The fun of trash can potatoes!
Experience the fun of trash can gardening with Janice Stillman, Editor of The Old Farmer’s 蜜桃恋人. Potatoes can take up too much room in small gardens, so planting in a large container is a great way to go! See steps to growing potatoes in a trash can.
If you’d like to grow potatoes but don’t want to devote an entire garden bed to them, try growing in containers! Trash cans are deep enough containers for potatoes so they’re the perfect solution.
When to Plant Potatoes
Tradition holds that potatoes should be planted near St. Patrick’s Day for a successful harvest.There’s some truth to the old wives鈥 tale about planting potatoes on St. Patrick’s. It’s not necessarily about the exact date of March 17, but in the fact that planting in March will result in higher yields.
How to Plant Potatoes in a Trash Can
- Order or buy 鈥渟eed potatoes鈥 which are not seeds but tiny potatoes. For beginners, we recommend starting out by growing the smaller new potatoes. The mid or late-season varieties are better choices than early-season types.
- Drill holes in the bottom of the trash can for drainage.
- Set your trash can in a place that gets 4 to 6 hours of sunlight every day.
- Fill the can with half compost and half 鈥渟oilless鈥 potting mix to the trash can. Do NOT use real soil in container growing. If you want to cut back on how much soil you add, you could put recycled water jugs in the bottom. Just make sure you have at least 2 to 3 feet of soil with a 10 to 15 gallon capacity.
- About 24 hours in advance, prepare the seed potatoes. This is called 鈥渃hitting.鈥 Plant small potatoes can be planted whole, but larger ones should be cut into smaller pieces with at least 3 鈥渆yes鈥 (or dimples) per piece. Then allow the cut edges to air dry before planting.
- Bury the seed potatoes about 4 inches under the potting mix/compost about a foot apart. We plant four seed potatoes in each 32-gallon trash can.
- Water the plants and keep the soil moist but not soggy.
- As the plants grow, you have to keep their stems covered, and have extra potting mix to cover or 鈥渕ound鈥 over the stems so they are not exposed to sunlight. (Leave leaves exposed!)
- When the potatoes are ready to harvest, you dig into the trash can and pull out a sample. Then you can simply turn over the can onto a tarp and harvest your goodies!
To learn how to plant and grow potatoes, see our free Potato Guide.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Hi, dale,
Your goal/desire whether growing potatoes or just about any edible is to have the proper pH鈥攁lkalinity or acidity鈥攊n the soil. We find that pH is something often overlooked, so we suggest checking it and the plants' needed when planting. The best way to determine pH is to do a soil test. Kits are available in nurseries and garden shops, sometimes hardware stores, are inexpensive and easy to use. Another source is coop extension services at local schools. We hope this helps.
For those of us who don't have much space in our gardens and can't or don't like to dig giant holes looking for our food, planting potatoes in a container is a workable option.
I grow my potatoes in 3ft square frames made of 2x4's. As the potatoes grow, I just stack on another frame and add more soil or compost mix. When it's time to harvest, the frames easily come apart and can be reused again next season.
Although this idea SOUNDS good, I do NOT recommend growing things in non food grade plastics-the hot sun causes plastics to leach into the soil and the veggies. I grow mine in food grade 5 gallon buckets that I get free from the bakery in my local grocery. Plastics contain LOADS of toxic chemicals-not something you want to be growing your veggie in!!
How long does it take till I can harvest my potatoes? If I leave them in the ground to long will they be rot? Also, what is the best fertilizer for the potato family?
Hi Diana, the potatoes should be ready to harvest after about 10 weeks. Be sure to harvest them all once the vines die, or yes, they will rot in the soil. See more growing tips on our potato page! http://www.almanac.com/plant/potatoes
We leave our pot. in the ground till we want to dig a few at a
time up.We have even missed a few and got them the next year.
When you add the soil as the plant grows do you cover the leaves or just add the soil around them?
Thanks, all of you, for your enthusiasm. I think the outstanding questions are these:
Mary, it depends on what you mean/perceive as "entire container full." Assuming everything else goes well鈥攜our soil is good, the plants get enough water and sun鈥攜ou could get a couple or a few dozen potatoes or more. So will the container be "filled"? There will still be lots of dirt in there, too.
Diana, your question is, how often do you water? At least once a week, depending on other conditions, such as rain. You don't want to drown the plants but you also don't want them to shrivel. Keep us posted as things progress鈥攁nd GOOD LUCK!
My wife Ellen and I loved the video,so enthusiastic and upbeat.We found it very informative and helpful.
