This was our first try at growing potatoes in our 20 gallon planter. We planted the seed potato pieces in the bottom in about two inches of dirt and covered with more dirt, then as they sprouted we kept covering the sprouts each day until they reached the top of the container.
The idea is that the longer the roots the more potatoes and you can grow them vertically instead of them taking up so much space in a yard.
So now they were all dried up. I had read someplace that they keep growing underground, but I also read that once they dry up they are done. I new I had some good potatoes in there since I could see them peeking through the top of the soil, but I was also worried.. One plant died much sooner than the rest, it looked a little sick. You can see it in the first photo on the left side hanging over the pot. I was worried that this one may have some sort of rot that may infect the other potatoes so I decided to dump. Yep it is July still, but we went for it.
My daughter was excited to grab a few she could see from the top of the pot.
Then we dumped the whole pot into a blank spot (thanks to the rabbit issues) in our raised garden. My original plan was to dump it into the garden in the fall once the growing season had ended. But something told me the potatoes couldn't wait that long.
I think I was right.
STINKY!
Yep there was some rot going on on the one plant and the small potatoes that were on it.
It was very smelly.
I noticed that the pot was VERY wet on the bottom. The drip catcher on the bottom of the planter held too much water causing the bottom to always stay wet. Next year I will be drilling multiple holes into the bottom of the pot to prevent this. Potatoes like well drained soil best so I think this will solve our problem.
But we still had plenty of learning and enrichment going on and my daughter and her friend were not afraid to dig into the stinkyness and get their hands dirty.
And we even found a few decent sized potatoes.
They lined them up on the garden edge as they found them.
Here is our harvest, washed and ready to go. I am thinking... Soup!
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