Growing potatoes in a greenhouse is a great way to enjoy the benefits of early- or mid-season varieties that can mature within 80-110 days. Choose smaller potato varieties like fingerling or new potatoes for optimal growth. The best time to plant potatoes in a greenhouse is typically in early spring, as the soil warms up and daylight hours increase. Learn how to grow potatoes in containers, barrels, or bags with the right soil, temperature, and variety.
Choose an early sort, such as “Solist”, “Hamlet”, “Frieslander”, and “Sofia” Seed. Greenhouses offer protection from harsh weather conditions, making it essential to understand the specific impacts on their growth. Plant potatoes according to your location and type of potato, and learn how to chit, earth up, and harvest them.
From February planting, most potato varieties will be fully mature and ready for harvest in late May or early June. After the plants come into flower, you can early-harvest some “new” potatoes by carefully removing a few from around the edges of a plant. Expert advice on how and when to plant and care for early potatoes can help grow a super early crop up to a month earlier than normal.
Starting potatoes indoors at any time is possible, as potatoes generally take 2–4 months to be ready. Place seed potatoes on a bright windowsill or in the greenhouse with the eyes pointing up around 6 weeks before planting out. Squash and potatoes can both be grown year-round in your home greenhouse, and the timing of harvest depends on your desired size.
📹 Starting our early potatoes in pots in the greenhouses
In this video, I start our first batch of early potatoes in pots in the greenhouses, aiming for a harvest by the end of April.
What temperature can potato plants tolerate?
Potato varieties can survive light frost with minimal damage, but hard frost can be managed with cold protection like a cold frame or row covers. It’s best to plant potato slips after all frost risk has passed. Seed potatoes, which are whole potatoes saved from the previous year’s crop, are used to grow potatoes. The eyes are the points where the plant will sprout from, and they can be cut into pieces or planted whole if the variety has few eyes per potato. It’s essential to protect these potatoes from frost damage to ensure their survival and growth.
When to plant early season potatoes?
Potato planting is best in northern states from late March to early May, while warmer areas can be planted in late fall or early winter. Local gardeners often recommend planting potatoes when the snow is almost melted off the mountain, as it can indicate the first dandelions blooming or a specific bug emerging. Some seed potatoes may be large, while others are eggs. It is important to consider whether to cut the larger ones up and if they need to callus before planting.
Do potatoes grow well in greenhouses?
Squash and potatoes can be grown year-round in a home greenhouse, with the latter being ideal for winter or early spring. Squash can be started in March or April, with consecutive plantings through May to prevent ripening all at once. Squash is easy to grow but requires a lot of garden or greenhouse space. To start seedlings, plant squash seeds about an inch deep in a seedling-starting mix, which can be purchased from local retailers or mixed with potting soil, medium sand, perlite, and compost.
Peat pots are ideal for starting seedlings, as they decompose into the soil. Most squash varieties require soil at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit for germination, so a heat mat may be necessary. To prevent failure, keep the soil moist and avoid allowing seeds to dry out.
How early can I plant potatoes in containers?
Planting potatoes in containers is a simple process that can be done about two weeks after the last frost date in your region. Fill the container with 4 to 6 inches of potting soil, place the seed potato in the soil, cover it with dirt, and add more soil as the seed potato sprouts and produces green shoots. If desired, layer in a slow-release organic fertilizer and add mulch to the top layer. Plant regularly to keep the soil moist but not soaking wet.
Once the plant has grown past the container’s top edge, water regularly and ensure it gets plenty of sunlight. Once the potatoes have flowered, they can be harvested at any time. New potatoes, which will be consumed right away, can be carefully dug up when plants are fully grown.
How many potatoes can you plant in one container?
Potato plants require 2. 5 gallons of grow space, so 10 gallon pots can fit about 4 plants per pot. Ideal containers are 2-3 feet deep. Fabric potato grow bags are popular and easy to find, making them suitable for waterlogged soil. Plastic buckets and bins are also used, but they need drainage holes. These containers should be food-safe and not used in materials like old tires, as they can contaminate food crops.
