Jodie Weston
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Editors Note: This is a great post “From the Vault” that has been updated and amended.
I have never met a potato I did not like. Seriously. There was period during the 80s that I refer to as my potato years. I shunned meats of any kind and pretty much subsisted for weeks at a time on baked potatoes, asiago cheese, and apples. That, plus my morning latte was it. I would go weeks and weeks on a steady diet of potatoes and little else.
Somewhere along the line, I gave up such foolishness and started eating a bit more normally. Well, maybe not normally but certainly with a lot more in the way of variety and protein foods.
I wrote about my teensy weensy garden in Getting Prepared Week 6: Planning the food garden. Back then, I promised a progress report but to tell the truth, there just isn’t any progress to report yet. My seedlings are scrawny and barely alive. Too cold and not enough light would be my guess. I am going to start anew when the weather dries out a bit and yes, I am going to have to purchase some starts.
But in the meantime, I bought a couple of small seed potatoes (40 cents worth to be exact – the clerk thought I was nuts, only two?) and set my sights on growing a few taters in a tub.
Here is the plan, although I will be using an old Rubbermaid tub (see above) and not a compost bag or potato growing bag.
Is it going to work? Sure hope so. The seed potato variety is called “Cal White” and according to our local garden center, they are of the early season type. Here in the Pacific NW, a short season variety is crucial if we expect a harvest of anything before October.
The Pallet
Pallets are sometimes easy to get. Feed stores and other places sometimes will give you a few or you can buy them for a dollar or two. Most are made of pine that is untreated and put together with small nails. The really heavy ones are made of hardwood and not as common. Either one can be used to make a box to grow potatoes. The idea is to put 4 pallets together to form a box that you can fill with growing medium. This is lasagna gardening with potatoes. Add some compost or dirt and then plant potatos.
Only fill about ¼ full and then keep adding dirt as the green growth starts poking its way through. This causes a heavy root system that goes deep and allows for taters all the way down. When they are ready to harvest you can remove a side and harvest with no digging.
You can also reuse the soil but it might require some shoveling back into your box. You can grow a lot of potatoes in a small space like this. A standard pallet is 4 feet x 4 feet so you get 16 sq ft of growing space with a mere 4 pallets but the amount of potatos that you get is far greater than you would get off of a comparable space that is not done using the layered method.
Smaller containers
You can absolutely grow using smaller containers. Potato blossoms are actually quite pretty and the foliage is green and nice. It is recommended that if you choose smaller containers that you
Barrels
It is possible to use a barrel cut in two for growing potatos. Use a hacksaw or reciprocating saw to cut a food grade plastic barrel in half. This gives you a bottomless circle that you can move wherever you want to grow potatoes. When they are ready to harvest you can wiggle the container and lift up. No digging no problem.
So why grow some taters in a tub? Let me count the ways!
1. Space or lack thereof. If blessed or cursed (depending on your perspective) with a small yard, you can isolate some potatoes in a container in an out of the way space or on a porch or deck and not worry about the tubers taking over your landscaping.
2. Potatoes in the garden can suffer from blight which is a fungus that will dash your green thumb victory in a heartbeat. By growing your spuds in a tub, you can use fresh soil and compost each year, thus reducing the likelihood that the blight will prosper and carry over to next year’s crop.
3. Simplicity. No seedlings to deal with. No monitoring dainty little baby plants as they grow to adulthood. The potato is a sturdy, macho veggie that does not require tenderness.
4. Potatoes are delicious. They can serve as the base for all kinds of good things when composing a one dish meal. I still love grated asiago or feta cheese on my potato plus, with the addition of some fresh chopped broccoli, I have the ultimate comfort food.
5. They store well. Given some space, you could grow lots of potatoes in pots and bags tucked in throughout the landscape. After harvesting, store your bounty in a cool place for use over the entire winter months.
6. Survival food: they can bake up in a fire pit without a problem. Top with some canned beans and there you go. Or shall I say there I go talking about comfort food again. Yummy.
