This was more of an experiment this year to see if they would grow, but I’d like to continue this next year as well. I’m glad I got something! But most of them turned out tiny, they were still attached to the plant but were high up in the dirt so I’m thinking they didn’t have enough room to grow. The plants did die back so I didn’t pluck them while still green. I grew them in cardboard boxes.
by Ambitious-Plant-1055
13 Comments
Water. My potatoes did pretty well this year, and awful last year. The biggest difference, was water. Last year we had an awful drought. This year it has continued to rain.
How many did you plant? Looks like decent haul.
Plant smaller potatoes.
Planting big potatoes gives alot of small ones.
I planted 5 lbs and my bucket is almost exactly the same as yours. I didnt til the dirt, and i know that stunted my carrots, so thats the theory im going with lol
I’ve only been growing potatoes for a few years in pots on my deck. I found a mix of bagged soil with a gallon or two of sand mixed in. The loose soil is less restrictive on growth.
Hilling as they grow. Start them in just a few inches of soil. Avoid nitrogen, but bulk up on things like Triple super phosphate and Langbeinite to supply P & K. Then as others mention, manage water carefully. All the really successful (container) potato growers I have seen setup a drip irrigation on a timer/schedule.
Diff varieties can really be different in timing, nutrients and output. My wild blues did amazing this year. My Bloody Bananas were just ok. My Ayocks were plentiful but small. Masquerades were BIG but few.
What kind of potatoes? They do look like they could be Yukon Golds, which yes, could be bigger, but are you sure they aren’t a smaller variety? Small potatoes are great though, I sort by size, boil them, then saute them at the end with butter and garlic, amazing stuff. The sorting for size is just so they finish at the same time, but you can also just put them together and take out in order of size and leave the bigger ones in longer.
I wish mine were this! All mine rotted in our raised bed but we had lots of rain and I have hard clay soil below the bed soil.
How can we tell you what to do different next year if we don’t know what you did this year? Give us FULL GROWING DETAILS. Media, watering, container, nutrient plan, where you live, etc.
Good job.
Those are perfect
Potassium fertilizer like potassium sulfate can help, but if those are yukon golds, they’re just not a particularly big variety.
A set consistent water schedule and a ton of compost. Mine did the best they’ve ever done mixing a bunch of compost into my potato bed soil before I planted. Never fertilized again but the compost made a major difference. I had some hum dingers north of 2lbs.