Question:
How did the trash can potatoes turn out? We're going to try them this year - we've done them in the ground before, but are looking for something easier that takes up less space.
Answer:
How did they turn out? They didn't. We did quite a bit of reading online about how to do trash can potatoes, and followed the instructions to a T. We were so excited to harvest the bounty that we were so sure we would get, we searched through all the soil and found 3 measly little potatoes the size of a golf ball. We had planted more potato than we had harvested. My friend Megan tried trash can potatoes last year and had very similar results.
Has anyone had success with trash can potatoes? Or know of any techniques that take up less space?
11 comments:
I had the same experience.
I, too, had the same experience. Don't know why. Like you, followed the directions to a "T". Won't try this year.
I grew potatoes in the ground last year and had the same result. In our case, I think it was the weather; our neighbors - even those who've grown potatoes before - had poor crops, too. This year, I'm trying potatoes in a grow bag.
I tried the trash can potatoes as well...I got the same results.
I tried the trash can potatoes last year with miserable results. So bummed. I was SO excited to have a trash can full of potatoes and ended up with nothing. Maybe 3 tennis ball sized potatoes. Never again.
My cousin did! She got a whole boatload of potatoes out of her garbage can. She lives in the pacific NW--maybe I'll ask her what she did.
Please follow the link to learn how to grow potatoes in a bag.
http://www.youtube.com/user/potatospecialist
If you have trouble understanding the Scotsman, please let me know. I would be delighted to translate.
We grew them years ago when the kids were little. However, we grew them in half a wooden wine barrel and not a trash can. Don't know if that made the difference, but ours were great. Lots of potatoes, easy to work -- the kids had fun. My recomendations: start with good seed (we love the wood prairie farm's seed potatoes), lots of organic material in the soil (potatoes are heavy feeders) and be sure to hill them up as the stalks grow. We use straight compost for the hilling up part. Try them again. The look of amazement of the kids faces when they ate their own potatoes was worth it.
My in the ground potatoes didn't real well last year either. I planted Yukon Gold and harvested maybe just a little more than I planted. This year I am going to plant the same amount (one 4X8 raised bed) of potatoes but I'm going to use 2X12s to ring the bed to keep mulching up as the plants grow and see how that work. It would be kind of a hybrid on a larger scale of the trash can method.
Have a great potato day.
My potatoes were horrible last year, and they were in the ground. It might have been the weather last year.
Last year I had a half dozen seed potatoes left over after planting a raised bed. At the same time I had just gotten a deal on broken bags of potting soil and mulch at my local Lowes. I threw a thin layer of soil in the bottom of two recycle bins. Tossed the potatoes in without even cutting them up. Then I filled the bins to the top with a mix of wood chips and soil, then forgot them. At the end of the season I had close to 20 lbs of medium sized spuds from the recycle bins. The raised bed spuds just rotted.
Woods
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