Plant Potatoes for Prudent Preparedness

A crazy new way to plant potatoes?

No digging, low cost and space saving?

Growing potatoes is super easy and cheap. We’ve all had potatoes start sprouting in our pantry… so what do you do with them? Plant them! Don’t let that soggy, sprouting spud go to waste!

What are you going to plant them in? Well, just about anything. If you have lots of land with good, loose soil, then you can obviously plant them there. But what if you don't have land, or much space? What if you don’t have a lot of spare cash to buy containers or pots?

Here's a crazy idea - you can plant them in a cardboard box. Yes, it works! Now, I’m not talking about a shoe box of course. Bigger is better. You will get small spuds in you plant them in a small container. I found some HUGE boxes at my local car dealership. They get all sorts of things delivered in boxes… and they need to get rid of them. Ask if you can have some. Or try your local furniture or white goods store. You can cut them down if they are too tall. The good thing about these boxes (especially the ones from mechanical workshops) is that they are thick and solid and will last a season until the potatoes are ready, even though it will look dilapidated by the end.

If the box doesn’t have a base, cover the soil with thick layers of paper or cardboard. This will stop weeds from creeping in.

But my, that’s a large container to fill! Yes, but don’t fill it all with soil. First, throw in some rocks, old bricks or anything like that. Sticks come next, old paper, old boxes ripped up and straw. I find this a good way to clean up the yard. This will aid in drainage, but will also ensure that the box does not break from the pressure of too much soil. Then, when the box is about 2/3 full, add some loose, loamy soil, fertilizer and manure. Add the potatoes and cover well. Add some mulch on top. You may need to keep adding soil on top to keep the potatoes covered, otherwise they will turn green and be unusable. The soil level in the box will drop as the contents settle. The box pictured here is very large, (about up to my waist.) I'm yet to see how well planting in this huge box will work out.

The very exciting thing about this way of growing potatoes is that there is NO DIGGING involved! When the potatoes are ready, just cut or rip the box open and ta-dah! Potatoes!

Now, what do you do with all the stuff in the box that is now not in a box? Put it in another box and start another garden bed. Use the old box itself in a new box. It is not recommended to use the same soil for growing potatoes for more than one season. So use the soil somewhere else or use it in a new box with a different vegetable. Just get some fresh soil and fertilizer to start potatoes again.

Here's a box I planted sweet potatoes in during the summer. It's about 6 months old. I reused the soil and mulch in the potato boxes.

You can also try planting in garden beds that have sides but no base. These can be bought quite cheaply or made from untreated timber pallets (I believe Americans call them skids? ) or sheets of fencing. Pallet beds can be made with very little expense if you can find a business that is giving them away. Again, the benefit here is that you don’t need to dig the potatoes out, you can just lift the edging box up and sort through the soil to find the potatoes. (Some sneaky ones may be hiding in the ground though, so dig around if you like.)

My neighbour had this planter in her backyard, not being used, so I asked if I could use it. The potato plants are growing well.

Get creative with what you grow in! I have clay soil (not good for growing spuds), and I did not have a lot of spare money for containers. So, I tried a cardboard box, and it worked. Try something that you have on hand and see if it works! You can even use large fabric, hessian and plastic bags. Don't forget drainage holes if you are using a container with a base. You can even grow in straw bales with fertilizer and manure added.

Although some people recommend growing from seed potatoes, I have had success with the potatoes that have sprouted in my pantry. I have planted organic potatoes, but regular store bought potatoes have worked as well. Some people suggest cutting the potatoes so that there is at least one sprout on each piece, but I have always just put the whole potato in the soil.

When is the best time to grow potatoes? That will depend on where you live. Here in South Australia, I can grow them almost year round, although they grow better in the cooler months. They don’t like frosts though. I have covered mine with frost proofing material this winter as we have had some nasty frosts already.

Potatoes like to be watered when it’s dry, but not to be water logged. Reduce their water after they start flowering so they begin to harden up for harvesting.

When should you harvest potatoes? After flowering, when the potato plants have died off they are ready for harvesting.

When can they be eaten? They can be eaten straight away. However, if you want them to last: after harvesting, brush off the excess soil (don’t wash them yet), and let them dry somewhere out of direct sunlight for a few days to a couple of weeks, until the skins harden a little. This will help them to last longer in storage.

Then EAT, and repeat… Let some of your spuds sprout and start over.

Happy potato planting! And stay tuned for an update of how these boxes held up and the final result!