Potato varieties can be grown in containers, but larger storage types can become too cramped and produce fewer spuds. Smaller types, like fingerling potatoes, and those grown to harvest as small “new” potatoes, are better suited for containers and can produce more prolific harvests. Avoid using materials like old tires, as they may contain harmful chemicals.
Do potatoes like morning or afternoon sun?
General Advice. Potatoes always do best in full sun. They are aggressively rooting plants, and we find that they will produce the best crop when planted in a light, loose, well-drained soil. Potatoes prefer a slightly acid soil with a PH of 5. 0 to 7. 0. Fortunately potatoes are very adaptable and will almost always produce a respectable crop, even when the soil conditions and growing seasons are less than perfect.
Always keep your potato patch weed-free for best results. Potatoes should be rotated in the garden, never being grown in the same spot until there has been a 3-4 year absence of potatoes.
When to Plant Potatoes. Potatoes may be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the early spring, but keep soil temperatures in mind. Potato plants will not begin to grow until the soil temperature has reached 45 degrees F. The soil should be moist, but not water-logged.
What is the coldest temperature to plant potatoes?
The growth of tubers commences at 45°, declines to 75°, and ceases at 85°. Frost damage occurs at 30°, resulting in the vines becoming tender and susceptible to further damage.
What temperature is too hot for potatoes?
Potato plants are susceptible to hard frost and withering when temperatures are consistently over 100 degrees. They also fail to set many tubers when nighttime temperatures remain over 55 degrees. Most potato varieties require 80 to 110-degree days for full size development, which is not often available in the spring. To grow “new potatoes”, choose seed potatoes from a local nursery or garden catalog with shorter harvest days, such as red, white, yellow, or blue potatoes.
What not to do when planting potatoes?
To avoid overfertilization of potatoes, amend the soil with compost or organic matter before planting to ensure proper drainage and improve water holding capacity. Avoid planting potatoes in heavy clay or waterlogged soil. Check soil moisture regularly and use drip irrigation or soaker hoses during drought periods. Chipped leaf or straw mulch can help maintain cool, consistently moist soil. Potatoes require ample fertility to yield, and without enough nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients, they may appear yellow, pale, small, or not grow at all. Over-fertilized potatoes may produce too much green foliage and few potatoes, negatively impacting the growth of the nourishing below-ground tubers.
How many potatoes can you grow in a 5 gallon bucket?
To achieve high yields, grow potatoes in a 5 gallon bucket with 2 seed potatoes per bucket. Add 2 more inches of soil to cover the potatoes, and two weeks later, the magic happens. Potatoes can be grown in a garden bed or in buckets, as they mound up the soil as they grow. The bucket fills up with tubers, and when the plant dies, you can harvest a crop of home-grown potatoes.
It’s important to get disease-free potatoes to avoid introducing blight to your garden. Organic potatoes from the grocery store are usually sprayed to prevent sprouting eyes, but there is no guarantee that they are disease-free. Certified seed potatoes can be found at Gurney’s, Tractor Supply, Lowes, and Home Depot. Some people risk using organic potatoes from the grocery store, but they are usually sprayed to prevent sprouting eyes and have no guarantee of being disease-free.
📹 Potato Growing Masterclass: My Tips for a Bigger, Better Harvest
Everyone loves potatoes… and anyone can grow them! Take a deep dive into the wonderful world of the humble spud. Discover …
Last spring my uncle sent me a sweet potato slip and the eye of a potato, just the eye, no potato attached. So I grew them indoors until they could grow outside. I got 7 nice sweet potatoes and 9 good sized red potatoes. So this winter I’ve been experimenting with just planting the eyes, with no potatoes, and they’ve all gotten on really well! If I can plant the eyes and still eat the potatoes I’m going to try it!
