Grow Loads of Potatoes in Buckets (Super Easy)

What if you could grow bigger, better potatoes without digging or earthing up, and without sacrificing precious garden space? Growing in containers offers just that, and they’re actually easier, more flexible, and potentially even more productive than growing in the ground!

I’m going to reveal exactly how to grow spuds in pots, how to avoid tiny, disappointing harvests (you know, those marble-sized spuds – we’ve all had them!), and why, once you try this method, you may never grow potatoes in beds again…

The Right Container for Growing Potatoes

Traditionally, potatoes can be a little demanding. There’s digging, the valuable space they take up, and then there’s trying to carefully lift them up without accidentally stabbing your precious harvest! Containers offer a much easier way to grow them, whether you have a full-on garden or just a balcony. Once you see how simple growing in pots like this is, you might find yourself tucking containers of spuds into just about every spare nook and cranny you can find!

When it comes to containers for growing spuds, size matters! In fact, the size of your container is perhaps the biggest influence on success – too small and overcrowded potato plants won’t have enough nutrients to really swell those handsome tubers. Smaller pots also tend to dry out a lot quicker – not great news for a thirsty crop!

I’d recommend using a container of at least 30 litres in volume. A pot of this size will give stronger plants, bigger potatoes and, ultimately, it means far less effort overall. Make sure it has good drainage holes in the bottom because, while potatoes need plenty of moisture to grow well, they don’t want to sit in soggy soil, which could cause the tubers to rot.

The Best Compost Mix for Container Potatoes

I love growing potatoes in containers because it avoids digging, which tears at the beautiful soil structure I’ve created over the years. But potatoes are hungry crops, so we need to choose our growing medium with care. I use two parts garden compost, one part potting mix and one part coconut fiber. This mix will help ensure a good balance between moisture retention and drainage, so there’s no danger of things getting too soggy.

If you want to save money on potting mix, then a great option is a simple 50:50 mix of garden-made compost and repurposed potting mix from previous containers. This is a fantastic way to reuse materials while still creating a lovely nutrient-rich growing medium – and, of course, it will cost nothing.

Try to avoid very woody composts. Potatoes prefer a rich, organic, moisture-retentive mix but woody composts tend not to be the richest of growing mediums, and I find they can dry out a bit too quickly.

Add a balanced organic fertilizer to your potting mix. My go-to is blood, fish and bonemeal because it’s affordable and released relatively slowly, supporting plants for longer. (There are vegan alternatives available.) It will ensure my potatoes have plenty of nutrients for big, satisfying harvests with decent-sized tubers.

I love growing potatoes in containers because it saves valuable bed space, so instead of dedicating entire beds to potatoes, I can position my containers wherever there’s spare space – that could be along paths, on a patio or, as I tend to grow them, just at the edge of my vegetable garden. That frees up beds for other crops, which is a big win when space is tight.

How to Plant Potatoes in Containers

Start by filling your container about a third full with your compost mix. In addition to blood, fish and bonemeal, to really supercharge growth frisk a handful of a purpose-sold organic potato fertilizer into the top few inches.

Next, place two seed potatoes, shoots facing up, on top of the compost mix. First early or early season potatoes tend to grow in a single layer, so you can plant two pairs of seed potatoes, four in total. Cover over the first two and fill the container up to about two thirds full, then add another tickling of organic potato fertilizer. Place your second pair of potatoes on top, positioned at right angles or 90 degrees to the first set down below so the foliage from the lower plants doesn’t grow into the upper pair.

Early varieties of potato are worth growing for their speed and earlier harvests. These early harvests are the most eagerly anticipated, and salad potatoes, with a thin skin that pops apart in the mouth to reveal a smooth, creamy texture beneath, are true riches indeed!

So that’s earlies – now, on to maincrop or late-season varieties. Maincrop varieties will form the bulk of my potato harvest that I can store throughout the winter to give sturdy spuds for roasting, chipping and mashing throughout the colder months, and I plant these slightly differently.

Maincrop potatoes have a much longer growing period and often aren’t harvested until towards the end of summer. That means they’re more susceptible to late blight, which typically strikes in high summer during periods of warm, wet weather. It’s an unforgiving disease that collapses once-healthy foliage and, in severe cases, turns tubers to mush. So to minimize that heartbreaking risk I like to plant a reliable blight-resistant variety like Sarpo Mira or one of the other Sarpo Potatoes such as Sarpo Axona or Sarpo Una. There are several other blight-resistant varieties to choose from – Blue Danube, Cara, Carolus, Java, Orla, and Setanta, for instance.

Maincrop spuds tend to produce more tubers per plant than earlies, and they’re often quite a bit bigger too, so for these guys simply plant two seed potatoes into each container. Fill the container one third full, add a tickling of potato fertilizer, and set the two seed potatoes in place. With that done, you can just fill right the way up to the top of the container, stopping about an inch from the top to make it easier to water without washing out any of your soil mix. How easy is that?!

