Gardening 101: Planting Potatoes in a Container
ByIf you have limited garden space…planting your potatoes in a container is a fun option. I’ll be planting potatoes both in my garden and in a container, just so that we can have as many potatoes as possible!
There are a variety of ways to plant potatoes in a container. For me, the easiest way is to use an old rubbermaid garbage container. (Hint: remove garbage first.)
Here are the simple steps:
- Poke or drill several holes in bottom of garbage can.
- Scoop about one foot of soil into the container.
- Push five whole seed potatoes into the soil, spread apart evenly.
- Make sure the potatoes are completely covered by about two inches of soil.
- Water the seed potatoes.
- Sit patiently and wait for them to grow. You may want to take up knitting.
- Once the plants have grown to 7-8 inches in height…scoop more soil into the container. The soil level should be about three inches from the top of the plants.
- Water the plants as needed. As soon as the plants begin to flower, be sure to water generously and consistently.
- Each time the plants reach 7-8 inches above the soil level, scoop more soil into the container, maintaining the soil at three inches from the top of the plants.
- At the end of the summer, dump out the contents of your container (which will, by that time, weigh approximately 368.4 pounds). Dig all around the dumped out soil and gather potatoes.
- Jump and cheer each time you find a potato. Have an “I found the biggest potato, neener, neener, neener” competition.
- Go make mashed potatoes.
Don’t ask me how many potatoes you’ll be able to grow using this method. I’ve read that you can grow several pounds of them. Last year when I first tried doing this, I didn’t do a very good job of continuing to fill my container with soil like I was supposed to…therefore I didn’t have a very high yield. This year…I’m planning to do better!
By the way, with the exception of poking the holes in my container (because I had done that already last year)…this process took only ten minutes. That included digging up soil, planting, watering…and yes…stopping to take a few picture. (Wonder what my neighbors were thinking? Weird lady. Takes pictures of her dirt and trash cans. Weird, weird lady.)
A few more things you might be wondering about…
How should I poke holes in my container? Well…I had the kids stand back while I went to town with a pitch fork. But a much safer and more effective way is to use a drill.
What kind of soil should I put into my container? I dug up some good soil from the compost area in our backyard. You can use packaged soil from the store…but keep in mind that you’ll need quite a bit. I remember being surprised last year with how many bags of soil it took.
Does my container need to have the left-side handle missing? No. Your potaoes will grow just fine in a container that has both handles attached.
Will you show us updates on your blog as your potato plants grow? Absolutely!
Will I get dirt under my fingernails? Yes. When you push the seed potatoes under the soil, you will get dirty. But don’t worry. It will feel good. You’ll feel like a good farmer. You’ll feel like you’re working hard to feed your family. You’ll feel like you accomplished oodles of work because you got dirty. (Don’t tell anyone it took ten minutes.)
Oh…be proud of those dirty fingernails! See…I was so proud of mine I took a picture for you. (Weird, weird lady)
Do any of you have experience planting potatoes in a container? Any of you planning to give it a try this year? Anybody want to send me a picture of your dirty fingernails?
I am just starting to grow potatoes. I got the trashcan, the dirt, and I am adding Perulate (sp?) like Vermiculite. I will drill holes in the bottom and a few inches up the side from the bottom of the can. I found seed potatoes in the Lowe’s Hardware store in the garden section (I was surprised, I thought I had to order pounds of them via the internet). One question I have is, I heard 2 different instructions from different places about adding the additional dirt later. One sources says cover up the plants, others say add dirt but leave several inches of the plants showing. Which is best? Anyone try one way or the other and have bad results? Does a dark colored can do better holding heat? Do the potato plants get enough light down in the can?
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Laura Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I’ve just heard to add soil up to a couple inches below the top of the plant. They grow REALLY quickly though, so you really have to watch them!
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Debbie Patterson Reply:
September 5th, 2011 at 8:31 am
I’ve grown potatoes this way several times when we didn’t have room in the garden and it worked wonderfully. I kept the container on our driveway so it was convenient to add dirt and water, which made it easier to keep up with.
There were a few times when the spring rains lasted so long, that we weren’t able to till our garden for planting. Not wanting to give up the garden, we just put our tomatoes, green peppers, etc. in pots on the driveway and it worked out great. We had tons of veggies in each pot and since then, we refer to it as “driveway gardening”.
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I love this idea. We weren’t going to try potatoes because we didn’t have the room Thanks for the tip!
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Genious! Great post and lots of helpful information. Thank you :)
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I was adding dirt every couple days!!! Man it grows. Now I ran out of container space but the plant is still growing bigger and bigger! Will it stop? Should I stop watering? While the plant is still growing should I harvest? I heard some varieties have flowers, I don’t see any. Mine are Burbank Russett variety.
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Laura Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:09 pm
It will keep growing and spill over the top, but that’s okay! Let it stay in the pot and KEEP WATERING until the plant withers and dies, which could be a while! As long as the plant is alive, the potatoes will continue to grow.
