Grow pots

[bowdonkey]

I decided to try growing potatoes in buckets next year. So I scoured the internet for ideas. The ones that have a good track record for longevity are from England. But they aren't sold here, so a quest for the toughest most UV resistant bucket has been underway for the last 2-3 years. An exhausting task. I'm no closer to which is best than when I started. So I gave in and impulsively bought 10. In hindsight I should have bought one and checked quality before going all in. Or better yet ask you all your advice. I get a bunch of them at the town compost area every year. Most are too flimsy, but a few seem sturdy enough. I checked the bottom but what seems to be the best have no useful information,  not even a recycle code. I like recycling feed bags which I explained elsewhere. Got 18 planted this year. But bags have the drawback of slowly leaning over if you don't take precautions at the start, especially after the foliage gets up there. And I think pots may retain water better. Grow pots should be easier to pickup and move too, though I suggest having a permanent spot for them especially when they're growing. The Brits who really do a lot of this use 8 and 10 gallon pots, 30 and 35 liter. I bought 15 gallon! Go big or go home eh? Mostly it was to get the depth. Ours just didn't seem deep enough. Anyway when these come in I'll let you know if they make the grade or I try another brand. 

[mogal]

Don't know what brand they were because we got some of the "cloth" bags at auction for pennies on the dollar. I wasn't impressed as they were impossible to keep moist enough. Got very few potatoes. I was growing in almost straight compost which may have had an impact with too much nitrogen or whatever. We've grown with better results in 20 gal cattle supplement tubs. In those I've used either commercial potting mix $$$ or potting mix with compost. We just dumped out one of those 20 gal tubs that had 2 plants in it--don't remember variety and by the scale got 3# of decent sized potatoes.

This year, I had no way to till my gardens so just mowed closely on them. laid out rows, set down seed pieces 1' apart, covered it with mulch ala Ruth Stout. Weeds have grown up through the mulch which was seedy hay waste anyway so harvest will be a bear. However, just one plant I "dug" had far more and larger potatoes. It was a red variety--have the variety tag somewhere--and I roasted some with herbs, salt and pepper. They were delish!

[dw]

My experiment for the yr is potatoes in feed sacks...I'll let you know later how it worked.

[bowdonkey]

I've been doing that for a few years dw. This year I have 18 bags. Two things I learned was adequate nutrients at planting time and watch moisture levels. Bags tend to dry out. Also have a way of keeping the bags upright as they grow. They tend to lean over due to gravity and foliage growth. On the tubs next year I plan on 2 or three fence posts and twine stretched between them to hold up the foliage as they grow. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but the grow pots came in. I got 15 gal, 10 would have been big enough. Don't get them any bigger than the Brits recommend,  8-10 is perfect. These may get borderline to heavy to lift into a wheelbarrow. This Sunday we have a potato reveal for a couple of the bags I planted early. Stay tuned.
 Potato reveal, the two Satinas were OK. Both needed a little more time. One Mega Chip, OK yield. These are cousin to Kennebec and are supposed to be an improvement. According to the foliage it needed more time. And 1 Red Maria, needed at least two more weeks, possibly more. Low yield. But I threw it in because the guy that took them needed some color for potato salad. And there you have it. OK overall, but everything needed a few more weeks. 

[bowdonkey]

Yesterday the FedEx guy delivered some 10 gal buckets. $61 total, not bad. Both orders had 11 buckets each! These are the biggest size the Brits use for potatoes. I'll probably plant a couple in potatoes but these are for tomatoes and peppers up against the south side of the house. The peppers grown this way do the best. Out in the regular garden it can be a crap shoot. This year they did poorly. 4 buckets by the house saved the pepper harvest. The best part about containers is no to low weeding. No hoes, just pull them out. I'm sure there's something I overlooked but anything to reduce weeding is worth a try. 

[dw]

My plants looked beautiful in the feed sacks, never bloomed and started to get brown. I decided to dump one sack yesterday, expecting nothing. It was full of good potatoes. I have never had potatoes that didn't bloom? I did pick off about 1/2 doz. potato beetles and I have never had them before. It was so easy getting the potatoes out of the dumped over bag, I am hoping to do it again. Need some opinions from those of you who do this.