Growing Potatoes in Containers

I have planted strawberries and they did wonderfully. Also planted some red potatoes and they did quite well. They all seem to like to be close and cosey. I love to watch things grow and multiply. Hope you have a productive summer.

I tried tomatoes in containers last year and they didn't do well at all, but no one else had good luck with tomatoes around here either, so I guess it was just the weather. I have one lonely potato in a container now and it's doing pretty well. Other than that, the only things I've grown in containers have been smaller plants like chives, mints and so on. Containers need to be watered more often than in the ground gardens, so if you're having a lot of rain (welcome to the club!), containers is the way to go. Also, you may need to fertilize container grown plants a few times, because the nutrients are limited to the amount of soil they have to grow in. Hope you have good luck with them.

This year we're doing both. (Sortof) For the potatoes, we put them in loose clods of dirt inside of stacked tires...and as they've been growing we've just been adding more and more clods of dirt...but now we've been running out of tired to add onto them xD Truthfully, we need more tire stacks than we have to grow enough to store for what we eat, but it's a good start...we can always work on it in the years to come. The rabbits have forced us to grow tomatoes in containers, as well. Only about eight plants remain in the finally fortified-enough garden area...and we've about ten tomatoes that I've nursed back to health up on the deck, along with three containers (one hanging basket and two plastic shoe box sized containers that we've tied to the railing) of cherry tomatoes, which have started to vine and flower along the deck. No fruit yet, but I reckon we'll have some mid-July. The rabbits just set us back a month. Placement of containers can be really important. And depending how much sun your plants need determine alot of that. This year we've been using alot of dried grass cuttings to put on top of the soil, to prevent moisture from escaping as quickly. Mostly...you know, just make use of what you have! For example; My live-in has a small circle for plants, and we put a few of his peppers in decaying/falling apart baskets along the side of the circle, since he had a bit many of them to fit in there.

In the UK they are selling these sacks that are like the big bags they move bricks around in, and when your potatoes are ready you just open the bottom to get them out. I saw a few good offers on them this year and was going to try them myself but never got round to it. I've attached a picture as my description isn't very good.

Hey WebMann hope all is well? I read about your water situation, ever consider cranberries or rice? LOL! As far as the potatoes go I used to subscribe to "Mother Earth Magazine" a long time ago, it's really good! They had a great article on using old tires for growing potatoes you just stack them up starting with 3 tires and adding more as the potatoes grow they showed them about 6 high at the end of the season and the tires were filled with potatoes! The black tires absorb the heat of the day and make it great growing medium and it doesn't take up much space! I personally didn't try it, because I lived in Idaho at the time and potatoes were pretty much free! If your really interested in this may there's more info on their web site! Good luck! tdemex

Growing vegetables is fun, as you enjoy the process of witnessing their growth, and in time the result of your labor, pure natural, so more healthy and better taste. I remember when younger I grew beans, corns in the backyard of our school, with help of my colleagues. The harvest was far beyond my expectation, that we share with each other for quite some time.

I've never heard of growing potatoes in containers other than sweet potatoes. I do know that people grow them in tires though with great success. I think it largely depends on how big the container is. I wouldn't put it in anything smaller than a 5 gallon bucket because it needs room to expand. I would also have a potting soil/sand mix so the potatoes have room to grow. When you isolate them, the can be smaller because they have less room to grow. I've had luck with putting potting soil/sand mixes together in planter boxes for peas and carrots. Peas grow above and the carrots below so it works for a duel purpose.

I grow my tomatoes in containers, since I now have an apartment instead of a house, and those do very well. Other things that do well are herbs, peppers, and cucumbers if you give them a wire cage to climb as they get bigger. Most important thing is good soil, pots with good drainage, check often to see if they need water, and keep them where they get a lot of sun. Good luck with the potatoes. I haven't tried those yet! Karen