I've been reading up on ways to grow potatoes in a container. I'd like to give it a try just for the fun of it. My kids will get a kick out of fishing around for their own taters. I'm thinking of growing the fingerlings kind and was wondering if anyone here has done this before. I think I'm leaning towards the mulching method and would like to get some feedback and/or advice. Thanks, everyone.
Potatoes in containers?
I would post this in vegetable gardening also. I'm going to mark this thread. Interested in veggies in containers.
Great idea, vossner. Thanks.
This summer we tried growing potatoes for the first time. We had two big metal barrels and a bag of "organic" potatoes from the grocery store. The regular store potatoes are sprayed with something to deter them from sprouting, but the organic ones had little sprouts when we bought them. As a matter of fact, the grocery store discounted them since they had sprouted!!
Anyway, we cut them into pieces with an eye sprouted in each piece, and put them into about 6-8 inches of dirt. Every now and then we added leaves to the barrell as the potato plants grew upwards. Within a few weeks the plants were above the tops of the barrels. Then one day we went out there and found one of the barrels had NO plants sticking out, and as we got closer we saw a big fat possum sleeping in the barrel. Apparently he had gotten in but couldn't get out, and trashed the plants in the process.
The other barrel continued to grow but we weren't as diligent as we should have been adding leaves. (Hard to find fallen leaves in the summer around here.) We emptied out that barrell and found enough small spuds to fill a medium bowl. I cleaned them and put them in a pan and broiled them with butter and garlic - man, oh man, were they good!
We will try it again next year, but next time I think it would be better to mix the dirt with the leaves/mulch before planting the potatoes, and be more diligent about adding the mulch. The dirt at the bottom became very hard packed and digging them out was difficult - reaching way down there and digging at the same time without cutting into a spud. Next time I think we will also cover the barrells with a piece of fence or something to keep the critters out!!
duh, I just realized you moved this to the veggie forum, so I copied it over there.
My MOM tried last year in container but you will not believe the size .........those were smaller than hen eggs, so this year she will try in the ground.
Kaleem
Hi Kaleem,
I've heard that from other people, too. I wonder why they are small. How large was the container that your mom used?
Good point, size of pot matter the size of potatoes, she used 18 inch container. Those were too much in quantity. I think we had more than fifty but all were tiny..... : )
Kaleem