If you had to, you could live onalmost nothing but potatoes. That’s made themone of the most important crops in human history. Entire civilizations would not have existed without them. And you can grow this powerful food crop in a 5 gallon bucket.
There’s a trick to growing high potato yields. As the potatoes grow, continue piling soil onto the plants. This forces the plants to supercharge their root growth to keep up. Those roots are what we call potatoes. Now you know why potatoes are grown in hills.
When growing potatoes in buckets, start with a couple inches of growing medium (compost works great) and build up the soil level as the season progresses. Experienced bucket wrangler Mike from GYH explains how he has successfully grown potatoes in buckets for years.
Proper Drainage
While water is of utmost important in growing plants, properly draining excess water away is a close second.
I’ve had a few questions from people who have tried growing potatoes in buckets but only ended up with a crop of mush. This is probably an issue of improper drainage. You have to drill drainage holes in your bucket if you are using it to grow plants! This applies not just for potatoes but for any plant grown in your buckets
Alternatively, you can fill the bottom few inches of your bucket with gravel. This is the same principle that indoor hanging baskets use to supply drainage. You just have to take care not to water your plant so heavily that the water level inside the bucket reaches your soil layer.
Yield of Bucket Potatoes
According to folks who have calculated yield for potato buckets, you can expect about an average yield of 1.5 pounds of potatoes per bucket.
I like to compare this number with the amount of potatoes you need to survive for a year. You can survive on potatoes alone, remember? It takes about 6 pounds of potatoes to equal that magic 2000 calories a day you need to be healthy. So you will need about one bucket’s crop of potatoes for each meal.
That means that if you’re growing potatoes for survival, you really need to accomplish a much higher yield, or grow your spuds right in the ground.
A few different varieties of potato: A Russian blue, a white potato, a Yukon gold and two russets.
If you’re growing potatoes, don’t bother with a bland old russet or other boring variety from the store. Grow rare breeds. My favorite rare breeds are the purple potatoes.
A New Zealand agricultural study found that red and purple potatoes contain two to three times more antioxidants than plain white potatoes. If you eat as many potatoes as I do, the extra antioxidants are enough to noticeably increase your vigor.
You can’t just plant potatoes you buy in the store, because they are treated with chemicals such as Budnip that specifically inhibit potato shoot growth. It’s futile to bury potatoes that won’t grow into plants. Last year I grew Russian Blue, but I have heard very good things about Purple Peruvian so I’m growing that variety this year.
Storing your potatoes for the next growing season
Under the right conditions, a potato can remain alive for quite some time withoutany attention. A potato stores starch and water, which provide it with the nutrients it needs. When you harvest your potatoes and plan to grow new ones in the next season, all you have to do is store them in a dark cool place. The potato will start to grow roots, as you can see in the image. You can simply stick these potatoes in the soil when the temperature is right and grow new potatoes with them.
I added 2-3 into each bucket. You want a high yield, so 2 seed potatoes per 5 gallon bucket is perfect. Once you have them in the bucket, add about 2 more inches of soil to completely cover the potatoes.
In general, one potato plant will need about 2.5 gallons of grow space, so if you want to keep potatoes in 10 gallon pots, you can usually fit about 4 potato plants per pot. Containers that are between 2 and 3 feet deep are ideal. Fabric potato grow bags are a popular choice.
Plant one seed potato for every 3 gallons of fabric pot capacity. For the #10 container, for example, plant three to four seed potatoes. Place the seed potatoes evenly in the pot. Water the soil thoroughly.
How Many Potatoes Form Per Plant? You can expect at least five to six new potatoes for each potato you plant. If only every plant multiplied this way! There's something so magical about pulling up a potato plant and seeing so many new potatoes attached to the small one you planted months ago.
You can plant between 5 and 7 potato seeds in a 20-gallon bag. Each seed can yield you from 3 to 6 potatoes depending on how many eyes it has to sprout from.
When to Harvest Potatoes. Depending on variety and local weather, the potato growing season is about three or four months from planting to digging, with some early varieties and immature or "new" potatoes harvested a little earlier.
Plant seed potato segments cut-side down (eyes up) in a 6-inch-deep hole or trench. Space each segment 12-inches apart on all sides. Between each segment, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of a low-nitrogen, high-phosphorous fertilizer. Then cover both potatoes and fertilizer with 2-inches of soil, and water the soil well.
While it is possible to purchase ready-made potato towers or special growing bags, any opaque container with drainage holes will do, including barrels, garbage bins, plastic storage tubs and chimney flues. An ideal container will be about 2-3 feet tall with a 10-15 gallon capacity.
Potatoes need fertile, well-drained soil. Prepare in-ground garden soil by mixing 3 inches of Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil into the top 6 inches of native soil. Enriched with aged compost, this will give potatoes a head start on nutrition.
To grow a sweet potato in a container, the roots need plenty of space to spread out. Choose a bucket that's large enough room to plant 6 slips, which would require at least a 20 gallon (76 L) bucket.
Potatoes always do best in full sun. They are aggressively rooting plants, and we find that they will produce the best crop when planted in a light, loose, well-drained soil.
They're flexible, making them easy to use and light enough to transport. Plants that don't have deep roots, such as tomatoes, potatoes, salad greens, herbs, peppers, and other similar vegetables, work best in grow bags. The rule of thumb is anything you can plant in a container, you can also plant in a grow bag.
First I place the inner bucket in the outer bucket. Then I fill the buckets half with soil. Now I place one potato right in front of each window half the way from the middle to the side of the bucket. Then I fill the buckets with soil, taking good care of the fragile sprouts.
You could also add one and a half ounces of pelleted potato feed, it's organic and the NPK on this is 6 . 10 . 10, so it's really good for potatoes. This is going to encourage the tubers.
Not only do the buckets hold the perfect amount of soil for roots to thrive, but they also take up minimal room, so they don't crowd a patio or deck. One 5 gallon bucket can be home to one vegetable plant or two, or three small herbs.
The number of chitted potatoes needed depends on the size of the bag being used. As a general rule each potato plant needs about 2.5 gallons. Therefore a 10 gallon bag will support four potatoes while a 5 gallon bag will accommodate 2 potato plants.
Completely unhilled potatoes will still form some tubers, though the harvest may not be as impressive as those that have been through the hilling process. Dig after the stems have died back as you would hilled potatoes.
Address: 58866 Tricia Spurs, North Melvinberg, HI 91346-3774
Phone: +50616620367928
Job: Real-Estate Liaison
Hobby: Graffiti, Astronomy, Handball, Magic, Origami, Fashion, Foreign language learning
Introduction: My name is Lilliana Bartoletti, I am a adventurous, pleasant, shiny, beautiful, handsome, zealous, tasty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
There’s a trick to growing high potato yields. As the potatoes grow, continue piling soil onto the plants. This forces the plants to supercharge their root growth to keep up. Those roots are what we call potatoes. Now you know why potatoes are grown in hills.
