potato growing

Hey all, long time no chat!

Finances are a bit tight this year, and I want to try and cut down on my grocery bills so this year I'm looking to grow as much of my own veg as I can. I'm a "container-grower" though as my garden doesn't have decent area for ground growing, also I work as I childminder so containers keep the plants safe!

So, with this in mind, I want to try potatoes this year, never done them before. How easy are they? With my work, I was able to sign up for "grow your own potatoes" which arrived this week.

Does one potato grow one potato or bunch of potatoes? I've no idea how they work! What kind of care do they require?

 

Buy a veg grow bag from poundland and fill with about 5-6 inches of compost.

Once you have your spuds chitting as mentioned by JWK above, place them on top of this soil in the grow bag and then cover them up so that they are just covered. They will then send up a couple of leaves. Once they do this, cover them up with soil. It sounds and looks a bit barbaric but its for the best! (each time you cover the leaves, the plant sends out side shoots which is where you get your potatoes from)

Keep doing this, slowly working your way up the grow bag until you reach the top. Then let the leaves burst out into a bush form.

Again, as mentioned by JWK, they need a lot of water. They get quite big and bushy and shield a lot of the water so you need to get your watering can in there.

Once the flowers have died down, you can harvest and eat them as new potatoes. If left until the plants start to die, harvest and they'll be main crop potatoes.

 

Thanks you guys! The grow your own potatoes came with a tattie grow bag so I've got everything I need to get going. The box they came in has chitting tray inside. If I don't have a greenhouse when is ideal to start the chitting process?

 

Is growing spuds in a containers cost effective? Compared to growing them in the ground I get relatively light yields; we grow a few bags in order to have really early new potatoes, but the yield is always "disappointing". By the time I have paid for the seed tubers, multi purpose compost, and some fertiliser I reckon they would be much cheaper in the shop. Flavour is great, but for anyone on a budget, who is growing in containers or a small space, I would have thought going for higher value crops would be a better bed.

Be interested to know what others think?

 

I think you're right Kristen, seems like an expensive way of producing spuds. I've done it in the past, but only to get some very early spuds and for a bit of fun. I suppose it's not so bad if one can make their own compost....

 

I appreciate the opinions, thank you. I might just try the grown your own batch, but go for veg and fruit (I have another thread about).

Thanks everyone

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What variety is that JWK?

 

@JWK .....they look really good! I've got some Rocket, Maris Peer and Charlotte seed potatoes to try in containers. Firstly what fertilizer do you use to feed them with?

Also I'm getting a bit mixed up with first earlies and second earlies. Do I chit them all at the same time and then plant them at the same time in their different containers? Do second earlies just take longer to mature than first earlies?

Also how long does it take to chit them? And should the sprouts be about an inch long? Thanks.

 

Excellent post John

 

@JWK .....thank you. If they turn out as good as yours, I'll be more than happy!

 

Thanks everyone. Im sure one of the varieties in the grow your own box is rocket!

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