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

Top_Banana_2

Thanks, TrulyMadly.

So, basically I just build up the soil around each plant? How often do I do this?

TrulyMadly

As the potato grows just keep earthing up. Maybe every week.All you need to see is the green potato leafy tops. Don't cover the leaves as they need the sunlight

purple_spider

Hiya, I'm new to the greenfinger board. This year I'm trying to grow some veg in my garden and would like to plant some New Potatoes in a large pot/bag and wondered if anyone had any recommendations on easy types to grow and/or where to buy them from.

I'm trying to keep costs down and have looked in my local wilkos but they only had regular potatoes. Any advice will be greatly appreciated

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

purple_spider wrote: »

I'm trying to keep costs down and have looked in my local wilkos but they only had regular potatoes. Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Any sort of potato and pull them out early.

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

mouseymousey99

Hello - Well, they are going a bomb, and I've just been out to earth them up again. Quick question (please) how long do I keep this up for? Do I need to fill the entire bag by the time they are ready? I now have about 12" of compost in the bags and I've left about 2" of green showing. (Oh I am feeding them on tomato fertiliser)...as always..many thanks.

jabba4

Just keep topping the bag up until you reach the top. Start harvesting once they have flowered. But there's no need to take them all out of the bag, just root out enough to eat.

I wouldn't worry about feeding them just yet or you'll get a lot of green growth and not much root growth. Give them a good feed once that are starting to flower (ie when the buds are showing).

Prudent

I bought some haxnicks potato bags (see: http://www.dobbies.co.uk/acatalog/Haxnicks_Potato_Planter_Info.html) and a mixture of seed potatoes. I chitted the first earlies and planted 3 chitted potatoes per bag over 3 weeks. I had planted the potatoes in 10 cm of compost as on the instructions. The shoots are now appearing over the soil and Ican't find the instructions. Should I now add more compost?

I bought some more bags today to start on my next pototoes which have now chitted. I also bought some organic potato fertiliser. When do I start to add this to the bags?

Many thanks - real newbie to all this

TrulyMadly

Hiya,
Yes it's the same principle as if you were earthing them up in the ground. Keep adding the compost and the potatoes will grow upwards through it. Make sure you don't cover all the green tops though - the sun needs to do it's magic!

madhouseof4

I have some similar bags and the shoots are just appearing here too. I basically keep them earthed up to right below the top leaves. Not sure about the fertiliser though, but will be watching for answers with interest!