Back in 2017 when I redid and expanded the western veggie patches, I included a gravel area on the southern end that was in front of the shed, giving it a northerly aspect that I thought would be good to grow stuff, even in the cooler months. To make use of this area I needed to come up with some containers that I could grow crops like potatoes in. My original choice were white 20 litre containers but they were a bit narrow for what I wanted to do, plus over time they start to break down in full sun.
I looked around and found some black 30 litre tubs with a handle on each side at our local cheapo shop, so I grabbed four. These were more of the profile that I wanted, to allow the potatoes to spread out a bit, and because they were black, they would last for many years. In fact, they have been in place for seven years now and look almost no different from when I first set them up, just a bit faded.
Of course, they were tubs and not containers designed for growing things so I had to install drainage holes in the bottom so they would not fill up with water, but this was quickly and easily accomplished with my drill and 18mm spade bit.
I then half-filled them with a mix of compost and potting, placed a couple of seed potatoes, filled the pots up the rest of the way and then added some mulch to the top of the container. I have been growing potatoes in this way ever since, including through winter.
If you want to grow spuds ‘up’ by planting them in the bottom of the container, then adding more growing medium as they grow to get a larger crop, it is important to start out with a potato variety that is indeterminate as opposed to determinate.
Indeterminate potatoes produce their crop along their growing stem, so that they need the developing stems to be covered as the plant grows to produce a bumper crop, they take longer to produce but because they grow up rather than out, they are better suited to small areas like containers.
Determinate potatoes grow to a set height and then produce their crop of tubers without needing the stem to be covered, the produce a faster crop but grow out rather than up so need more space.
Indeterminate potato varieties include ‘Brownell’, ‘Desiree’, ‘Dutch Cream’ (a favourite of ours), ‘King Edward’ ‘Nicola’, ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘Salad Rose’ and ‘Sapphire’
Determinate potato varieties include ‘Carlingford’, ‘Kennebec’, ‘Purple Congo’ and ‘Red Pontiac’.
