Potato Patio Planters -CHEAP

hopefulshell07

Hi all I did do a search for these so sorry if already posted.
Haxnicks Potato Patio Planters for £4.98 for a pack of 3 in my local Homebase, not sure if this is everywhere as they are not online. The barcode is: 516092103
I just did an online search and I can't find them anywhere for under £15!!!

alanobrien

They were also doing 3 with 15 seed spuds (3 varieties) for the same price last week.

ronald208

Hi What sort of yield do you get from these planters?

Is it worth spending £5 for the planter and £10 for 160 litres compost to get perhaps 10 kg of potatoes that would cost £3 from a supermarket?

Ron

Yategirl

ronald208 wrote: »

Hi What sort of yield do you get from these planters?

Is it worth spending £5 for the planter and £10 for 160 litres compost to get perhaps 10 kg of potatoes that would cost £3 from a supermarket?

Ron

you don't have to buy the planters - you can use a builders bucket or a rubble sack (etc).. I have used florist buckets which I got free from a supermarket. You can also use sprouting potatoes from your supermarket pack rather than buy specific seed potatoes. Compost - wickes usually sell 4 x 80l bags for £10 - the offer should be out very soon.

Potatoes are one of those vegetables that you can buy very cheaply so isn't always worth growing for price factor, however... the taste of fresh homegrown potatoes is wonderful and it is a real treasure hunt for children (if you have them) to "dig" the potatoes up! I try and grow 1-4 pots worth at some point during the year (and often for christmas dinner!) just for the taste, for new potatoes on christmas day and for the children to enjoy 'digging' them up for me!

curly_cabbage

Theses look great, but have you tried the blue bag you can buy from Ikea they do a large bag for about 50p and i small bag for about 15p, that what we are going to use this year since the pennies are alittle tight.

CC

jaffacat_2

we brought some of the big IKEA bags this am, how many seed pots are you going to put in each big bag?

We are going to make holes in the bottom/sides for drainage

fedupandskint

Can I use an oldstyle black dustbin? Do I need to put the lid on and how many sprouting pots can I put into one?

Would an old Sainsburys bag work also. The strong thick ones which are sewn that cost 50p not the ones that rip?

Any advice is welcome as I nearly bought a planter for £20 then read some advice on here about using sacks and then I realised I had an empty unused old bin!

alanobrien

fedupandskint wrote: »

Can I use an oldstyle black dustbin? Do I need to put the lid on and how many sprouting pots can I put into one?

Would an old Sainsburys bag work also. The strong thick ones which are sewn that cost 50p not the ones that rip?

Any advice is welcome as I nearly bought a planter for £20 then read some advice on here about using sacks and then I realised I had an empty unused old bin!

Yes, just drill some drainage holes in the bottom, put no more than 5 seed spuds in it and no do not use the lid as that will omit light. Put a couple of inches of compost over the spuds and wait. Once the green shoots appear add more compost and wait again until green shoots appear. Repeat until the bin is close to full. Water and fertilise frequently. I use two such bins each year and get a good crop. Good luck.

mumofjusttwo

I have a little wooden toy box. Could I use this? I don't use it anymore so don't care if it sits outside?

Golden_Anemone

Just be careful that whatever planter you use, it is completely opaque. If any of the potatoes are exposed to light they will turn green and green potatoes are poisonous. Good luck.

mumofjusttwo

It is pale wood. I am thinking about maybe lining it with pond cover (or something) and pocking some wholes for drainage.

I would like DS to help me so the toy box would be ideal as he can stand up and do it .