I planted some potatoes in one of those tall plastic contraptions with
three little hatches at the bottom via which to remove the potatoes. I
thought it was a good, space-saving idea at the time and the potato
plants appear to be growing well. I also have three black plastic
buckets with potatoes growing in them.

Yesterday, I thought I'd just take a look and see if there were any
potatoes ready to harvest in the plastic contraption. When I slid a
hatch (one of three) to one side, all I could see was a little compost
and a huge mass of thin, white roots. I have never seen so many when
harvesting potatoes in the conventional manner. Can anyone advise
please? If there are no potatoes, it is too late now but I wonder where
I have gone wrong. The compost and weeds are compacted, so it is only
possible to scrape out a little compost before coming to a halt.
--
June Hughes