Potatos - where did we go wrong?

First year of any sort of vegetable growing, so lots of errors being made all over the place I have no doubt. I'm sure others will emerge over time but for now it's the potatoes that haven't quite worked out as hoped.

Maris piper seed potatoes planted in early March. Small garden so restricted to containers - 5 potatoes per potato bag in ~20cm soil. Over the next couple of months further soil was added as the plants grew, as per instructions. The plants reached over a metre tall from the top of the containers, which were themselves a good couple of foot high.

Harvested this weekend as the plants were dying back, drying out and falling over.

I would say, weight wise, we've probably got back 1 to 1.5 times the amount of potato we planted. It wasn't exactly a profitable enterprise...

So where did we go wrong? What are the tips for getting the best return in the restricted container environment? My gut feeling is the plants grew way too tall and so put more energy into top growth than tubers, if that's possible.

Definitely want to try again, but would love to avoid this year's mistakes once we know what they were...!

 

I get the impression that maris piper would need to grow on a bit longer, it's not an early variety.

So, you needed to grow it on until about early september at least.

Drying out?
Did you stop watering?

 

I agree with Pete . If we grow for harvest now they're usually either Maris Peer or Charlotte.

 

I have grown a few potatoes in pots (early to mid season varieties) and like @pete I wonder if you've been watering enough - it has surprised me how much they have needed this year. Even in a soil based compost, they've started drooping unless watered A LOT. Have they flowered?

 

Growing tatties in containers ain't as easy as the container manufacturers make out on their rather seductive packaging

Because of the size of the foliage and subsequent transpiration, they need a lot of watering. Having a lot of plants in one container also nukes the nutrient levels so need plenty of tattie feed.

As an anecdote, have got some maris pipers growing in an hexagonal potato container at the allotment as well as some growing in Field Horsetail infested soil. The ones in the container have been thrashed around in the wind, are much taller but appear weaker and yellower than the ones in the ground. But the soil dwellers foliage is being devoured by pests and they look rather disheartened

The only plant that looks great is the spud in a bucket contestant

It's a hard balance to get right.

 

Try 2/3 seed spuds per sack next time and keep watering

 

I'm a novice at potato growing, however this particular comment drew my attention.
Potatoes are *root* vegetables - ergo - the "foliage" may well appear to be "dying back" but that is not always indicative of the condition of the "root vegetable"
"Drying out" ... the solution is within the description: to ensure productive, swelling tubers, they need H2o - so, watering is key! If the top foliage (the bit you see above the ground) look parched, shrivelled, in need of water (aka dying back), then it stands to reason the *tubers* (aka potatoes) will also be in desperate need of water. Watering, as opposed to harvesting, might have been your solution in gaining a crop of hearty potatoes. The foliage does indeed "fall over" but that is simply a sign that you need to water - it is not, necessarily, a sign of dead fruit!

Last year I entered a competition with my local gardening club to grow spuds in a bucket: total FAIL!

THIS year, I've just got on with it, on my own: I'm looking at a happier harvest

Hoping you have kept a few plants growing so you may have a later harvest

 

Thanks all, very helpful! Definitely sounds like a watering issue - we've been dowsing the tomatos daily but didn't realise potatoes needed similar! We'd read that potatoes were ready to harvest when the foilage started to die; but of course lack of water would cause similar. I doubt they would have been salvagable anyway - brown and crispy isn't a promising look for a plant

Are metre high plants typical for potatoes then? In my head they are much stockier plants - r does that vary between types too? I hadn't realised there was so much variation in grow time between types either, will definitely have to do more reasearch next year (and not trust the "16 weeks to harvest" on the packets...)

Sadly only had the one crop this year, as a trial run. With limited space we went for small amounts of lots of different veg to see what will and won't tolerate our container-style growing - hopefully next year can be more focused (and successful!).

 

Most of mine are getting on for a metre, some have flopped over, forget which varieties these are but you can see a difference in height with the ones at the back.

 

Marias Piper is a main crop spud and so not the best choice for containers. AFAIK spuds stop growing when the humles are dead which is why farmers spray them off before harvest. If the tubers kept growing they would wait a month or so before lifting but don't.

A max of 3 tubers per container has been my maximum and even at that they seemed crowded for spacew so possibly try two.

For cost effective spuds apart from earlies one and two and unless you have a big space then a farm shop is the answer we find.

PH

 

I scold myself each year for trying to grow (salad) potatoes in a bag. Way too much compost and watering required for so little yield. I agree with the advice above....don't bother!

 

I think most of us give bags a go if garden space is limited, i will try again next year perhaps putting some bags in a shady position.

 

Tayters in bag/bins etc allegedly do better in rich soil than compost and produce a bettter flavour according to a relative and they retain water more efficiently.

Beginning to agree... first time I've persisted with growing them in bags and containers. Compost dries out too fast and the raised elevation above ground makes them prone to wind damage. A sunny but sheltered spot where they are didn't stop a whirlwind snapping the stems of the Maris Pipers. Desirees seem to fair better but both looks like crap compared to their counterparts in the allotment soil.