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

sb44

tanith wrote: »

But not now , its way too early and too cold.... March is about right...

No, I'm not doing anything outside except walk to school, it's too flippin cold to do any gardening!

tanith

I don't think it matter as long as they are strong enough to hold the soil without collapsing

sb44

tanith wrote: »

I don't think it matter as long as they are strong enough to hold the soil without collapsing

Thats great, thanks very much for your advice.

Can't wait to have a go now, I just hope we get some sun this year.

:rolleyes:

A._Badger

sb44 wrote: »

Will thick blue rubble bags be ok or do I need to use something with a black lining?[/quot

Blue is absolutely fine. As for the time of year, if you happened to have a cool greenhouse, you could even plant them now. With a bit of jiggery pokery, it's possible to grow spuds almost all the year round in the UK.

Broomstick

Thanks for this idea - I'd been wondering about a cheap alternative to those expensive potato planters for our patio and I have some spare rubble sacks.

My question is about seed potatoes. Some of the organic spuds in our veggie box start to sprout if they are left in the warm. Would it be possible to use some of the smaller ones as seed potatoes for next year or is there something special about the 'seed potatoes' you buy from garden shops?

Many thanks

nodwah

Plant them deep and keep them in a shed til the shoots appear them bring them out into the light - Bob Flowerdew plants his spuds in teh autumn!

Listen to today's gardeners question time on BBC iplyer - they wer talking about this very thing

nodwah

Broomstick wrote: »

Thanks for this idea - I'd been wondering about a cheap alternative to those expensive potato planters for our patio and I have some spare rubble sacks.

My question is about seed potatoes. Some of the organic spuds in our veggie box start to sprout if they are left in the warm. Would it be possible to use some of the smaller ones as seed potatoes for next year or is there something special about the 'seed potatoes' you buy from garden shops?

Many thanks

You can grow the sprouting spuds but you will get a smaller crop than if you use the big ones.
Growing spuds from your fridge can be very controversial among gardeners - but just do it anyway!

Alan_Cross

I've been inspired to have a go at growing my own new potatoes indoors in a a container.

Apparently you can use any old container, plant at any time of year and use any old potato which is starting to sprout.

Can anyone confirm the truth of this or is there, as I suspect, more to it..?

mypet62

its true old buckets old composts bags anything just keep wettered!:j

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

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