growing potatoes in an empty compost bag? (Merged Thread)

arkonite_babe

We have a thread similar to this already, I'll add your query to it so all the replies are together. Posts are listed in date order so you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up

kittykat500

Are there varieties of potatoes that can be grown now?

I am just 'firkling' some earlies that were planted in March of this year - my first attempt ever at growing potatoes! They are delicious if very sparse - probably because they weren't earthed up enough!

tomsolomon

I was reading about this, if you want to do some Christmas ferklin, you can plant early's undercover, as late as August, September....:eek:

mardatha

Mine just coming into flower --how long do I wait once the flowers have withered ?

offerto

ellas9602 wrote: »

hello :hello: I bought a small bag of speciality new potatoes from sainsburys (they are all nobbly and were really nice- reduced from £2 to 10p!)and saved a few to grow in pots. They are chitting like mad now is it too early to plant them? I'm in t'North....it's been really mild here this week.

Also where do you all get compost from cheaply? I have made some but it doesn't look very good and I wont have enough for all the veggies I'm growing this year. Can I bulk compost out with garden soil?
Thanks

i got some of these.. they are a variety called `anya`... and they are very tasty

Sunnyday

Hi everyone,
i dug my spuds up yesterday and have left the really tiny ones on the garden table in the hope that they will start sprouting and i can use them as seed potatoes.
Is this the best place for them? I`m not sure if they will be attractive to birds or if this will send them green or not.
Where would you put them if they were yours? I would like to plant them soon.
SD

Lord_Gardener

You need warm dry conditions with plenty of light - an old egg box on a window sill is ideal - remember stalk side down. Once chitted and growth about 2 to 3cm long, pop them in the ground for Christmas!

Igol

RHS advise against it.
Eating spuds are more likely to carry diseases and ruin the crop next year, seed potaotes are certified disease free. If your willing to take the risk though I'd treat them like any spuds that your storing long term.
Clean the dirt off let them dry for a day or so and stick them in a paper or hessian bag in a dry place until next year.
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_november_1_potato.asp
loads of good info on this site too.

Lord_Gardener

I think the op wants to grow them now! Of course the best route is to use a seed potato but you'll be lucky to get any at the moment! Crop rotation is the best plan to avoid disease - don't plant in same place for a subsequent crop of same plant. We always plant up a hand full or two of our main crop for Christmas potato's in pots!

Sunnyday

Thankyou,

i do want to plant now for Christmas potatoes and seed potatoes arn`t proving easy to find.
I`ve used a little of the original soil in some bags in readiness for the potatoes but the rest will be taken from the front garden to top up the bags.
The potatoes were lovely and seem disease free so i`m hopeful that the next batch will be good too.
SD