Growing potatoes in a bag

Samsonite1

I saw a brief video on the BBC website about growing potatoes in a bin bag. Just wondered if anyone had done this? Quite fancy having a few bags along the back wall producing spuds, but need some evidence that people really do this!

Fosterdog

I haven't done it purely because I already have tubs that are just the right size and shape for my needs and they are in an area that gets plenty of sun all day, however a few friends have used the bags and have had lots of success and reading into it online it is a much better way to grow them than in tubs if you can't get them in the ground due to the fact you can tuck the sides down to allow more light in and raise it up when needed but tubs often block the light if the sides are too high.

I might try one next year as I'm growing more and more things the tubs I use will come in handy for something else.

forgotmyname

I have in the cheap green popup garden bin bags sold in the £ shop. Although last time i looked they seemed much smaller than previous years.

Ive had good crops from them, but i also spotted that show where he said dont just plant one but put 2 or 3 in to get a better yield.

Would be interesting to try. 2 bags with 1 potato and 2 bags with 2 potatoes and 2 bags with 3 potatoes to see which gives a better yield.

To empty mine i lay down a plastic sheet and used my hands to pull some potatoes and soil out and then when light enough just tip the rest out. Pick the crop and then scoop the soil back in.

Gers

I've just planted up 5 x 8 litre bags with only one tuber in each. This is my first time trying to grow potatoes so I can't tell if it works though I can't see why not as this is the method described online. No banking up needed.

I mixed in some well rotted horse manure just to 'help'.

Some friends of mine have had great success with much larger green bags every year.

Good luck with it.

Fosterdog

forgotmyname wrote: »

Ive had good crops from them, but i also spotted that show where he said dont just plant one but put 2 or 3 in to get a better yield.

Would be interesting to try. 2 bags with 1 potato and 2 bags with 2 potatoes and 2 bags with 3 potatoes to see which gives a better yield.

I'm trying something similar this year after reading that to get bigger baking potatoes rub off all but two shoots and only plant one or two seed potatoes in a tub/bag and leave them in the ground longer, there will be fewer produced but they should be big. The others I have put ther in the tub with all shoots on so should have more smaller.

forgotmyname

Gers wrote: »

I've just planted up 5 x 8 litre bags with only one tuber in each. This is my first time trying to grow potatoes so I can't tell if it works though I can't see why not as this is the method described online. No banking up needed.

I mixed in some well rotted horse manure just to 'help'.

Some friends of mine have had great success with much larger green bags every year.

Good luck with it.

You should still earth them up. Better results from that even in bags. I only half fill or just under half depending on bag size. And then add soil/compost etc to earth them up to the top of the bag.

Dont pack it down tight though. I keep it nice and fluffy just in case that prevents the potatoes growing.

Gers

forgotmyname wrote: »

You should still earth them up. Better results from that even in bags. I only half fill or just under half depending on bag size. And then add soil/compost etc to earth them up to the top of the bag.

Dont pack it down tight though. I keep it nice and fluffy just in case that prevents the potatoes growing.

Am following the advice here.

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-bags

Fosterdog

Gers wrote: »

Am following the advice here.

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-bags

That's probably because they are only using an 8 litre bag, that's probably a third to a quarter of the size of the proper potato growing bags, maybe even smaller, so they wouldn't need earthing up as there is limited space.

With the full size growing bags earthing up would be needed otherwise the potatoes either won't get enough light or will be planted too shallow for good results.

Gers

Gers wrote: »

I've just planted up 5 x 8 litre bags with only one tuber in each. This is my first time trying to grow potatoes so I can't tell if it works though I can't see why not as this is the method described online. No banking up needed.

I mixed in some well rotted horse manure just to 'help'.

Some friends of mine have had great success with much larger green bags every year.

Good luck with it.

Fosterdog wrote: »

That's probably because they are only using an 8 litre bag, that's probably a third to a quarter of the size of the proper potato growing bags, maybe even smaller, so they wouldn't need earthing up as there is limited space.

With the full size growing bags earthing up would be needed otherwise the potatoes either won't get enough light or will be planted too shallow for good results.

Yes. And I'm using eight litre bags.

barbiedoll

Oh, do have a go...I grew mine in green bags which I got from Poundland. I bought the out-of-date seed potatoes for 10p a bag from Wilkinsons. I'd missed the window for buying them from our excellent local garden centre and thought that a 30p punt was worth it, I already had a couple of bags of compost (2 years old) lurking in the back of the shed so I just filled the bags and threw the shrivelled, sprouting seed potatoes in, watered well, and waited.

We had a fantastic crop, and this year I'm going to have a go at growing them in my old wicker washing basket which is just the right size/shape for the plants.