn't work!

[mothhawk]

Ok, a month on and the foliage has died or gone pale and yet look at how pathetic the crop is !!! Absolutely can't believe this as it was given water, organic potato fertilizer in the base and well drained etc.

This is proof that you cannot get good yields of potatoes in containers. It just doesn't work!

Actually yes you can, Marb. My 2 supermarket potatoes that chitted in the fridge and I shoved in a 50 litre (15" diameter) pot in a sack of westland organic farmyard manure produced these:



And all I gave them was water when they were dry. Planted in March, harvested first week of July.

[Penellype]

I've been growing potatoes in containers for several years and have come to the following conclusions (most of which are not surprising):
- potatoes grown in containers are much easier to harvest and it avoids damaging them while digging and leaving stray potatoes to sprout in the wrong place the following year.
- pest/slug damage is greatly reduced, often non-existent.
- potatoes need space, growing one potato in a small (say 10 litre) pot will not give you the same yield as one of 3 potatoes planted in a 30 litre pot. 2 seed potatoes in a 30 litre pot will give you more yield per seed potato but less yield per pot than 3 seed potatoes in that pot. With first earlies grown for new potatoes you can get a slightly better yield per pot with 4, but for main crop your yield will be lower because the potatoes will be smaller.
- yield is often critically dependent on whether or not the early foliage is damaged by frost.
- potatoes will grow in almost complete shade, but yields are noticeably lower.
- insufficient water will result in smaller yields and potentially "hollow heart" where larger potatoes have a hollow area surrounded by blackened tissue. This is more common in pots than in the ground.
- burying the bottom couple of inches of the bucket in the soil encourages the roots to grow through the drainage holes and results in a bigger crop.
- compost is crucial. I have experimented with various mixes from bought compost to fresh home made, to part horse manure, to reused compost freshened up with bfb. Even with regular feeding, potatoes like some fresher compost and however carefully I have tried to feed reused compost, the biggest yield ever from it is smaller than the smallest yield from fresh compost (not necessarily bought). I now always put a few inches of home made compost or well rotted manure at the bottom of the bucket and plant the seed potato in that before topping up with used compost fed with bfb.
- bags perform very much less well than rigid pots. I find them difficult to water because the foliage rests on the bag and bends it to create an easy pathway for the water to simply run off the compost and out of the bag. Once the compost is dry it can be nearly impossible to wet.
- for the biggest yields of decent sized potatoes, rub off all but 1 or 2 of the chits before planting and leave the foliage to die down before harvesting.

Typical examples of yields from 3 seed potatoes in 30 litre buckets are:
Lady Christl (1st early) - grown in sun at allotment 1.5 - 2.5kg. Grown in shade (against a north facing wall) 0.5 - 2kg
Desiree (maincrop) - grown in sun at allotment 2 - 4kg. Grown in shade 0.5 - 2.5kg
(some of the smaller yields were from 100% reused compost with bfb)

I have recently harvested 4 buckets of Lady C from the allotment for 2.1, 2.1, 1.9 and 1.45kg potatoes.

[bramble]

That's a very informative post Penellype...thanks for that.

[Snoop Puss]

Really useful post, Penellype. Thanks for going to all that effort to share the info.

Looks like your results, mothhawk, confirm Penellype's advice regarding pot size.

[Marb67]

Thanks Penellype, you clearly know your stuff. Much appreciated. I just don't have the luxury of space to accomodate large containers

[ameno]

- burying the bottom couple of inches of the bucket in the soil encourages the roots to grow through the drainage holes and results in a bigger crop.
.

I've definitely found this, which is why I now grow my first earlies in bottomless 20L buckets resting on top of a my asparagus bed (between the rows).
Quite a lot of roots are growing out of the bottom by the time I harvest (enough that I have to tug quite sharply to detach them), but all of the actual potatoes are still in the bucket.
I just use garden soil to fill the buckets, with a little poultry manure added.

[mothhawk]

yes, very useful post Pen, thanks.

... I now always put a few inches of home made compost or well rotted manure at the bottom of the bucket and plant the seed potato in that before topping up with used compost fed with bfb.
- bags perform very much less well than rigid pots.

I meant to add to my post that I put the potatoes almost at the bottom of the (15" tall) pot, sitting as Pen says on a couple of inches of compost, no more. I think depth makes a big difference, and in pots/tubs there's no need to faff with earthing up, just bury them deep to start. After all, field grown potatoes are earthed up at planting, aren't they? They will grow up to the light, no problem, and that length of stalk under the soil gives more room for potatoes to grow.

[Penellype]

yes, very useful post Pen, thanks.



I meant to add to my post that I put the potatoes almost at the bottom of the (15" tall) pot, sitting as Pen says on a couple of inches of compost, no more. I think depth makes a big difference, and in pots/tubs there's no need to faff with earthing up, just bury them deep to start. After all, field grown potatoes are earthed up at planting, aren't they? They will grow up to the light, no problem, and that length of stalk under the soil gives more room for potatoes to grow.

Thanks mothhawk. Potatoes develop tubers on the stems, not on the roots, therefore if you plant potatoes near the bottom of the container there is more length of buried stem for potatoes to develop on. Anything below the seed potato simply feeds the roots, hence putting the fresh compost/manure at the bottom and the reused stuff at the top.

Apparently "earlies" produce potatoes only on a short length of stem regardless of how deep they are planted, while main crop potatoes produce them up to near the surface. This is the basis of advice to plant 4 early seed potatoes staggered at 90 degrees at different depths in a bucket. It is also the reason why you may find it hard to locate deeply planted earlies by having a furtle. However, I am slightly sceptical about this - how does a potato "know" that it is an early variety or a maincrop? Lady C is a first early, but I have had plenty of occasions when I have had to cover potatoes that have appeared near the surface to stop them going green.