Wow, didn’t know about determinate/indeterminate potatoes either. Makes sense because I wondered why my potatoes seemed to be in one layer more than I remember from my childhood. This explains it 😄 I love potatoes as well and they were the first thing I grew myself, when I got the chance to do so as a young adult. I feel very lucky that my parents taught me to grow food in a garden! I have so many fond memories of different fruits, vegetables, berries and nuts being grown and cared for – and even better – prepared and eaten, so fresh and delicious 😋😊 Seing your articles takes me right back to that joy of growing your own food and feeling grounded when doing so. Have a great day and I look forward to the next articles to come 😁
Good morning Ben, thank you for sharing all these good tips on growing perfect delicious potatoes whether in a container or direct into the soil. The harvest looks very good and I am sure you are the star at the table when these delicious potatoes are tasted, I must it is a treat to eat such fresh produce. Do take care, have a most enjoyable day. Kind regards.
Hi Ben, loved the article. I also follow Tony for his sage potato advice. A good tip I think I heard from Tony was, when planting your determinate potatoes is to line up the first two potatoes with the handles then the next two exactly between the handles. This makes sure they are equally spaced around the pot. 🙂👍🏻
I had some purple potatoes making very strong 2-3 inch eyes, so I pulled them off and planted them 1/2 way in a 3 gallon pot to grow in my south facing window. They’re doing great and I hope to have a good harvest around April or May. I did eat the potatoes, so if I can eat the potatoes and just grow the eyes, that’s pretty economical.
Thank you for explaining the difference between determinate and indeterminate potatoes. 👍 It is already potato planting season here in east Texas. Hilling potatoes is such laborious work since we get heavy rains and will just push the soil around, so I combine a few methods into one that works well here. I can also plant potatoes in the late summer for fall growing season. I found that Idaho really is one of the best places to grow potatoes due to the dry climate. Love your website❤
New subscriber here, found your article while searching how to grow a larger harvest for potatoes. I have tried to grow potatoes for the last 3 years and failed. Thank you for taking the time to educate your followers on growing potatoes. I learned so much from the article. I actually did not know there were determinate and indeterminate potatoes. I knew tomatoes had the difference but not potatoes. Thanks again.
I have some of mine chitted, planted up in grow bags and under lights in the house, ready to go out as soon as it’s warm enough. Only a week ago were they planted and one’s already popped through the top of the soil today . I’ve got others just starting to chit that will be planted up in containers as usual and I’m going to see which ones fair better. Some Charlotte’s and Desiree, and some ‘pick and mix that don’t state what they are (that’ll be my bargain bag, potato tombola if you will lol, was worth the punt being so cheap at under a fiver) I needed to plant something lol as I’ll be plug heavy this year. I’ll let you know if my experiment spuds are ready any earlier than expected or if they are bigger. I look forward to seeing how yours turn out this year!
I just love Ben! His enthusiasm, delightful accent, and a garden that sports a certain relaxed, ‘shabby chic’ vibe (unlike the pristine rows of weedless, perfect plants one sees in other garden articles) is an inspiration and encouragement to those of us who aren’t so driven by perfection, or blessed with the kind of time perfection requires. I have grown potatoes in 5-gallon buckets, as a fun gardening project for my grandson and me, following these general instructions, and we had a great ‘harvest’! We made french fries and potato chips! It was great fun! Here in the States, people use buckets, tubs, 16 gallon storage tubs, hay bales, cardboard boxes, and even laundry baskets. One statement that fits gardeners universally is that we are a creative and inventive lot!!
Last year I grew Sarpo Mira and Otolia potatoes. I was impressed with the Sarpo Mira as it showed no signs of disease such as blight. Also they stored remarkably well. This was more of an accident than anything else as I found two in a card board box that I had missed. They were still in near perfect condition.