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wonderful post.. I tried this last year without poking the holes. it was a bucket of muck. so this time i will do better…
I have some potatoes that are a little floppy and well “eyed”. so this is a great. I had told my 2, 3 and 5 year old a couple of days ago, to just plant them in the leftover dirt I had (read my the half of my garden that i just haven’t gotten to yet)… They buried one and then just rested the remaining on top of the dirt. Since squirrels already cruise my yard and eye my garden, I just tossed them into the composter instead of teaching those rodents that my garden was an “all you can eat diner, come back again tomorrow”.
I think I am inspired enough to get a drill and pull those potatoes out of the composter..
Thanks!
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This is so cool!! I can’t wait to try it.
I always wanted to do potatoes but didn’t want to give up the precious garden space. I will make this a homeschool/daycare project. I have an cruddy, old trash can that keeps getting in my way – I was going to get rid of it, but you can’t put a trash can out for the trash – it never gets picked up!! LOL! I now have a use for it – Thanks!
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I need to find an old trashcan now! I planted 1 potato in a washed out, cut milk jug mainly because I thought it would be interesting to see what it does- I hadn’t read anything on how to grow potatoes! So I might transplant it and see if we can get some grown!
how big should the trashcan be? At least the size of the one pictured?
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My mother-in-law says that she has heard good things about planting potatoes in tires. When harvest time rolls around, there is virtually no digging involved.
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Do you know if this works with sweet potatoes?
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Laura Reply:
May 26th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Yes, I believe it does!
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I got some old trash cans from freecycle with holes already torn into the bottom. I’m excited about not having to dig potatoes. I’ve also read that once you’ve made the initial start with potatoes in the soil, you can just put hay/straw over the growing vine and it will continue to set potatoes, dirt free. You can do this in old tires but consider if you really want all the chemicals from old tires leaching into the soil and your potatoes.
Sweet potatoes will grow in a container in dirt as described in the post. They won’t grow well or set in the straw method that I mentioned above.
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We don’t have organic seed potatoes but are using some of our organic regular potatoes that are starting to grow the eyes. Does this matter do you know?
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Laura Reply:
May 27th, 2010 at 10:03 am
You can just plant your organic regular potatoes. I’ve have success with doing this before.
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Caitlaegn Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Thank you for this question and reply! I too was wondering if using organic potatoes would work but couldn’t find the answer anywhere. I feel much more comfortable that I won’t be wasting my time (and a large container’s worth of dirt)!
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I went searching for new potatoes today (potatoes were planted on April 12, 2010) and found not one tuber. Why is that? I want to plant a fall crop in early August and would like to know how can I prevent this from happening again?
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Laura Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
WOW, I don’t know! Did your plant have blossoms on it? If there are blossoms, there should be potatoes.
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I’m not much of a gardener. I tried growing tomatoes in those upside-down hanging planters on my deck and killed them all! This, however, sounds like something even I could do (maybe).
Does it matter what time of year the potatoes are planted? (I always thought you had to plant potatoes in winter) It’s generally about 95 degrees here in the summer. Too hot?? Too late??
PS your instructions were very entertaining!
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Laura Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
You usually plant potatoes in the spring when it’s cooler, then they need some sun during the summer to help them grow. 95 degrees isn’t too hot, as long as you give them plenty of water. Now is probably too late to let them have enough growing time. :(
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Deann Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I figured it was too late. But this will be good to know for next year! I ran across your site quite by accident, and I’m glad I did. There is so much helpful info here!
Thank You!!
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So excited to try this in the spring. I read how sprayed our potatoes from the store are and want to grow our own. How many did you get from each trash can or how many pounds? Did you happen to track it?? Wondering how many trash cans I need for a family of five :)
Thanks,
Rebecca
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Laura Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
You know, we’ve read that this idea works very well…but our yeild just hasn’t been great. I’m not sure if it’s our soil quality or what.
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What a wonderful story about your family, God Bless. I am going to grow potatoes in a trash can this year. I went to a garden show and they were showing a way, by cuting the bottom of the can off and turning the can on the top. That way you can life a little and take your rewards.
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I love this idea. I’m such a newbie at this that I don’t know what a “seed” potato is. Help!
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Laura Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
You’ll find “seed potatoes” at your local garden store or even at your grocery store (maybe!). They are in the produce department of our grocery stores this time of year in Nebraska. They are dirtier than “eatin’ potatoes” and have lots of eyes on them. They are used specifically for planting.
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Donna Reply:
April 27th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
seed potatoes can be any potatoes that you have that have gotten old and currently have eyes. The way we do this is we take the seed potatoes and cut them. 1 eye on each piece of potatoe and plant each of these.
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How many potatoes did your 5 seed potatoes yield?
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Laura Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Ugh, not nearly as many as we were hoping for. :( Not sure if we did something wrong or what because we’ve heard that this can produce lots and lots!
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I’m going to try this in some large containers I got from a local nursery. I just cut the tubers up today, as each one was quite large and had 2 or 3 eyes on each of them. I’m going to use the straw method – already have my bale of wheat straw and some potting soil for the bottom of the containers. I can’t wait!!
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Sally Reply:
April 26th, 2011 at 11:24 am
I will be trying this! It just sounds like so much fun! And I’m sure
my grand-kids will enjoy it as well!
