Potatoes
- robinlancefield
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
I’ve tried many ways of growing potatoes, not all have been that successful.
Growing directly in my garden soil produces very disappointing results, due to a combination of the wet clay soil and slugs. Some varieties of potato fared better than others. For example, Cara (a variety good for roasting) produced a very small crop, with most tubers having slug damage, whereas Apache (a red and white skinned variety, OK for roasting but tends to fall apart), resisted the slugs a bit more. Apache seems to have a thicker waxy skin than Cara.
I have tried many ways of controlling slugs, including watering in nematodes, but with no noticeable improvement on yields.
A few years ago, I tried growing under grass clippings. The method has some positives, namely reduced digging and easy harvesting. You place the seed potatoes on cultivated ground and then cover in a thick layer of grass clippings. It did work, the potatoes grew, and better than when grown in my soil. However there were two main problems. Firstly, there was some greening of potatoes where the grass cover was not thick enough. Although it was easier to harvest potatoes grown this way, the main problem was that it was also easier for the rats and mice to find them, resulting in many nibbled potatoes. Yields were OK, but could have been better.
Over the last few years, I have grown potatoes in a mixture of 30 litre tubs and potato bags. Yields were much better with hardly any slug damage. I fill the 30 litre tubs and bags about a third full add 2-3 seed potatoes, and then fill completely. I cover with grass clippings to keep moisture in. Last year I tried a slightly different method - 13 litre polypots. These are thick black plastic flexible pots, which are reusable if you are careful. Each pot is used for 1 seed potato, and again I fill by about a third, place the seed potato and then fill completely. Yields last year were the best I’ve managed.
There are also two critical factors, soil/compost and water.
Over the years I’ve experimented with various soil mixes. I’ve got the best yields with a mix of potting compost, sand (I using kiln dried paving sand), vermiculite and potato fertiliser. For show potatoes, I sieve the compost mix (there is no need if you are not intending to take part in a show). My method is to sieve 3 buckets of potting compost (I just get the most economical), 1 bucket of sand (not builders’ sand as that can be too salty), 1 bucket of vermiculite, and potato fertiliser, added as per the manufacturer’s instructions. I add all of these into a rotating composter to mix thoroughly.
Whilst time-consuming and expensive, it produces the best results. You can also reuse the compost the following year for a different crop (I use mine for onions, shallots and flowers).
Watering is tricky to get right. Too little, and the crops will be reduced and the potato skins may be crazed/cracked. Too much, and again yields will be reduced and the crop may rot.
I’ve used soaker hose pegged into the top of each polypot or micro irrigation. Relying on natural rainfall will not usually be sufficient for pot-grown crops.
To harvest, once the plants have flowered (for second earlies and maincrop) and the plants start to die back, chop the tops off, and place the pots in a dry place for 2 weeks to allow the skins to harden ahead of harvesting.
The varieties I grow are Armour (coloured show potato and OK for eating), Cara (for crispy roast potatoes), Apache (for shows and eating, they look good in a vegetable display), Harmony (white show potato, good for mashing), and a new potato variety such as Charlotte. For the new potato I plant very early (late February) in the polytunnel for an early crop.
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