Container spuds

[Barnowl]

Plenty of leaf - I just hope there are actually some spuds in there.....

[Barnowl]

[froglets]

My experience last year as a first timer using tubs, was that I got acres more foliage than I ever got in the ground.  yeild was about the same though as long as you keep them watered.

[antipodes]

I have a few in a great big black bin! They are bigger than the ones in the ground, funny isn't it?? They are flowering so hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be able to chuck the bin over and see what I get. God I hope it works, that would be something to show my dubitative allotment neighbours, ha ha ha.
I used a few leftovers, some red Roseval and some Sirtema, think I might have 5 or 6 plants growing in a mixture of a few things, soil, compost, manure and lots of straw mulch. It's great fun.

[JRP]

:) Hi, I've got 450 plastic containers on my allotment plot to empty out, mother nature wont let you down as long as you do give them just enough water, not to much or they might go soft and burst.
May you and yours and what you grow live long and happy. John. J.R.P.

[Vegemite]

how do you know what just enough is? now i am worried?

[manicscousers]

vegemite, if you've got holes in the bottom, they should be ok  :)
we've been growing spuds in containers for years and, as long as you keep them watered in dry spells, they seem to do alright  ;D

[caroline7758]

Mine are in a compost bag & the leaves are about 3 ft out the top now! Not quite sure how to check for spuds- just stick a hand in, or make a slit in the bottom of the bag?

[asbean]

We've got one of those plastic orange thingys, we put 5 in that, plus half a doz in black buckets.  We'll empty one this weekend, it's Swift, not a fantastic spud, but it is usually ready in 10 weeks, and it's 10 weeks since we put them in.

[Marymary]

Mine are in a compost bag & the leaves are about 3 ft out the top now! Not quite sure how to check for spuds- just stick a hand in, or make a slit in the bottom of the bag?

The technical term is to 'fertle'.  Stick your hand in the soil & have a gentle feel !  ;D

[Vegemite]

oh i fancy a fertle! sounds like fun :P

[Cat]

Hi,

I'm growing Maris Peer and the leaves are about 2 foot out of the containers, with flower buds on them.  The flower buds don't seem to want to open, some of them have even fallen off, is this a problem?

Should I check to see if there are any potatoes ready now?  Or when should I check?

Thanks

Cat

[caroline7758]

Mine were the same, Cat. I found a few decent sized ones when I rummaged around so decided to empty the lot, but was disappointed with the yield. Considering the first earlies at the allotment are starting to flower now, my idea of getting some extra early ones from the bag wasn't really worth the effort- won't bother next year. Mind you, the bottom third of the compost in the bag was very dry, so guess that might account for the poor crop.

[Cat]

Caroline,

Thanks for the reply  :)

Going to give it a couple more weeks, then rummage!

Cat

[cornykev]

Tipped a container today, not a great yield but OH will be having new potatoes with fresh mint with her dinner. ;D ;D ;D :P

[manicscousers]

got enough for 2 meals for both of us  ;D

[flower Power]

snap

[saddad]

I have some Epicure in black dustbins that are about 3' above the rim... It amy be a dialect thing but we Firkle!
;D

[cornykev]

Sorry Scousers she weighed them out for her next few meals maybe next time.  ;D ;D ;D

[JRP]

Hi ALL,may I share my concerns with you about growing food to eat in containers, even though I'm only growing things in plastic containers my self.
One is does any body know if the plastic is getting into the food when you use anything other than whats been past as OK,  like my milk or drinks containers that I use. To me anything else like a grow bags or the green bags or in dust bins for example might be dangers to our health in some way, even though they are used by thousands of people. I always assumed the food we eat and drink contained in plastic of some sort is OK, thats why I use mine, but what about all the things we grow in plastic flower pots and bags, and even using shredded  news paper with ink on as got me thinking. As for using the stuff we get from our compost heaps and the process thats gone through, I suppose a little bit of plastic wont hurt.
May we all live long and happy. John. J.R.P.  ???

[grawrc]

I shouldn't worry too much John. Even the oxygen we need to live is killing us slowly. At least we get healthy exercise planting and lifting and we don't add known nasties.