Talk me through growing potatoes in bags, please!

[Miljah]

I want a couple/three of these bags Are they suitable?

I know zero about growing veg, apart from tomatoes and chillies.

I have decided to have a go at potatoes, but I don't have beds to put them in.

I guess I'm looking for I think it's called 'main crop' harvesting, if that makes sense (so not 'earlies').

Where do I buy chitting potatoes? Do they come ready chitted or is that a process I need to do?

What soil should I use, when should I plant, how many/how deep?

And when do I harvest?

So many questions! Any advice welcomed!

Yes I use these bags to grow first early potatoes ie new or salad potatoes. I have never grown main crop in them as they are larger potatoes but I can't see why you couldn't.

There is nothing to chitting potatoes. Once you have bought your seed potatoes eg "Cara" from Wilko, place them in a cool place eg shed or garage or cool place in your house. If you look at them you will see areas on the potato where a bit of sprouting tuber is emerging. I put my seed potatoes in an empty egg box with this sprouting bit facing upwards and you leave them for about 6 weeks for this tuber to sprout more - that is the chitting process.

Place a layer of general purpose compost at the bottom of the bag. I then place 2 seed pots per bag but I suspect with main crop one may be enough as they will need space. Place the potato so the sprouting bit is facing upwards to the top of the bag. Cover the potato with a layer of compost - so it is just covered. You will be amazed how quickly it will start growing and green leaves will start to show. However the idea with the bag is to keep covering the greenery with layers of compost until obviously the leaves emerge from the top of the bag and then you can stop with the compost. Keep it moist, or your potatoes may get scab (although I have scraped these bits off quite effectively!).

Potatoes are usually ready when they flower. Good luck with this, it would be interesting to hear how a main crop gets on with the bag method.

I've done maincrop 3 yrs now, first Diseree (spelling?) then 2 yrs Sarpo Mira. Years 1 & 2 results were very good, last year - not so much. Just not enough water (on meter and ran out of rain!) Last year the foliage didn't get so luxuriant, previously was tripping over yards of the stuff. Seed potatoes being quite small, I always put 2 per sack. Had some whoppers from the sacks, but truly stupendous spuds from Sarpo when planted in the garden. Agree with scab worse in drought conditions.

Thanks both! I'm keen to get going now!!

I wimped out and bought Charlotte, tho I accidentally bought 4, not 2 grow bags do I might do another variety as well.

My question is whether these are already ready to plant?

Thanks.

Nearly, a week or two more. Good luck!

If you are doing potatoes in bags, then what you do it to put about a foot of compost in the bag, and push the potato in - sprout end up.

Then cover with another foot-ish of compost..

Water in.

When you see any foliage above the ground, cover with soil. Check every week. Keep doing this until you reach about 4 inches from the top of the bag.

However, your bags are quite small, so it is going to be hard for you to cover with soil to keep them frost free as your foot of soil below and above pretty much will reach the top of the bag.

This means that you will need to keep them in a frost free place until mid may ish time, depending on your last frost date.

With the bag that you showed, you would probably put one or two potatoes in each, as they are only 42l bags.

Next time, unless you particularly like those plastic containers, you can just use rubble sacks or the old compost bags from the compost that you have bought. Roll the sides down, compost in the bottom, pop the potato in, soil on top and then keep unrolling and filling with soil until you reach the top.

Top tip for potatoes in bags, they need full sun so that they are not reaching and growing top heavy foliage, they need plenty of water and they will need feeding weekly as the nutrients will be used up in the first 6 weeks of growing.

Always make sure that there are holes in the bottom for drainage...

Thanks so much for that information. Keen to get started!