Useful timely reminders and as entertaining as always – thanks Ben! I first got the gardening bug about 60 years ago when my grandad took time off from his allotment to show me the art of growing potatoes… the magic of pulling those tubers from the soil never gets old! My own tip: I use similar mixes of materials as you do, for tubs of spuds, tomatoes and cukes – so I bulk mix using a small concrete mixer. Works a treat 😎😁
Heat is a problem in my area, central Alabama zone 7B. To grow successfully, from my experience, the best time to plant is the first week of March. Potatoes planted later in the season, say a month later don’t produce s well because of the heat. Potatoes are a cool season crop, and do best in temperatures below 85F (29C). For that, I need my potatoes to sprout quickly, and produce in 70-80 days. When the plants fall over, it is time to harvest. Idaho/Russet potatoes are my best producers. I’ve been growing them in 30 gallon grow bags, but this season, I am changing to a raised bed, 3 ft x 6ft. In the spring, it will be used exclusively for potatoes, then turnips in the fall. No space goes unused in my garden. This year, so far, I’ve planted three cherry trees, two plum trees, two apple trees, added six raised beds, and a GreenStalk tower. The raised beds are replacing fifteen 30 gallon grow bags. I am also adding a 15 ft x 20 ft in ground herb garden, and a 2 ft x 10 ft mushroom bed for growing Wine Cap mushrooms. The more the WEF and government try to clamp down on gardening, the larger my garden will grow. I currently have fourteen raised beds, fourteen raised beds of various sizes, three GreenStalk towers, an inground herb garden, and a small orchard of seven fruit trees. All to support two people. Yes, I over produce, and help out neighbors, friends, and family with the excess. Nothing goes to waste.
I first learned how to grow potatoes from you several years ago! I was so afraid that they wouldn’t grow but you assured me they would but it would take a few weeks and they did! I’ve been growing potatoes ever since but I just learned about indeterminate and determinate and I do really want to grow the different varieties like you mentioned in this article to have a continual harvest. Thank you for all your hard work over the years and for this awesome very detailed masterclass!
Growing potatoes in bulk is one of those hobbies that you don’t usually have to always 100% know what you’re doing and optimize, just use your head and common sense. Potatoes are such resilient and versatile veggies, even on times I’ve screwed the planting up majorly I’ve gotten a bountiful harvest of hundreds of spuds. Great article. You have a knack for working with a camera.
Today I transplanted my coffee tree from its retail 2 gal pot into a 10 gal pot with fresh potting soil. You had mentioned faux coffee & so you inspired me to get a real plant. These must be pampered as indoor plants except during midsummer when the weather is hot. Same for my avocado tree. They are both now happy happy transplanted trees in my new livingroom each by their own cathedral windows. The coffee tree should produce soon. The avocado tree may take a few years but we’ll see !!! Great ideas from you !!! Many thanks !!!
Great article Ben, I’ve bravely/brashly put my swift potatoes in the ground yesterday, with the forecast for next 3 weeks not going below 3 degrees in Gloucestershire. Worst case I can replace in mid march. Doing 10 in a large raised bed and 4 in pots (for the first time). Worth noting if you don’t have a garage etc, Dunelm sell woven blackout potato (& Onion) storage sacks! My late August Maincrop harvest last year nearly lasted til Christmas and would’ve been longer if we hadn’t eat them all!
Thank you for the article, why did you have to introduce determinate and indeterminate potatoes might explain why last year I had no improvement on plant one potato on each level. I suspect they were indeterminate so wouldn’t matter, someone shared half the information. Appreciate the advocating the use of old compost – my biggest issue with potatoes, tomato and peppers is the fear of reusing the compost. I now always plant peas with my potatoes finish around the same time for me.
Very interesting article thank you, i am growing some in containers this year again for my second year, i do find growing early potatoes in containers much easier just remove what need for lunch, rather than having to lift a complete root. Just planted Rocket variety in a couple of small containers to get started.
I have used Swift for the last three years. They are an Extra Early here in the Lizard in Cornwall and crop as early as 7 weeks after planting! When I read this I was sceptical but amazingly I planted outside once the ground temperature was +7 degrees Celsius- middle of May I was harvesting. They had a great flavour reminiscent of Jersey Mids.
