Growing potatoes in containers

Potatoes don’t need to be grown in the vegetable garden. If you are short of garden space they can be easily grown in large containers, an Instant Planter or the new Unwins Potato Bag. Whatever you choose it needs to be able to hold a generous amount of compost to allow the tubers to develop, good drainage is essential. The Unwins Potato Bag is specially designed to grow three seed potatoes. This will generate a substantial crop of potatoes. It’s ideal if you are new to vegetable growing and want to have a go, great for kids; buy them one each and challenge them to grow the heaviest crop and simply perfect if you only have a small garden, terrace or even a balcony. Simply place a generous layer of Westland organic Vegetable Growing Compost into the bottom of the Potato Bag. Position three chitted (see chitting) seed potatoes on the top of the compost and cover over with 10-15cm (4-6inches) of more compost. Water the tubers and keep the compost moist but not saturated. The plants will start to root and shoot until the shoots and leaves push through the compost layer. When this happens cover over the shoots with a new layer of 10cm (4inches) of fresh organic Vegetable Growing Compost. Repeat this process until the Potato Bag is almost full. When the plants start to flower, usually between 9 and 12 weeks after planting, you can carefully remove the whole plant and the new potatoes and use them.

For further information on growing potatoes check out these links;