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Do ALL potatoes flower? I have red potatoes in a grow bag, but they aren’t flowering and the leaves/stalks are gradually browning…the sweet potatoes in the other grow bag are new, so I don’t know what they’ll do, but the potatoes that have just been thrown into the compost bed are blooming up a storm!!!
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Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers Reply:
May 11th, 2011 at 6:22 am
They should flower…as far as I know, as long as they flower, there will be potatoes under the ground…otherwise there may not be. :(
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Does anyone know if any other vegetables would grow besides using potatoes in a trash can? I have some russets growing in an old tree container and red potatoes in an old galvenized trashcan and they seem to be growing rapidly. Don’t know how they will produce yet. But one of the articles I read said you could use soil on the bottom (I am using miracle grow potting soil) and then cover with shredded paper as the potatoes grow.) I am trying this as an experiment but seems to be working.
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This is just what I’ve been looking for! My daughter is going to be so happy about finally getting to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes for those every popular sweet potato fries! YUM! Thank you from me, my daughter and my son (and anyone else that may benefit from our success)!!!!
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Do you keep your potatoes in full sun or in a shady spot? I am going to put in my potatoes today!
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Laura Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Sunny spot!
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Starting this today !
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Great website. So entertaining that you just keep reading and remember what you read. I tried growing potatoes in a container for the first time this year- – before reading this– but failed to keep adding the soil. I got enough potatoes to make 1 large potato salad dish. Can’t wait to do it again — the right way and have a larger yield. Growing sweet potatoes now using the process described.
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Hi Laura,
I tried this last year and ended up with about three pounds of potatoes, mostly small. They were delicious, but my problem is they only grew in the very bottom where they would have grown had I not done all the piling dirt up along the plants as they grew.
I’m trying again this year, the plants are about 8-inches high now and I’m about to start adding soil, but hoping to find out what I did wrong and hoping to grow more potatoes this year.
Any tips would be very much appreciated.
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Laura Reply:
July 9th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
I wish I knew!! I had trouble last year too and only got a few potatoes, just like you. :( We were pretty bummed as we’ve heard great things about growing potatoes this way.
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HELP! I did this and all was going GREAT but my husband (and me too I guess..ha) misunderstood and he put a ton of dirt on the plants when they were only about 3 inches tall……did we kill them? I haven’t seen anything come up in weeks. Ugh!!
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Laura Reply:
July 9th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Shucks, how are they doing by now? It sounds like too much dirt was added. :( Were you able to dig them out a little bit, or did they poke up anyway??
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I have not seen them in WEEKS! It really didn’t occur to me to unbury them…but now that you say that I feel a little stupid. Ha. Oh well. My broccoli and now my potatoes did not make it. I’m now praying over the corn, carrots, garlic, onions, tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. Sigh. Oh well you live you learn.
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Laura Reply:
July 9th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
I may not have thought to unbury them either if it had been my own!! Sounds like the rest of your garden is doing great!
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My son in law used an old box and came away with about 5 lbs of red potatoes this year. I can’t wait until next spring to try growing them. At 73 I guess I can still learn something new.
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I have to say that I have really enjoyed perusing your site!! You sound like my daughter in personality and that is wonderful! Draws people to Jesus when they see us filled with joy! It just get bad when I’ve tried to discipline (she’s 18 now) and she gives me that grin. I have to laugh at her then get back to the business at hand!
Love the potato container idea. I have grown potatoes in our square foot garden and LOVED!!! them. Best taters ever! I’ve heard of growing them vertically in a container, but just haven’t ever done it. I have a very old trash barrel in my yard that will serve the purpose nicely. I don’t even have to wield my trusty pitchfork, though our son would have loved using his sword, I’m sure!
I have to also tell you a funny story. My grandma told me that the best time to plant potatoes was in the dark of the moon (old wives’ tale). Me, being newly married and still a bit green behind the ears, literally thought she meant “in the dark of the moon.” I asked myself, what difference does it make if I plant them during the day or the night??? But being the obedient one, I got out my lantern and planted them “by the dark of the moon.” My father about burst his sides laughing when I told him that it worked and our crop was really successful. Gram’s tip was great. After he composed himself, he informed me that “in the dark of the moon” really means during the new moon when there is no moon. I was able to wipe the mud off my face, literally (harvesting potatoes is messy!), I was able to laugh at myself and thank the Lord that He is the giver of all good gifts, among them being delicious homegrown potatoes.
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You are HILARIOUS! Love your post – Keep ‘em coming as I always need a good tip AND a good chuckle!!
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Do you think this method would work with sweet potatoes?
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Laura Reply:
November 12th, 2011 at 8:24 am
I’m not sure, since I’ve never tried it before, but it would be worth a try!
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Great idea. I’m wondering though, if you plant at the bottom of a tall garbage can, how do the potatoes get enough light at first? About how tall is your container?
Thanks ever so.
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Laura Reply:
November 19th, 2011 at 7:24 am
I’m not sure the exact height of my can, but it’s a standard sized trash can. Apparently it is able to get enough light, even at first. I usually put it in direct sunlight for the entire process.
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