Steve Newport wrote:

Have just tipped out two big containers (Saxon and Karlena) to harvest
the pots but there are no more pots that I would have got had I grown
them in traditional rows.

On examining the plants you can clearly see a big root ball at the
base which is where the potatoes were, but the stem then rises in a
big green rope to the surface but with no signs of additional side
roots as I was led to expect would happen.

It may well be that I did not water enough but I also wondered whether
there was some other more fundemental problem such as the wrong type
of potatoes to do this with.

Anybody any ideas?

Thanks
Steve


I'm not sure what the problem is. I've been growing potatoes in
containers for years and I've only gotten a single central axis of spuds
and usually get between six and 12 fist size spuds (Yukon Gold).

Anything planted in containers has to be watered frequently. If the
weather is warm or hot, I water them everyday. You can see the soil
pulling away from the sides if it's left too long (and that's an
indication that it's way too dry). Did you use potting soil? If you used
regular soil, it wouldn't hold enough a lot of moisture.

To me, the advantage of potatoes (and tomatoes) in containers is saving
my plots for other crops and not spreading the diseases those two love
to leave behind. For potatoes, it also makes harvesting so much easier.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.