Whether you say Potato or Potatoe one thing is certain, everyone can have a few fresh Potatoes wherever they live.
From a Field full of this most delicious of crops to a single Potato planted in a Container, we can all do it.
You may have been Chitting your Seed Potatoes for Weeks, getting ready to Plant them out when the little Shoots have grown a few centimetres, or you may have not thought about Planting any Potatoes at all.
Trust me, however much space you have, planting even a mini crop is worth it.
Can I Plant A Single Potato?
Grow Potatoes In Minimal Space
If you have absolutely no Land or no space for a Potato crop you can still have at least a few potatoes to eat.
You know how to Compost, so add some of the great Compost you have made or some good soil to some kind of container or a little area of land and get growing.
One very popular method is to get a few old tires. Put some of the Compost, or some Soil in the bottom, add a few potatoes and cover. As the leaves grow up you simply keep adding a Tire as needed and add more earth so just the top of the Plant is showing.
By the end of the Season you will have a very good crop which has taken up little room.
If you really have no space then plant a single Potato. Use a big Bucket, a big Pot or anything else you like. Leave the Potato in a shaded room for a good few weeks and it will Sprout. You can then put it in some soil in your receptacle and it will grow and deliver at least a few meals worth of great, fresh Potatoes.
It will take minimal room, you could do it on a Balcony, and while not giving you many, there is still joy to be had from the simplest of growing tasks.
Could I Plant The Shop Bought Potatoes I have?
Plant A Green Potato For Some Free Food
Normally you would buy Potatoes that are for growing. These are “chitting” Potatoes designed to give maximum yield and are guaranteed disease free.
However, most Potatoes you but from Shops will be disease free also. Instead of Composting the old or green Potatoes that you have found at the back of the cupboard PLANT THEM.
Why waste the opportunity? If you hadn’t planned on growing Potatoes this year you can still have a nice little crop. As before, leave them in a shaded room, let them sprout and stick ’em in! You may only get a few hands full but I bet they will still be the best you have eaten.
Little things like this are a great way to use up valuable produce in a very productive way. Every little helps you to become more Self Sufficient and it may just inspire you to grow a field full next year and store them through the Seasons.
For a more self sufficient future
I’m planning on doing something similar to this, but using old compost bags instead of tyres (because I happen to have those laying around!). The potatoes are chitting away at the moment!
But, I have a question, how many potatoes can you plant in different size bags? Everything I’ve read refers to a generic compost bag, but they come in different sizes! I have 25 lt, 56lt and 75lt ones.
I was planning on put 1 potatao in the 25lt, 2 in the 56lt and three in the 75lt. Do you think this sounds about right?!
Any advice would be much appreciated but I’m in no hurry for an answer (still someway to go with the chits) so feel free to use this in next week’s Q&A if you want to/it’s easier!
Springtime’s last blog post..Sunshine and seeds
We always cut out seed potatoes, with one or two sprouts on each section and then leave them to air dry for several days then plant them out in the garden. My grandparents and great grandparents did this, however on most sites I have noticed they tell you to plant the whole seed potatoes in the ground, this was very interesting to me, as I had never seen this done this way before.
Great info… I didn’t know you could grow potatoes in such a small space, so we’ve not included them in our driveway garden. Potatoes are so satisfying, too. I love digging them up… like going on a treasure hunt!
Almostgotit’s last blog post..Don’t try this at home
Potatoes are some of my favorite things to grow because it’s so hard to screw them up and at least not get some.
Heather’s last blog post..Pictures with a dash of passion creates art
Springtime, good question. I will answer it for the Q and A if that is OK?
Mitchell, cutting them in half is fine if they are large potatoes. Some people don’t like doing it as they think it may cause disease but we have never had a problem.
Almostgotit, it is great when you uncover those first potatoes, it’s like magic.
Heather, that’s right. They are one of the easiest things to grow.