Monday, August 24, 2009

Growing potatoes in containers


I vouch for a superb crop of potatoes within limited space, in containers. The picture you see here, is our kitchen garden harvest. Its highly recommended that you try it at home. It's a very easy thing to do. All you need are deep containers left in full sun, with well drained loose soil mixed with compost. Potatoes grow underground, so the soil cannot be clayey and compact. You could grow potatoes in tall pots, or wooden boxes too.

What and how to plant?
Any potato variety can be propagated vegetatively. You shall need seed-potatoes and they are the ones you see producing shoots in the potato eyes when stored in kitchen for too long. You can plant seed potatoes, or cut them up into “eyes,” with each eye having a sprout, then mound the earth up around them in the container and water lightly. The plant takes a bush-like appearance with very little care. The crop is usually ready to harvest in 2-3 months and once you see the top of the plant dying off. You can leave the potatoes in the ground for a few weeks longer, as long as the soil is left dry. Dig out the potatoes carefully to avoid bruising them, and brush off the dirt. Do not wash them until you are ready to use them. Happy farming!

6 comments:

  1. I have a small garden so this will be a great thing for me to try out. I had always associated potatoes with space!!

    I've been to your older posts and love your tips/gardening ideas. Surely a place where I'll come back, again and again. Cheers!

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  2. @Kanak: Thanks for stopping by. Hope your father feels better, take care!

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  3. I've always wanted try growing potatoes in containers. Thanks for the info. What do you do with the spent potting mix?

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  4. @Thomas: Thanks for your visit. About the spent potting mix, I toss, sun dry lightly and sieve to remove lumps, stones, debris and crush clay lumps if there are any. I mix some light compost/ nitrogen additives to the soil and it's ready to be re-used. Hope this helps...! see you around.

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  5. Hey UG,

    Lovely tips. If I may just add one point here. Potato leaves too taste great when added in curry or just boiled and friend with a mix of other vegetables. We Oriya's love it that way, the popular name for such preparation in Oriya is called saga.

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  6. I love to prepare some recipe with potatoes although i know that a person can gain weight if eat potatoes frequently, but i can´t deny that i really like the flavor, most of all when is combine it with some ingredients. Simply delicous. And when i cook, my husband usually is very happy.
    Actually i was looking information about how to buy viagra but i reached this blog, i really enjoyed reading.

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