Question: Last year (my first year of potato growing) I kept waiting for my potato plants to die off in order to harvest but they kept sending up new shoots. What was going on here? Were potatoes I should’ve already pulled out of the ground growing into plants? (They weren’t all the way died back, new shoots included, until mid-September.) When I harvested my four plants I got about 40-50 tiny little potatoes, the biggest about the size of two thumbs. I was so disappointed. I read or heard somewhere to harvest when the flowers die rather than the whole plant. What do you think? TIA and best wishes for an awesome potato season.
Enjoyed your article very much. I grow mine in potato bags so I can move them around as I need to create space or harvest other plants. I do wish that the companies would do a better job of identifying which varieties are determinate and which are indeterminate. Your listing was nice but many of those varieties are unavailable here in the US. I’ve also seen some of the “experts” claiming that there is no such thing as determinate and indeterminate, but I believe you and Tony are correct. I wish we could purchase those large pots you plant in over here as well. Thank you.
im still eating my mid earlies from last year (still firm and hardly any growing eyes/chits) that i planted as second rotation crop, harvested in august/sept…. this year i also ordered some late potatoes to plant in summer, so i can harvest them in oct… so i will have a year round supply of potatoes. last year i had 4 varieties, this year i added 2 extra to experiment with (taste and amount harvested)…. thank you for the freshing up course 😉 … youre site and simplifygardening are the go to sites for me when it comes to potatoes.
It’s so strange that the ‘big’ information sources out there don’t mention those two types of growing habits of a potato plant which sounds like a pretty crucial thing to know! It also doesn’t help that there is no information on it on the bags of seed potato as well… Thank you so much for this informative article, I work in a veg garden and I mentioned this to the head gardener with 20 years of experience (a very good grower too) who also didn’t seem to know this so thank you! Will be trying this out, I will guesstimate how to plant it and see how it goes… with this new found knowledge I’ll be able to better assess the crop. Sending best wishes and happy growing !!
We buy seed potatoes in fifty pound burlap bags. We throw the bag in the barn and let them do their thing. We cut them up and roll in ash from the wood stove. Then plant a few days later. We have acidic soil so the ash helps to get the acidity around the potatoes down. I think it does something for diease on the cuts but, honestly, my dad does it because my pawpaw did. It’s always worked. I don’t always do that when I just plant my potatoes that sprouted in the pantry. I just throw them in compost. I keep them in the shade in summer because we get super hot summers.
Great positive article as ever. All with a smile. I’m planting 4 varieties and I cant find anywhere online (with out disappearing down potato rabbit holes) to tell me if they are determinate or indeterminate. Seed potato suppliers don’t display this information and even tomato seed suppliers sometimes. I think its something to campaign on. I will keep looking. I’m planting Ratte, Charlotte, Arron Pilot and Sapo mira (determinate?).
The variety I planted was Red. My wife had some that had sprouted. I allowed them another week in the window will. Cleaned out three big containers, a bit smaller than yours. Used some two year and compost. Put a few in, then filled another third. I have a box of chicken manure pellets I picked up cheap from a car boot sale. Turned it into liquid fertiliser and added. Put in, late May. They are thriving. I also have each growing on three bricks, so the slugs can’t find them. (Slugs are a big issue) I filled up the containers when the foliage was high. Just waiting to harvest, hoping nothing pest virus etc finds them.
Thank you so much for these articles. Loving them all! I’ve finally got an allotment so can grow more than a bucket of potatoes. I spent ages choosing my varieties, went with Red Duke of York, and Kestrel. Then this article comes along and gives me even more to think about! 😆 I understand Kestral is a determinate variety, but can’t find any info on the Red Dukes, would you agree they must be determinates too?
