I caved to the pressure of growing potatoes. Everyone has such beautiful potato pictures and I wanted to share in the potato joy. My problem is that I just don't have the garden space to dedicate to potatoes, especially when I hear so much about bins and covering them with more and more soil as they grow, but I do have pots. I have a TON of pots that I used while container gardening and now that I transplanted the blueberries, I have more pots. I thought to try to grow bin potatoes in a pot...wouldn't it really work out the same? Hopefully?
So I put the cut seed potato in the bottom of the pot with a few inches of soil.
Then I covered the potato with another few inches in hopes it will sprout. As it grows, I'll put some more soil in the pots The only problem is getting that sun way down in the pots. So I tipped them all to the side.
Yeah, I'll be hearing from the HOA about this one, won't I?Please let it work, please let it work, please let it work.
I just did the exact same thing! They'd better do something this year, or it's over between me and potatoes. (hmm...I think this is the 3rd year in a row i've said that) hehe. I think my biggest problem last year was not enough fertilizer...
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering where you are getting all those big pots? I think the last ones I bought were about $12 each, and not that large.
ReplyDeleteDang it, EG. I just read that they didn't like fertilizer and now you say they need more? We're doomed...doomed I say.
ReplyDeleteActually, I was really wondering if our soil just gets too warm too quick for them, but it will only be worse in pots than in the ground. Looks like it's sweet potatoes for us.
They're easy to come by in the larger stores. They're all just plastic. Wait until you see the ones I'm whuppin out for the sweet potatoes. Those are pretty darn big. They're not cheap, but I'll use them over and over and over.
ReplyDeleteTell 'em it's an art installation. Philistines.
ReplyDeleteGood luck - this is my last year growing unless someone puts out!
Threatening the potatoes to 'put out' or you'll abandon them all together, Stefaneener! How's that for a little peer pressure. ;)
ReplyDeleteToo funny! My next post will be on potatoes... That is a good idea though. My potatoes are/will be in buckets, and I hadn't thought of tipping them.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about growing potatoes, it seems either you have the touch or not. So far it has been not for me. But have I given up? NO. Sheesh, the one time I successfully grew a few potatoes was when I didn't mean to. A piece of potato got added to the soil with some compost and grew and produced. This year I've gone way out on a limb, tried to guarantee failure, planted them late last fall and they've made it through the winter so far...
ReplyDeleteLooks good! I grew potatoes in pots last year and they grew great. I even grew some in compost bags and they grew well too. The whole bin thing with all that soil depth is nonsense as I found out. A pots depth is plenty!
ReplyDeleteribbit - although sweet potatoes don't like alot of fertlizer, regular potatoes are considered heavy feeders.
ReplyDeleteRibbit, take one pot and fill it to the top with good compost and compare it to the others. I planted one 16" deep last year and it did fine. http://www.jbest123.com/?cat=6
ReplyDeleteRibbit, the hell with the HOA, I think the pots are gorgeous! And tipped like that they look artsy in the garden! I hope it works out for you, it may affect the yield a bit having them in pots, but it may not matter since you have so many of them. I do simple bins out of chicken wire filled with straw to combat the heat element here, but your HOA definitely wouldn't like that one! Looking forward to your potato experiences, I caved to peer pressure last year, and it got worse this year since I am actually trying 3 varieties instead of 1. I got a bag of potato fertilizer free with my order last year, but I will admit I only used it at planting time and forgot after that, lol, but I still got potatoes anyways.
ReplyDeleteYou should have a great outcome with your container potatoes. They actually do fine in containers. Potatoes are less fussy than most people make them out to be. They want light soil that was previously well amended, adequate steady watering while growing, decent fertilization through their growing period, and the seed piece has to be deep enough to give room for the crop to grow above it. Nothing much more beyond that really. The container should help you to ensure all those requirements are met.
ReplyDeleteThose plastic pots tend to degrade in our southern sun (mine lasted about 3-4 seasons in the sun before they started breaking apart in my hands:(. I have to ask, how bad is your soil bill?! I remember all the container gardening I did in GA and S FL- $$$!
ReplyDeleteThou shalt not discuss the cost of gardening. It's the first rule.
ReplyDeleteThese pots are going on 3 years and occasionally I've had one that I've dropped too hard and it's cracked, but over all, they've been holding up well.
LOL, I am trying my hardest to figure out a spot so I can cave into the potato peer pressure as well. Gonna try a build as you grow box ala Sinfonian if I can find any little scrap of spot in my yard to put them other than out in the middle of the lawn. Still searching, but I have at least another month before I need to start them. Maybe if I just rip out that one bush ....
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