Potato Bin Growing 2014 - Page 2

greenthumbomaha · November 15, 2014

Thank you for the excellent documentation. I was considering growing white or sweet potatoes in a 32 gal trash can that had split. I'm not terribly pleased with my yield growing above ground.

This summer I grew sweet potatoes in a raised bed and got nothing., just a fibrous root system. The same transplants grown nearby inground produced two inch tubers. Everything else did fabulous. I'll decide down the road about trying again.

Thanks again for sharing. The set up was very nice.

-Lisa

peppero · November 15, 2014

Thanks for the great pix Nathan. Ihope you are able to determime why the output was low. I have been disapointed in some of my potato efforts at times.

jon

NathanP · November 15, 2014

I suspect the low output is due to very dry weather. I only watered these two or three times during the entire growing season. Yields were low overall on nearly everything, but bins dry out quicker than plants in the ground.

dahoss2002 · November 16, 2014

Yours is the probably the most detailed "container potato" experiment I have seen. I have been waiting for your update and harvest. I have tried some pontiac reds in containers about 3' deep and got plenty potatoes but none higher than about a foot from the seed potato or just like they would be planted conventionally. Thanks for taking the time to share.

NathanP · November 16, 2014

Quote:

I have tried some pontiac reds in containers about 3' deep and got plenty potatoes but none higher than about a foot from the seed potato or just like they would be planted conventionally.

That is going to be the main problem with nearly all conventional potatoes. They have been bred to do exactly that to make mechanical harvesting easy. I suspect there may be some fingerling types that would set tubers at multiple layers, but even that is no guarantee.

When choosing varieties to grow in bins, it would be likely be better to source from private breeders and/or 'wilder types' with non-Tuberosum genetics in their background.

I would like to cross Papa Chonca with another variety like this that produces larger tubers at some point. I have yet to see it flower, so that work may need to be done by someone with a much longer growing season than I have in Rhode Island.

November 15, 2014	#16
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Thank you for the excellent documentation. I was considering growing white or sweet potatoes in a 32 gal trash can that had split. I'm not terribly pleased with my yield growing above ground. This summer I grew sweet potatoes in a raised bed and got nothing., just a fibrous root system. The same transplants grown nearby inground produced two inch tubers. Everything else did fabulous. I'll decide down the road about trying again. Thanks again for sharing. The set up was very nice. -Lisa

November 15, 2014	#17
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	Thanks for the great pix Nathan. Ihope you are able to determime why the output was low. I have been disapointed in some of my potato efforts at times. jon

November 15, 2014	#18
NathanP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: RI Posts: 183	I suspect the low output is due to very dry weather. I only watered these two or three times during the entire growing season. Yields were low overall on nearly everything, but bins dry out quicker than plants in the ground.

November 16, 2014	#19
dahoss2002 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Louisiana Posts: 43	Yours is the probably the most detailed "container potato" experiment I have seen. I have been waiting for your update and harvest. I have tried some pontiac reds in containers about 3' deep and got plenty potatoes but none higher than about a foot from the seed potato or just like they would be planted conventionally. Thanks for taking the time to share.