Great technique for small scale. I’m set in my ways though. I will always grow spuds as my Irish grandpa taught me: • Turn the soil • Dig in horse manure • Make drills 2ft apart 1ft deep • Plant in the troughs 1ft apart, 2 or 3″ deep • As the plants grow earth them up Every week or so until the ridges are inverted • Leave in ground, harvest when needed The plants can get over 1metre tall, and make much higher yields per square metre. Granted its alot of work in spring but well worth it. None get lost to going green, and are deep enough to be left in the ground till they are needed, very few get damage from slugs or rats. It takes practice to dig them out without spearing any though. I have tried both ways, always get much healthier better crops for much cheaper in the traditional way. Also as a matter of principal, its how he taught me, its how his dad taught him, and so on and so on. One day I’ll teach my kids too. Also plant marigolds at the ends of the rows, reduces risk of wireworm, and if possible never grow in one bit of land more than 2 years in a row. Keep an eye out for blight, if you see it either cut down all the stems and burn them in a bonfire, or spray with copper solution. This year ill be planting an 8ftx24ft patch, so in 4 rows, will have 96 plants in theory. 2 rows main crop for the winter, and 2 rows of early crop for summer and autumn Great articles, love the website 👍
That’s not a article. It’s a potato growing curriculum! Lot’s of useful tips packed into a fairly short, concise article. Great article style. Nicely edited. Though here in Japan we grow potatoes in raised soil (peaks and troughs, planting in the peak, not the trough), I am sure I have learned a lot here that I can apply to my novice potato growing. I will have to watch this again using the pause button, like a tutorial, and make some notes. Thanks.
“I like to grab the foliage and holding it up, get the fork in there.. and underneath.. and then gently rock it back and forth to loosen it and then pull it up. and then you can easily go ahead and gather those delicious.. lovely.. ehm, tubers ” 😂 I am in shreds. “fifty shades of the tubers” 😂😂 sorry, lovely article as usual!
Good interesting advice, I’ve learned from that. I didnt realise about determinate and indeterminates and have had an interesting couple of years where we’ve had a few good sized spuds, but too many of them have been very small pebble sized ones. I’ll definitely be following your advice, thank you 🙂
Stop the presses! I love these articles and learn so much. However, each time you mention the proper planting time, or your preferences for a particular variety of vegetable–none of which I ever recognize–I’m reminded of how different our climates might be. I live in a US zone 4-5, where there might be snow on the ground in March into April. How do I adjust your planting schedule to my zone? And can I order your recommended varieties online?? Many thanks for these enjoyable and informative articles! “Hi” to your faithful, leek-loving friend!
I haven’t found much info on growing a second crop right after I harvest the first potatoes. I live in Tennessee USA and have enough time to do it. for the first time i’m going to use the potatoes I just harvested and i’m going to drop a few back in the ground after a few days to hopefully grow a second bunch. Any suggestions on prepping the newly harvested taters to plant again? Thanks for any info provided 🙂
Thanking you for your article on planting potatoes, please can you tell me/us, does it matter what kind of hay is used as a mulch, there being several kinds of hay and what I am about to use is hay mixed with compost as it can help reduce costs by using less compost/soil but I am thinking that the hay will make for an increase of potatoe production for a little more air maybe help production and it will not be so heavy on the seed potatoe and I’m interested in trying to employ the use of air to gain increased in growth and help to dry, less wetness when the rain has greatly increased in our area’s, for us in the UK. I was thinking along the lines of when growing seeds which can be helped by use of pearlite or vermiculite to aid the seed growth by air, but by use of hay with potatoe seed and upon seeing some potaoe growers plant their potatoe seeds under hay only but reap their reward with less work but one would need a greater planting area in which to plant. However I am trying along these lines in order to aid production because of fear of too much water rotting the potatoe’s due to our poor weather conditions and should it go the other way, than allowing air increased area’s will just aid them when weather is hotter but I am trying to see if we have any options, when we now have greater increased costs for water too, so incorporating airflow and not compaction could possibly be a lead. What I basically need to learn is what are the differances in types of hay please? Thanking you in anticipation of your help.
Planting in a large area of land always results in a larger harvest. Storing potatoes in storage will last for several months. To prevent the potatoes from sprouting during storage, how many degrees Celsius must the temperature in the warehouse be in order to keep them that long? And what kinds of vegetables do you often use that warehouse to preserve?
Early potatoes: 2-3 months. Guess that was the whole growing season then. Looks like it’s almost summer there, it was still -25C here last week. “The skiing vacation” week is still coming up. What I learned last summer growing potatoes in a bucket was basically that watering them even once might kill them all. This year I’m gonna succeed though.
