This year I decided to try growing my potatoes in a potato bag. Many of you are probably scratching your head right now. Potato bag? Is that even possible. The short answer: yes.
Next question. Why would you want to do such a thing? Space. Potatoes grow underground and need lots of soil. But what if you’re gardening in raised beds? What if you don’t have a lot of space? Enter, the potato bag. Or box. I have previously blogged about the Lutovsky Potato Box, which is basically the same concept, only larger. My potato bag is only large enough to start one seed. The box can handle up to a dozen seeds, depending on how ambitious you get during the building process.
Either way, potatoes suit themselves well to these conditions, because they have an upward growth habit. This means that so long as their is adequate soil to cover them, the potato plant will continue to grow and produce. It works the same way in your in-ground garden. You must “hill” the soil around your potato plants as they grow to promote optimum growing conditions. For more details, check my How to Grow Potatoes section.
But I digress. Now that I’m utilizing raised beds in my garden, the potato bag was a “must try.” And it worked! All you need is soil and a potato seed to get started. A potato seed is a potato that has begun sprouting. You can buy them at seed stores/farms, or use an organic untreated potato from the grocery store. I’ve used both, though the non-grocery varieties are better.
Fill bag with about 3-4 inches of soil, then place seed, sprout side up, on top, centered in the base of the bag. Cover with about 2 inches of soil. Water well. You can buy special potato grow bags, or make your own. Just remember it must have holes on the bottom for drainage. A flap on the side is important, too, especially come harvest.
As your plant grows, you’ll want to add soil when the “greenery” reaches about 8-10 inches in height, leaving about 6-8 inches of plant above the soil line.
After about 3 months, depending on the variety of potato you’re using, you’ll watch for the plant to die back. When it does, this is your sign it’s time to harvest. However, if you’re using a large box, you can harvest before the plant fully dies back, as the first potatoes at the base will have matured.
Harvest tip: place a bucket or empty planter beneath your bag when you harvest, to collect the falling soil. You can compost it, so not to waste a speck of valuable soil!
Growing potatoes in a bag is pretty cool. This bag produced almost two dozen potatoes. As an interesting note: my compost pile grows some pretty amazing potatoes, too. No work, no fuss, just the perfect growing conditions! Gotta love a multi-tasker.
You see? Plants grow all by themselves in nature. We gardeners are just along for the fun!! Check my How to Grow section for more tips and tricks for homegrown fruits and vegetables.
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