Don't have a garden but would like to grow potatoes? That is absolutely no problem. Simply plant them in a pot to save space.
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are also known in Germany as Erdäpfel. Although they originally come from South America, they are now native to the world. The tuber can be used to conjure up a wide variety of dishes, from salads to purees to fries, there is something for every taste.
Another advantage of the culinary variety of the plant is its easy cultivation. Even if you don't have a garden, the tubers can be grown in a so-called potato pot. With Potatoe Pots you can also achieve a substantial harvest on the terrace or a balcony. This article explains exactly how potatoes are cultivated in a pot and what you should pay attention to.
Choose a suitable location for potatoes in the pot
Potatoes prefer a location that is protected from the weather. In addition, it should be sunny and warm. Do you have a south-facing place that is at best covered? Then that would be the first choice of tuber. The west or east side of a balcony, for example, is also suitable. Potatoes can also be grown indoors if you place the pot in a sunny window where it gets enough light and heat.
The plants can survive bad weather if you dry them off quickly. Furthermore, rain protection can prevent or delay various potato diseases.
Suitable potato varieties for growing in pots
Potatoes in a pot don't have to be of a specific variety. However, if you want to mix different varieties, it makes sense to pay attention to a similar ripening time. This makes harvesting easier.
Red or purple potato varieties can be eye-catchers. Early varieties such as Friesländer have a short ripening period of around 100 days and can already be harvested in summer.
Planting time of the potatoes in the pot
Potatoes in pots are grown like all potatoes between early April and mid-Mayplanted. Outdoor temperatures should be at least ten degrees. 15 degrees is better. Temperatures should not fall below five degrees during the night. In addition, frost should be excluded.
| Planting time | Harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| New Potato | end of March | mid-June |
| Medium early potato | mid-April to mid-May | mid-August |
| Late potato | mid-April to mid-May | until the end of October |
Our tip: Pre-sprout potatoes
Impatient people can pre-sprout the potatoes - the best time to do this is four to six weeks before planting. As a result, the tubers ripen faster. In addition, the yield is usually higher. You should pay attention to the technology. Only light seeds that are green and squat contribute to success. Those can be obtained by storing the tubers in paper bags in a dark and cool room.
Suitable soil for the potato pot
Potatoes are heavy feeders. Therefore, the potting soil should be permeable and rich in nutrients. For example, vegetable or tomato soil has a high nutrient content and is therefore ideal.
Plant potatoes in a pot
Once you have made all the preparations and found the right location, you can get down to business. For potatoes in a pot you need:
- Planter with at least ten to 20 liters volume/ potato pot
- Vegetable or tomato soil
- Sand
- Compost
- about 3 medium-sized potatoes
Proceed as follows to plant the potatoes:
❶ At best, one uses already pushed or green potatoes. Those are no longer used in the kitchen. Instead of throwing them away, you can plant them. Alternatively, seed potatoes can be purchased in a garden center.
❷ Now fill the first quarter of the pot with soil. This can be mixed with some compost and sand.
❸ Then you put the tubers in the ground. About three medium-sized potatoes fit in a pot. You can expect a yield of around ten to 15 potatoes per plant. With a potato pot, you can position the potatoes in the middle in front of the windows. Any outgrowths should point upwards.
❹ The potatoes are then covered with a layer of soil at least ten centimeters thick, so that the pot is almost filled to the top.
❺ A mulch layer made of lawn clippings or straw ensures for a lesser oneEvaporation.
❻ Finally, water the soil.
Our tip: make a potato pot
To make it even easier to harvest potatoes, you can create a so-called Potato Pot. To do this, proceed as follows:
❶ You buy two plastic plant pots of the same size with a capacity of ten to 20 liters and thin walls.
❷ Now three windows of the same size are cut out on three sides of one of the pots with a carpet knife or something similar. It should be noted that the bars between the windows are not too thin. In this way, stability is maintained.
❸ Then the processed pot is placed in the second pot. This combination will be filled with soil.
Care for the potatoes in the pot
In the next few months you should make sure that you are sufficiently hydrated. The plants should never dry out. It is also important to avoid waterlogging.
If the soil sags after a while, you can refill with more soil. As a rule, the plants grow less vigorously than in a bed due to the limited space.
If you fertilize the potatoes regularly, this is reflected in good growth and a larger harvest. Liquid fertilizer can be an advantage here, as solid granules are difficult to distribute in the pot.
Pests and diseases should also be taken into account when caring for:
Blight and late blight is caused by a fungus and tends to occur in damp and cool weather. To prevent it, dry potato leaves after rain and grow resistant plants.
Potato beetles have black and yellow stripes. They appear in hot and dry summers. You can collect those. Neem-based natural supplements can deter the pests.
Potato Harvest
As a rule, the first potatoes can already be harvested after three to four months.
- You can harvest early potatoes with green leaves from July.
- Later varieties are harvested as soon as the foliage dies back.
- If you want to store the potatoes, wait two weeks after the foliage has died.
You can test the ideal time on the potato skin. If this can no longer be rubbed off, it is ripe. A thin shell, on the other hand, reduces durability. This criterion is irrelevant for new potatoes. They are processed directly. The first yields are already two weeks after flowering.
When the time comes, the plants are removed from the containerfreed. This is where the advantages of the potato pot come into play: you can lift the inner pot and harvest the potatoes through the windows. In this way, the plant can be placed back in the cachepot after harvest. This allows you to harvest the smaller tubers at a later date. In addition, the required potatoes can be easily removed as required.
Alternatively, you can carefully dig up the potatoes by hand. The herb should be removed first.
In general, it is an advantage if the soil is relatively dry. So little soil sticks to the tubers and you don't have to wash them before use or storage.
Store potatoes correctly
If you harvest all the potatoes at once, proper storage is an advantage. This should meet the following conditions:
- cool
- dry
- dark
- 90 percent humidity
If possible, you should avoid washing the potatoes before storing them. The former can spoil the tubers, since the moisture promotes the spores of harmful fungi and accelerates germination.
Burning points are not a problem for potatoes. The robust potatoes can easily be collected and stored in several layers.