Sunday 24 March 2013

Planting potatoes

Because I don't have much space available I always grow my potatoes in containers. Last Friday I planted my first batch of the year - two tubers each of seven different varieties. In a couple of weeks' time I will plant another batch, but the size of the current batch was limited by the arrangements available for protecting them. With the weather being very Wintery again I don't want to plant any potatoes without protection of some sort.

Normally I would do my potato-planting outdoors, but the weather was so cold and windy that this time I did the task in the garage. This year I am trying the Miracle-Gro compost, which is artificially boosted with nutrients, so we'll see how good it is...


The containers I used were 12" florists' buckets, with holes drilled in them for drainage. I bought them at Morrisons supermarket - 8 for 99p. I find these are quite sufficient for one tuber each. I also use larger containers, but these small ones have one big advantage - I can fit a lot of them in my "seedling greenhouse" contraption:


This thing is designed to serve the same purpose as a coldframe, and is the same shape - that's to say it is taller at the back than it is at the front. I can (just) fit twelve of those florist's buckets inside it.


Do you see those labels? This year I am being a bit more organised than usual - I normally don't label the potato pots and then I can never tell which is which.

My method of planting is this: I put a fairly thin (5cm?) layer of compost in the pot, add a handful of pelleted chicken manure, then another handful of compost so that the potato tuber is not in direct contact with the manure; settle one tuber firmly into the compost in each pot and then cover it with more compost - again a layer of approx 5cm. I water the pots to make the compost uniformly moist but not wet, and then put them in the greenhouse thingy and zip up the cover:-


The way this thing is designed means that it does have a habit of collecting rainwater, which is why I have added a length of plastic cord about halfway down, to stop the lid sagging. Also, the overhang of the zip-up cover flaps about in the wind and lets in a draught if you don't do something about it, so I secure it with some clothes-pegs. (See next photo).

Later on, when the shoots appear above the surface of the compost, I add more compost to submerge them again. I repeat this procedure a second time, by which time the pots are full to the brim. This is the equivalent of "earthing-up" or "hilling".

I have also erected the first of my 2-tier mini greenhouses, which now accommodates a further two pots of potatoes:


When I get the chance I am going to put up one more 2-tier greenhouse cobbled together from the parts of two others. Some of the plastic bits have gone brittle with age and have cracked, while some of the metal struts are crumbling with rust, but I probably have enough good bits to make one complete greenhouse. I have also separately purchased a new cover. These things are fairly flimsy but don't cost a huge amount of money (about £25 for a complete kit or about £10 for a replacement cover), and they last several years. I think my oldest one must be nearly 10 years old, so I reckon they are worth the money.

So now the waiting begins. Early potato varieties take something like 3 months to mature, so it will be late June before I harvest any of them.

For the record, these are the varieties I planted:-
Accent, Swift, Rocket, Orla, Casablanca, Lady Christl and Ratte. I also have a few Pink Fir Apple, but they are not ready for planting yet.

20 comments:

  1. No comments from me for months and now two in one evening!!! I'd love to grow spuds and will try your method in pots in our new garden when we move. I've tried here but there are just two many things under ground that eat them!!! Spud growing always reminds me of an episode of Gardeners World that we watched in the UK when Bob Flowerdew was showing how he grew his spuds in old tyres! I remember thinking that his garden looked like a junk yard!!! Happy growing! x

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  2. I am hoping to start planting my potatoes this Friday, weather permitting.

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  3. Muy interesante el método de cultivar las patatas. Seguiré tu blog y si te funciona bien lo probaré el año que viene.

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    1. Hi Monica; You can be sure that this method works well (for me at least), because I have been using it for many years.

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  4. Do they blow away? I just took a 1.2 x 2m one back to the garden center as it self destructed and disappeared over the neighbors wall...

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    1. Hi Springleaf; Yes, they do blow away if you are not careful. I have sited mine in a fairly sheltered position, and (as you may just be able to see in my photo) I have weighted-down the greenhouse with a number of bricks.