7. Spuds are a nutrition powerhouse. One medium, skin-on potato contains only 110 calories and is full of vitamins and minerals essential for good health. They are an excellent source of potassium and vitamin C, and also a source of dietary fiber and iron. There’s more. Potatoes contain no saturated, trans fat or cholesterol and very little sodium.
Need move convincing? Check out this free nutrition handbook from the United States Potato Board.
Types of potato
There are 100s of different types of potato out there yet mostly what is grown is your classic Russet Burbank. These can often be bought for a mere $0.50 a lb and they are the workhouse potato of the country. If you get fries at a restaurant I would bet money that is what you are eating.
Fingerlings
Fingerlings are a fancy potato. They are not at every grocery store and the seed potatos are expensive to buy but you can expand and keep them going with ease so consider it a one time expense with some luck.
Look at the different flavor profiles before buying or get a convenient mix pack to try out your first season.
This collection includes Yellow Russian Banana, Rose Finn Apple, and Swedish Peanut so you have an opportunity to find out what you like best but if you like to eat potatoes then you are probably going to have a hard time resisting all of them. 30 plants is a good start and enough that you may want to split up this collection with a gardening friend.
Yellow Russian Banana has light skin and yellow flesh whereas the Rose Finn is red with yellow flesh. The Swedish Peanut has a unique shape like a tear drop and is known for being buttery and creamy. You get your first crop in about 3 months with any of these varieties.
This is a wonderful resource for all types of potatoes from good stock. You can download a catalog on her website and also browse around to learn about all types of odd yet delicious taters you can grow!
Sweet Potatoes
Did you know that you can grow sweet potatoes even in a northern climate? Thanks to the huge variety of taters out there I am not surprised.
Hybridization
If you grow a lot of different types of potatoes there is a chance they will hybridize. This occurs when one variety pollinates the other. This is only something to worry about if you plan on saving some taters for seed next year. The potatoes you get may even look like the exact same one you planted the year before but still be different genetically. Even if this does happen the resulting varietal is not going to be harmful to eat or anything of that nature but you will no longer have a true varietal.
Shipping Restrictions
Until researching sources of good quality seed taters, I did not know how restricted the shipping of some is. If you live in a major tater growing area you may have to find a local source of some varities since you cannot have them shippied. Most suppliers are very good about putting a list right where you can see in the product description.
If you grow a lot of different types of potatoes there is a chance they will hybridize. This occurs when one variety pollinates the other. This is only something to worry about if you plan on saving some taters for seed next year. The potatoes you get may even look like the exact same one you planted the year before but still be different genetically. Even if this does happen the resulting varietal is not going to be harmful to eat or anything of that nature but you will no longer have a true varietal.
Taters are no longer just a bland item
I hope these tips might encourage you to explore the world of potatoes. Different containers will allow you to experiment with different varieties and find out what ones you like the most. Blue potoatos can be fund for kids to grow and made for some interesting chips, fries, and more.
At the moment, my two little seed potatoes are sitting on the window sill, getting themselves ready to sprout. They will be headed for the tub this weekend. Let the potato party begin!
Enjoy your next adventure, wherever it takes you!
Gaye
14 Responses to “Growing potatoes in containers and why you should do it.”
It sounds to me as though growing potatoes actually takes about twice the area that I had expected! At the start of the season, I need X square feet planted with potates, and X more square feet to hold a the heap of compost, sawdust, leaves, or soil that will gradually be use to build up the hill around the growing potato plants. Fortunately, the heap space can be shaded, if I don’t mind hauling the heap material from the shady part of the lot to the sunny part. I think this is going to make a big improvement in my potato growing… if I can keep the deer from eating them.
“Hybridization”, or cross-pollination does not affect the potato tuber, nor new plants grown from the tuber (seed potato). It only affect the true seeds (which grow above the ground) and plants grown from true seeds (which virtually no-one outside of potato research laboratories does). If you replant the harvested tubers, you are always getting a clone of the original plant, so have no fear.