I’ve given up on maincrop potatoes. First earlies: Swift or Rocket. Second early: Charlotte, nothing else, yet I still have my own potatoes all the way from the beginning of June until April. How? 30 litre tubs as shown here. Instead of emptying the tubs out when the tops die back, I stack them in the garage & only empty the tubs as I need them & my charlotte seed potatoes come from the last few tubs each year. On planting in tubs: put the bottom two seed potatoes by the handles, that way you know the top two go at 90° to the handles. I usually reckon to harvest my first tub of Swift on May 31st (they’ll be planted on Sunday, March 10th).
Thanks for the information, But how do you find which varieties of potatoes grow on Determinate and the varieties that grow Indeterminate, one variety you mentioned was Rocket which I have, but that is as if those who sell seed potatoes don’t know which ones for them writes that you should cup all varieties. It would then be interesting to know how they grow that you buy, Sincerely Magnus kj.
Last years potato harvest wasn’t great but atleast there was one. It took quite a bit of abuse. First the window cleaners walked over them, then it got hit with heavy rain, followed by drought, followed by getting squished once again but this time by the storm blowing my potted tomato plants over and some more heavy rain. Definitely gonna grow thrm in oots this years, the Dutch weather is way too unpredictable and wild.
What do you do with the soil after growing potatoes in pots? i understand that potatoes cant be grown in the same soil over and over so i presume you cant use it again for another crop of potatoes? do you put it somewhere in the garden where there are no solanums and start over again with fresh soil? thanks
ohh i don’t know what potatos i have 😅i when were the sell and just ask for potatos, i got 5 kilos for 8 euros now i put them like you show for them too sproud.i am thinking off geting one off thos that are early one, i didn’t know the were things like that, becose i know this one are done end summer and are usely big ones.
The explanation of determinate vs indeterminate has been argued in the USA for decades. Some people believe like in this article. However, some people experimented and found potatoes will not grow roots up on the stem. Therefore, they believe that indeterminate potatoes will grow indefinitely like indeterminate tomatoes. Then somebody experimented and found that they don’t. Some simply die back sooner and some later. Later potato plants generally had larger potatoes. My experience… Some varieties grow roots more downward, while others grow roots more outward. The outward ones need more hilling to keep the potatoes from turning green from the sun. Some potato varieties die off sooner than others. Many people call those determinate and the later ones indeterminate. All eventually die off before frost. I experimented with planting about a thousand potato seeds to see if I could create a real indeterminate variety. I succeeded. I got two plants out of a thousand where they simply would not die back. Thus, it is possible to create a true indeterminate potato. However, a potato plant that does not die back might not be desirable. I’m still playing around with them. In regards to digging potatoes, I find that a garden spade is better. It does not fork the potatoes, but instead, lifts them up. Good article!
Not so sure about how good these potato barrels are….. I tried a few and during a dry spell the soil got to that hard shrunken state where the soil retreats from the sides and the water just goes straight through the periphery of the buckets…. I see Tony O’Neil counters that with a rather complex looking watering system but if you start doing all that then if you’ve the soil space it’s better just putting them in the ground
Fantastic information the best I have seen yet my only critique would be when breaking down types of potatoes perhaps use the more common names I know it’s not as accurate but trying to figure out determinate versus not means I have to look up each scientific name…. first world problems are real😂🥔🍠🥔
Thanks for the article, determinate and indeterminate potatoes. I’ve never heard of it and I’ve been working in potato breeding for more than 40 years. There are differences, but only due to growth conditions. Those images you show are not correct, a potato does not grow from a root. A potato has a thickened stem and grows on a stolon that comes from the stem. Planting deeper gives higher tuber numbers and yield.
I tried to grow potatoes in black containers last year. It was a complete disaster. The foliage grew thick and rich, and everything looked great. Then, after two days of rain, all the leaves died. Everything was a disaster. Yes the containers had drainage holes but apparently not enough. I am gonna try again this year. Does anyone think I should do anything differently?