Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
kr222

Your Potato container harvest.

kr222
13 years ago

I was wondering if anyone has pictures of their potato containers (buckets, bags, flower pots, etc.) and the potatoes you grew in them. I was able to watch some online videos of container harvests (this is my idea of entertainment) and was wondering if anyone else would share their experiences. Thanks!

Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

Comments (7)

  • heather38
    13 years ago

    Sorry no photo's as I did that Photobucket thing, and it was a faf and I can't remember my pass word :)
    I used 3 methods, and will try and describe as best I can, first was a raised Bed 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 ft 8 inches deep filled with a mix of compost, peat moss, top soil and leaves to about 5 inches, and planted a 1lb of Yukon, and nearly 5 lb's of Russet Burbanks covered the seed pots to a depth of an 2 inches on top with the same mix, then put another raised bed, of 8 inches on top of that... they sort of clip together... badly but sufficiently, well for my needs then just filled with leaves to the top, I have an ample sufficiency of leaves living in NE to make this a cheap and easy option.
    yield, may not seem great on the Yukons but I wanted them as tiny New potatoes and got about 2 and 1/2 Lbs, the Russets aren't ready yet, so basically no Idea :).
    I had 2 pieces of Yukon left and I found an old stacker box and drilled holes in the bottom, same method of filling, except it was only 12 inches deep all told, not great yield, as in I made an error I think?
    for my Kenbenic?? I think they where called that? late season, I used the bags my compost, peat moss came in, put some hole's in the bottom and filled in the same way as all the rest.
    My mistake I think is that although I put the box and the bags next to each other, they heated up to much, so the kebenic, which have wilted and given me from the dead plants, enough for a meal from 2 bags, they are pretty poor in size, I have about 8 more hanging on in there, that said, the taste was still amazing from both the yukons and Kebenic's.
    we have had some serious hot weather for this area and little rain, but the bags held the moisture exceptionally well, as in damp not soaking, the container, not at all just dry all the time, the raised bed is cooler due to mass and holding moisture better as well without being soaked.
    I don't think my yield has or will be great this year, but the taste test so far has convinced me, that I will grow Potatoes again.
    what I will change is, I will use the bags again in the UK, as we don't get 8/9 weeks without any rain and temps in the 90-100"s that said I don't think CT has experienced that too often? and I will also continue with different maturing varieties, so I can store and have New, but the later varieties, I will probably do in ground or raised beds as I think it was the heating of the bags which have done them in, but earlies should be ready before it is a problem in the bags.

  • kr222
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for sharing your stories and pictures. I'm hoping to find some nice half barrels or buckets on sale to use for next season. The ones I have are only 3 gallons. They produced an okay crop, but I think they would have done better if they had more soil to moderate the droughts and heat.

  • deep___roots
    13 years ago

    Some of the spuds. Yum. (The spud with white spots has been quarantined! Moisture issue.) Then the containers...smartbags, old rotted out half wine barrel, 12 inch diameter drainage tubes, small garbage can. And those are tomatoes growing in the containers now. Once I harvested the potatoes, since the soil was so good I just put in tomatoes, which are doing quite nicely.
    {{gwi:88674}}
    {{gwi:88675}}

  • deep___roots
    13 years ago

    Also here is my potato trough built of surplus lumber. Took a couple hours to build. You can put 5 seed potatoes in it, or 3 tomatoes.
    {{gwi:88676}}

  • talonstorm
    13 years ago

    I have not harvested yet, but I am hoping for a nice harvest. This is my first year growing potatoes and I planted 7 containers (the 4 white ones are large 55 gallon plastic drums cut in half with drainage holes drilled, the 3 blue ones are containers from the big box store with holes drilled). The varieties I am trying are German Butterball, All Blue, and Katahdin. The plants are huge, lots of flowers and potato berries. The deer recently had a go at them, so I had to cover them in deer mesh, but they are still doing well. Here is a picture taken on 7/1 (before the deer problem):
    {{gwi:88677}}

  • whgille
    13 years ago

    I planted 4 different kinds of potatoes in the fabric bags.

    {{gwi:29613}}

    Some of the harvest

    {{gwi:44428}}

    Next season I am planning more potatoes.

    Silvia

  • deep___roots
    13 years ago

    As you can see, potatoes can be grown in just about any old thing you can think of. I do like the fabric bags made by smartpots (put a .com and you get their web site). These fabric bags are pretty versatile. If you buy them direct from smartpots they are a little cheaper than buying from a reseller. I bought 7 of them I think.
    I have 3 more plants to harvest. I think one is french fingerling (YAY!), a yellow finn, and probably a Yukon Gold. To put it mildly, I'm flush with potatoes!