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    2. Good plan. I have bought a larger 4x2m one now and I will cement in fence posts to strap it to - that should keep it in place!

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  5. You're off to a good start on potato planting! Wishing you lots of success in production.

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  6. I think I might try planting some potatoes soon and see how they go growing over winter. I have a number shooting in the cupboard which look like they will be better for planting than eating.

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  7. Ooh, glad you showed us your plastic coldframe, Mark. I think I need a couple of those. I already use the Morrisons' florist buckets for other bits and pieces and it's good to know that you can get 12 in one of those coldframes. Where did you get your frame from? I have something similar but (more 'house' shaped) that I put over a raised bed quite a few weeks ago. The frame was anchored and stayed put; the cover self -destructed in the gales of a few weeks back and I just had to chuck it in the bin - I must have got all of 2 weeks use from it! I think your method looks eminently workable and it would be good to get my spuds on the go in a couple of weeks. Caro x

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    1. Hi Caro; I'm not sure where the plastic coldframe (aka "Compact Seedling Growhouse")came from, because it was a gift, but I know that you can get them from Gardencentreonline.co.uk Here's a link:
      http://www.gardencentreonline.co.uk/Buildings-and-Storage-Greenhouses-Mini-Greenhouses-Compact-Seedling-Growhouse/1105-PD/default.html

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    2. Caro - you mentioned yours was "house shape" so was mine, could you stand up in yours? Mine had guy ropes attached only to the cover and when these pulled apart from the cover in the wind the whole thing blew away. Just wondering if yours had guy ropes too? and if this is a common weak point?

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    3. It looked identical to this one! I would not recommend, unless - as I have read someone else say - it is for indoor use!

      http://www.gardencentreonline.co.uk/Buildings-and-Storage-Greenhouses-Mini-Greenhouses-Botanico-Large-Walk-In-Greenhouse-Incl-Shelving/3021-PD/default.html

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    4. No, the "Compact Seedling Greenhouse" is nothing like that. As I said when I described it, it is intended to serve as a coldframe, so it is not very tall, and therefore less vulnerable to wind damage. I would still recommend putting it in a sheltered position though! (Or buy a proper coldframe if you can justify the expense...)

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    5. Sorry - confusing second post on my part! - I meant my one looked like the one I linked too! I think the smaller ones would be a lot more stable as they have far less side area to act as a sail...

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    6. My house-shaped coldframe WAS from Botanico, with velcro strips to attach cover to frame. It's not very tall, only a couple of feet high, maybe 3 with the roof shape. I wedged the frame over a raised bed with canes (the soil wasn't heavy enough for the - totally inadequate - pegs they provided) but the winds were so strong that the rather-too-tightly fitting cover was buffetted around and torn to shreds. The frame stayed put and I'll probably order another cover. I wish I could afford a proper coldframe but then, in a community garden, the glass would just get kicked in!!

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  8. I wonder when we will be able to plant our potatoes on the plot - June maybe?

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  9. Tried growing potatoes in containers (ca. 36 inch high) this year and the yield was low compared to what I had hoped for/read online. I used a couple different varieties of seed potatoes and the plants grew up as I added more dirt and looked great, but the only potatoes I got were down in the very first 6-12 inches of soil; nothing above that. Had a lot of miniscule roots shooting off the main stems as the plants grew up but these didn’t send out more tubers. Any ideas on what I may have done wrong?

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  10. It depends on what you call a low yield. In my opinion, growing potatoes in containers is more about quality and accessibility than quantity. Most of mine are in the lower part of the container too. I think this is normal.

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  11. The key is to cover the stalks while they’re still soft. If the stalks have a chance to get hardened by the sun, they won’t transform into roots and the extra potatoes won’t develop. So if you plan to go away for a week while the plants are still growing, it’s game over.

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