Growing potatoes in containers....is it worth it? easy?

[nctomatoman]

If you take a 5-10 gallon pot, can you get a reasonable yield of potatoes? I've heard of growing potatoes in straw or mulch - will this work in a container? If you plant, say, 3-4 pieces of potato in a pot, what is the expected yield? (trying to figure out if it is worth the space and effort...I suspect that irrigation would be critical, as in anything grown in pots with lots of vine in a very hot summer!)

[tjg911]

Craig,

I have read that in truth, growing potatoes in straw is not very successful. If I remember the yield was lower than when grown in soil, and that's low!

Putting 3-4 seed in a confined area will not be very successful, I have learned that crowded potato plants produce smaller spuds. I used to space them 8" now I space at 12" but of course this is in a row. I built a box, 4' X 4' X 1' and planted potatoes and mulched with straw. A gardening supply house in burlington VT had a box like that for $30 and claimed 50 pounds of potatoes. I wasted money on the rough cut hemlock boards for $10 but saved $20!

5 gallon container may give you a few pounds, try it for fun. 10 gal a bit better but as noted spacing is important.

I used a soaker hose last summer and got the best yields ever - 4 pounds per plant vs 1 pound or 2 if lucky. water is important! This year back to terrible yields with soaker hose 1 lousy pound per plant! Bottom line is potatoes yield 1-4 pounds per plant, it is hard to justify the space in a small garden. That is why potatoes are planted by the acre! Up in Maine, northern Maine, there is nothing but land, acidic soils and summers are cool. In NC I don't know about your soils but potatoes like 5.5 ph, that's pretty acidic. My soil is 6.4 - 6.8 so I get some scab on the skins. All that said, my potatoes taste good and store for 6 months but are better eaten in a few months, they get sweet in storage. A sweet potato (NOT a Sweet Potato/Yam) is an odd flavor!

Fresh potatoes are good but I can buy 5 pounds of organic potatoes at stop & shop for $3.99 or $4.99, it almost makes me want to just buy them. But I do like growing them.

Oh, did I mention Colorado potato beetles! Hungry buggers! The thw of potatoes cpb larvae eat the foliage not the potatoes vs the thw which as you know eats leaves and fruit. I think cpb can defoliate potato plants faster than thw can do that to tomato plants so you do have to address cpb. BT works against the larvae but it is the BT for POTATOES not the regular BT. I hand pick beetles and larvae and crush eggs. I usually do not use BT but you have to be diligent for a couple of weeks every other day!

Seems gonefishin (bill_p at gw in Texas) grows spuds so they can be grown in hot climates. He tried a barrel and had poorer results than in his garden.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[Tom Wagner]

The rational of growing potatoes in containers:

l. When space is limited such as small yard, apartment living, etc.
2. Increasing a variety for replanting
3. Growing organically or conventional
4. Growing seedling potatoes from true seed (TPS)
5. Observational purposes, photos, descriptions, etc.
6. Stem cuttings, i.e. single node/leaf rooted plantlet
7. Growing plantlets from tissue culture or mini tubers from labs.
8. Isolation requirements, free from other potatoes which may harbor pathogens.
9. Breeding purposes
10. Potatoes can be grown to maturity in one inch square containers on up.
11. Grafting potato scions to tomato rootstalks.
12. Off season, greenhouse growing
13. Fun.
14. Food.

Tom Wagner

[gardenmama]

Another added bonus to growing potatoes in a container-

They readily grow if you missed digging up a few the previous season.

I had this happen, though I had harvested all the Peruvian Purple Fingerlings last fall only to find that I must have missed a couple when they sent up their shoots this spring. We harvest another 2 pounds worth from a 5 gallon container. Another pleasant "volunteer" surprise just like a few of my tomatoes.

[Ard]

Okay I'll take...

2. Increasing a variety for replanting
5. Observational purposes, photos, descriptions, etc.
6. Stem cuttings, i.e. single node/leaf rooted plantlet
9. Breeding purposes
10. Potatoes can be grown to maturity in one inch square containers on up.
13. Fun.
14. Food.

But I'm not going to
11. Grafting potato scions to tomato rootstalks.
Well not yet any-hoo
Brian

[Moonglow]

I'm planting my fingerlings this weekend, and some will go to 10 gallon smart pots. I'm google-ing the spacing needed, and so far, no yield.

I'll continue the research, in the meantime if you have info, please post. Thank you!