Filling the container in one go, right at the start, removes any need for earthing up. Traditionally, potatoes are grown in trenches then soil is gradually pulled up around the stems to form ridges as they grow. This reduces the risk of potatoes making their way to the surface and turning green in the sunlight, which renders them inedible. But with containers, everything is done at planting time. No digging, no heavy lifting – just plant once and let them grow. You’ve got to love that!

Water your planted potatoes well to settle them in. You could leave it at that, but a great way to finish off the containers is to add some sort of mulch on top – that could be a layer of straw or hay or even just a good layer of dried grass clippings. This simple organic mulch helps to retain moisture by slowing evaporation from the surface but, perhaps even more importantly, it insulates the growing medium from temperature extremes. Early on in the season that can mean a little extra protection from the cold, then later on, welcome shade from hot summer sun.

Containers of spuds can, of course, be moved wherever you want them – they’re super flexible like that. In spring that’s really valuable because it means potatoes can be started off under cover or even indoors to speed them along, then moved outside once the weather has warmed up again – and you can always move them back indoors temporarily should a late frost threaten. If you need to rearrange your garden, no problem!

And after harvest, you can reuse the containers for another crop, giving you multiple harvests from the same container in a single season – even reusing the potting mix the potatoes grew in but just adding a little extra organic fertilizer to recharge nutrients for that second crop.

Tips for Success

So we’ve set our potatoes up for success with good organic fertilisers and a fantastic growing medium. Another key to good-sized spuds is watering, and this is where some gardeners falter.

Potatoes need consistent moisture for trouble-free tuber development. I like to water really deeply until I can see water flowing out from the drainage holes at the bottom. I’ll then move on and water other things before coming back after a few minutes to water again, just to be sure the potting mix is evenly and thoroughly moist.

During peak growth potatoes need quite a lot of water, especially in warm, sunny, or windy weather. A simple trick to check whether your spuds are thirsty or quenched is to push your finger into the compost mix up to about the second knuckle. If it comes out dry, it’s time to water.

Good nutrition, plentiful watering, and, of course, choosing large containers to avoid overcrowding are the golden rules behind achieving proper potatoes and not marble-sized disappointments. As plants grow, you could give them an extra boost with liquid feeds, such as a homemade comfrey fertilizer, though I personally never bother with this.

Another tip to get the very biggest tubers, which is definitely worth doing, is to remove flowers as they appear. Potato flowers are pretty in their own way, but they take energy to produce, and successfully pollinated potato flowers will go on to produce seeds, which again takes energy. So remove flowers to redirect all of that energy into tuber formation, ensuring a bigger harvest.

Potato plants can get a bit top-heavy with all that lush, leafy growth, especially after heavy rain or wind. This isn’t generally a problem but if you do find that potato foliage is swamping nearby plants you can always keep it more upright and tidier with a simple support of canes and string to hem it in.

Harvesting Potatoes Made Easy

Harvesting is absolute the best part of growing potatoes in containers! Instead of digging aimlessly about in the soil, hoping you don’t miss any tubers, simply cut the foliage right back, then tip the entire container out onto a tarp to gather up all of the spuds in one go. It’s quick, easy, and ensures not a single potato is missed. And, of course, it’s immensely satisfying!

There’s no need to harvest everything at once though. While early season spuds are best enjoyed promptly, maincrop or late-season potatoes can be harvested as and when. Once you’ve cut back that foliage you can just tip them out when you need them, essentially storing the remaining potatoes in containers just as they are. This works well if your plants have avoided slugs – just bring them under cover into a cool, dark and dry place so they don’t get wet, and store them exactly as they are – job done!

If it has been a sluggy season, however, play it safe by tipping out and gathering up all your potatoes to store. Leave the potatoes out in the wind and sun to dry off for a few hours first though. This vital ‘curing’ step toughens the skins up, improving storage life. Once they’re dried off they can be gently placed into breathable sacks or nets to store in a cool, dark and dry place, ideally at around 45–50°F (7–10°C), and away from stored fruits which release ethylene gas that can reduce the storage life of potatoes.

A few tips to avoid slugs: the simplest is to just place your containers onto pot feet, old pallets or bricks to raise them up off the ground to make it a lot harder for slugs to gain access. Try watering in the morning rather than evening, so the potting mix isn’t super-wet going into the cool of the night. And don’t forget to check plants every now and then to pick off any slugs you happen to come across.

If you’re clever, you could be enjoying homegrown potatoes from very early summer from spuds started in late winter, right through to the following spring, using up maincrop spuds you’ve carefully stored. There’s also the prospect of fresh, winter-harvested salad potatoes gleaned from a late summer planting. Growing potatoes in containers really is one of the smartest ways to grow this rewarding crop!

Plants Related to this Article

Potatoes (Early) Grow Guide

Potatoes (Maincrop) Grow Guide