There is no reason to grow potatoes in containers unless there is no other way to grow them like on concrete or other unsuitable places. Containers and potting mix is expensive. Used containers and potting mix can be contaminated with toxic chemicals. The best way is nature’s way in the ground.
The person in the video is giving false information. Compost is decayed organic matter used as fertilizer. What he is using is potting mix which is totally different. Calling it compost does make it compost any more than calling you or anyone else a banana will turn you into a banana. It only shows their ignorance.
be carful using pallets many of them are treated for rot resistance. And those are chemicals I do not want in contact with my food.
I had a friend who did maple syrup and against are advice burned pallets to boil the syrup down and died of a very strange cancer. I believe that it was caused by breathing in the chemicals off the burning pallets
Please note–
the Free nutrition handbook from the United States Potato Board has a new link:
//idahopotato.com/uploads/media/nutrition-infographic.pdf
now if I could just get heat loving yams and sweet potatoes to grow here in the coastal NW… 🙁
I would be happy if I could get my squash and zuchinni to grow this summer. Everything has totally rotted out 🙁
Bummer… I have to pull the blossom off as soon as the squash can be seen – or about 1 inch long – or the ends rot here. I’ve got one yellow leaved plant and all the rest are green – weird. A friend lost 3 of his dozen to rot, but so far, while stunted, mine are ok except for that one yellow one.
We have pulled out a call for extra zucchini’s – it’s the every other year for making zucchini carrot relish! And it takes a LOT of zukes! lol!
I learned your web-site from George Ure and enjoy it very much. Regarding growing potatoes, another idea is to grow them in a barrel (or even a series of tires) and add soil as the potato plant grows. Yes the spuds grow near the top of the soil and by adding soil as the plant grows, one is adding to the yield. I’ve been saving potato seeds from bought organic potatoes that have started to grow roots and will be planting them fairly soon. I too live in the PNW and know the short growing season. In our climate potatoes take 3 months or more to grow. So I’m looking forward to my own potatoes come July on.
Wow,I still haven’t posted on your last 2 posts.
I will be buying several potatoes from the organic section
and placing them in a bag to start sprouting through
April, then first of May I will cut them accordingly, let them
skin over for a day or two, them plant them. Last year
was my first attempt. I did ok, not the greatest harvest, but we had a
few meals worth. This year I plan on growing both
potatoes, and sweet potatoes. I also learned if you plant
them traditionally in the ground, they need to be
hilled as the stalks grow taller, that’s where the
potatoes grow. if I had had more money to get more
dirt I wouldn’t been able to harvest quite a bit
more. This year with advise from a Canadian friend
who’s grandfather grew them, I should increase
my yield. My Siberian garlic is coming up nicely, I should
have a few dozen to harvest and half of that to plant.
microwaving, nonstick pans, soda, Carmel Color, are all
nasty things. I could go on, but your getting prepared posts
here isn’t about
the nasty’s, it’s about getting prepared, frugally. again,
thank you for taking the time to share with others.
+ the young homesteader, Potatoes have to be hilled no matter which you grow them. To hill them you can use dirt, sawdust, straw, leaves or anything else you have that is not toxic. The purpose of hilling is to keep the light off the tubers. Light makes them green and poisonous.
ICK! You normally give such GREAT advice! Anything microwaved makes your white blood cells respond as if you were coming down with the flu! Microwaving food literally destroys the nutritional benefits! Please research! Remember, although the FDA says microwaving is not harmful to the food, this is the same folks that said DDT (and currently RoundUp) was/(is) fine for use also!
The effect of microwaves on food is not something I have researched. I will check it out although my guess is that the truth will be difficult to ascertain given that the corporate and government PR machines want us to believe that whatever they say is true and in our best interest. I am equally concerned about burned food on non-stick pans. That has to be toxic and bad. Very bad.
That’s why I only use cast-iron pans… 🙂