TL;DR: Planted potatoes in an old garbage bin, need help in nourishing them.
It’s the dry season here in the Philippines and I decided to start and try growing my own potatoes in my front yard since i heard potatoes were one of the easiest vegetables to grow as a beginner. I used one of our old garbage bins (about 13-16 inches wide, 4 feet tall) and planted two potatoes in them (yukon golds I think?). I just wanna know if it’s a viable method of growing potatoes and if i can expect to get a good yield out of them, at least doubling the amount of spuds. I also havent added any fertilizer or supplementation yet since I’m not really sure on what to feed them aside from the basics like potassium, phosphorous and nitrogen and from what I’ve seen the soil looks pretty lively seeing that there were mushrooms and springtails in the bag. I’d also like to ask about hilling them and how often should I hill them?
by Trxxck
12 Comments
Oh and the total thickness of the soil is around 8 inches with about 2-3” covering the top of the potatoes.
Make sure you have drain holes in the bottom. As the leaves grow above the level of the soil, cover them with more soil. Just add a good all purpose fertilizer. I’d add another potato to the bin
Drainage is going to be an issue – without drainage water is only going to collect at the bottom of the bin. Soil compaction may also be an issue if you earth up all the way to the top. These two factors risk creating a hypoxic zone at the bottom, which will quite likely lead to your potatoes rotting. You could probably prevent this by drilling drainage holes underneath and around the sides, and limiting the depth you earth up to.
Add soil every time the shoots appear through the soil, and completely cover them with a few inches of soil. Leave them to grow and add water when the top few inches of soil feels dry. When the main plant eventually dies off, you can dig up all the potatoes!
How heavy does it rain where you live? I would make sure you drill some holes in the bottom of the garbage can so excess can drain, so you don’t lose the whole crop to rot.
I didn’t use any fertilizer with mine this year, and they grew well! From 1 small 5 gallon bucket, I got enough potatoes for 3 meals for 2 adults. They were good! I will be growing them in larger barrels this year.
You’re supposed to use a potato that has started sprouting. Also, make sure you have drain holes in that barrel.
Definitely have good drainage because of where you live. I’m getting ready to try growing some in a box indoors for the winter in our greenhouse. What you want to do is let your potatoes sit out or in a paper bag and wait until the sprouts start out of the eyes. Then cut up thee potato so each sprout has a chunk of potato with it. After you cut it up, then let the pieces sit on the counter so the exposed areas get a hardened film around it. This protects the seed potato from any pathogens in the soil. Plenty of YouTube videos on any type of vegetable growing.
what is the goal of doing it in a garbage bin instead of the ground?
This method the so called “potato tower” does not work and there are plenty of videos and information that disprove the scam used for video clicks. Feel free to try it but it’s a waste of potatoes. You’d only get any from the top layer.
You don’t want such a deep dark area to plant them. The plant will relieve no direct sun. Get a 5 gallon or 10 gallon bucket. Not a 4 foot high dark cavern.
If you are hoping to try growing multiple vertical layers of potatoes, make sure you are planting the correct variety, you want an Indeterminate potato not the common determinate potatoes. Here is a list of some Indeterminate potatoes:
* All-Blue (Russian Blue)
* Bintje
* Butte
* Canela Russet
* Carola
* Elba
* German Butterball
* Green Mountain
* Kennebec
* Nicola
* Red Cloud
* Russet Nugget
* Strawberry Paw
That’s too deep. Your plant’s not going to get enough sun down there at the bottom of that can. whatever growth it does get trying to reach the light (if it ever even does) will not turn into potatoes. The tubers are formed from the food the plant makes from photosynthesis. If it isn’t getting enough food to grow, it’s not gonna make enough to store. If it is able to make tubers when and if it gets up to the top of that, it’s only going to make the tubers up at the top. Everything else is going be wasted time and effort. I’ve used cardboard boxes before when I’ve been in areas with poor soil and even the struggle with no light at the bottom of just a 2’ deep box has created problems. So if you can’t put them in the ground, use something shallower and don’t put it in the very bottom. Also you need to chit that potato. put it in a cool bright place to sprout it and then cut it into the smaller chits. You can get several starts from that single potato
The only way such a tall container will work is if there are openings on the sides. The tuber cannot be so deep, it won’t thrive down there. The side openings give it lots of places to grow leaves and that’s how you get more tubers. No leaves=no tubers. You could make this by stacking tires or other tube like shapes on top of each other, so the leaves can grow through the gaps.