any potato experts?

forgotmyname

Watched the show on BBC2 yesterday edible gardening.

She grew potatoes in pots with compost & got some but not big or that many, Ones grow in soil did a lot better.

I grew some in garden bags last year (the green ones from poundland), Used B&Q's big bags of compost 120L ones and had the same,
Some potatoes but not many & not that big. I thought the same picked too early?

What did i do wrong? Something in the compost the potatoes do not like or a missing ingredient they need?

Thanks

Mankysteve

i threw a couple of seed potatoes in some bog standard compost in a highly shaded back yard with no fertiliser and they did really well for some reason.

A._Badger

forgotmyname wrote: »

Watched the show on BBC2 yesterday edible gardening.

She grew potatoes in pots with compost & got some but not big or that many, Ones grow in soil did a lot better.

I grew some in garden bags last year (the green ones from poundland), Used B&Q's big bags of compost 120L ones and had the same,
Some potatoes but not many & not that big. I thought the same picked too early?

What did i do wrong? Something in the compost the potatoes do not like or a missing ingredient they need?

Thanks

Did you feed and water them? Potatoes are a hungry and thirsty crop. Given that they will almost always do better in 'real soil', a decent compost, plenty of water and regular applications of a good liquid fertiliser will ensure a decent crop given good weather.

morg_monster

I have planted early potatoes in morrisons buckets (singly) and maincrop in purpose made potato growbags from the garden centre (3 to a bag). I put some poultry manure pellets down in the compost before adding the spuds which I read on another gardening forum, hopefully this will give them some food, not sure if it'll last the whole growing period though. I will probably give them some generic veg/plant food later on in the season.
This is my first year so no clue what the spuds will be like but the plant is growing like the devil! Already filled up the buckets with soil after about 1 month of growing.

forgotmyname

Water them daily a good soaking until the water runs out of the bag.

Not sure if it fed them last year? I did have chicken pellets but did i use them on the potatoes?

Whats best beside the chicken pellet? blood fish & bone?

Shady part? Mine are in fairly full sun for most of the day, is that bad?

Thanks

surfsister

comfrey is a great and free source of goodness for plants it grows wild everywhere and bees love it. i grow loads around edge of veg garden to cut 3 or 4 times each spring then leave over potato bed. If you could find some it's great to lay on top of potatoes or inside grow-bag. It rots quickly and provides lots of nitrogen and trace elements.

Sally_Davies

Hi all. Just to add my two pennyworth - I grow potatoes, mainly early varieties (live in the South West, world capital of late blight, yuk) both in the ground and in tubs. Absolutely you need to water and feed them in the tubs, so if you're a bit lazy, the ground is better! Otherwise yours will end up looking like poor Alys Fowler's - poor dab, I thought she was going to burst into tears, I know how it feels..
I earth mine up to stop the light getting in and turning your spuds green, but I don't use earth, I use grass clippings. Well, they're there and you've got to do something with them, and they just make the compost heap go all slimy. I think they put the slugs off a bit as well as keeping out light and keeping in moisture.
Last year I had good success with a main crop potato, gasps in amazement - before they always pegged out in the blight. I grew a Hugarian variety Sarpo Axona. They were untouched by the blight (which slew my every tomato plant) and were yummy. They also lasted well in the ground despite killer frosts - I came across a little patch I'd forgotten a couple weeks ago and amazingly they were still edible. So would heartily recommend them. There's another blight-resistant variety, Sarpo Mira, but I haven't tried them yet. Going again with the Axona this year.
Happy spudding all! :j