The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: Blondie on January 12, 2016, 08:11:36 pm
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Hi all,
I really fancy growing a small amount of potatos this year but space is tight. We do have space for a lot of pots thanks to the previous owner that put down a massive concrete base for a workshop. Have looked at potato barrels but have no idea what is best - bag type or more solid pot types. Primarily looking at barrels with a hatch so I can access a small amount at a time.
Any recommendations or suggestions?? TIA
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I had a couple of the types with the hatch and they worked quite well. I've also tried growing spuds in bags which wasn't so good. I gave up with them all though because the cost of the compost I was using far outweighed the value of the potatoes, even if they did taste good.
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I saw an interesting idea last year, frames of wood which stacked on top of each other (think of tomato boxes with no Base, bigger and more solid.
They were built up as the potatoes came through the compost, i believe there was a mix of garden soil and compost.
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It's also been done in stacked tyres.
I did buy a couple of those potatoe bags and tried for an early crop via greenhouse one year...just got heaps of foliage and better/earlier spuds from the field. I've had no need to try the bags outside.
(might still have the bags somewhere if you're near welshpool)
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Thanks for the advice. I'll have a think and continue to have a search for something that can work In our small space.
Unfortunately I'm very far from Welshpool! (Durham area)
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I've used old black plastic dustbins with holes bored bottom and a few up the sides. Had a good crop of earlies (Maris Bard and Rocket)
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I have used plastic feed bags very successfully with holes in them to allow drainage with about 4 seed potatoes in larger bags rolled down and roll them back up as you top them up with soil/compost, it can cost in compost unless you have your own to go dig out and put in. I just used to stick my hand in the bags and pull out as many as I needed. Tyres are also good and can be picked up easily as they are a pain to dispose of. Most containers potatoes seem to grow in as long as there is drainage and if you don't want to put holes in buckets or trugs then put empty plastic bottles in the bottom that will allow water into the bottom and won't weigh the pot down like bricks or stones if you want to tip the whole things out at once.
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Thanks for the advice. I'll have a think and continue to have a search for something that can work In our small space.
Blondie the humble black super strong 60 p rubble sack with a few drain holes poked in it low down can be used with reasonable success for special spuds like wax salad ones and the like , as well as for early new potatoes .
Black bags absorb heat more readily than light coloured ones , so pass it on into the growth medium a lot better . If it gets too hot up in the 90's you can always put a white light frost insulating fleece across the bags to reflect the heat
My bro used to have twenty or more of these rubble sacks ,started off at about 1/3 full with a four inch dia bit of waste tube tied into the top . Done with three or four chitted spuds , set three inches deep & then the bag closed around some pipe 4 inch dia pipe about six inches long with no sharp edges to damage the tatty tops , it was almost full in contact with the bag contents .
It didn't take long for the shoots to find their way out the pipes , once they'd been given a bit of assistance to escape if they were still running around inside the closed up bag .
As soon as he got six to eight inches of green poking out the top of the tube he'd undo the tie and add some more earth ( about three inches worth all across the bag ) so that there was only an inch or so of the greenery poking out the tube . Then he'd re tie the bag to the tube ..often with cheap weak bungee cords
His bags were always set along a light coloured south facing wall in a bit of a sun trap garden .
Most of his spuds were out the supermarket . Ones that he'd chitted up in the dark warm airing cupboard and then once chitted taken out & put in their egg fitting trays onto a north facing window cill in a cool room whilst they went green & wrinkled .
If you're looking to try it this year you'll need to get moving as it takes a few weeks to get the chitted spuds .
If it was snow & ice at the end of Feb into March , he'd like as not have all the bags with the spuds in them starting off in his conservatory . Then when it warmed a bit more take them out one at a time on his cheapie Aldi sack barrow .
From then if a frost was forecast or likely he'd cover the bags outside with a couple of layers of weighted down fleece to keep the frost off .
He normally used a standard rate diluted tomato feed in the watering can to give them a half pint or so drink every few days . Those holes in the black bag bases must be clear of the ground or the drainage won't work so well .
Come really warm weather he'd water every day wwith a pint or so down through the 4 inch pipes in bag tops.
Filling for his bags was usually direct from his finished compost heap with a bit of extra added such a Verve soil enhancer from B&Q which helped keep the growth medium open and able to take air & water in .
After harvesting everything , he'd slit the bags open and put the contents back into his working compost heap .