How To Grow Potatoes In A Container

There are actually quite a few beginner-friendly vegetables to try growing if it's your first rodeo, but potatoes are a terrific, high-yield option. Not only are they remarkably resilient, but they can be grown in containers — and, in fact, they often thrive under these conditions.

You can actually propagate a fresh harvest using potatoes bought right from the grocery store (though keep in mind organic varieties or certified disease-free seed potatoes are more reliable). Let them sprout so that they become seed potatoes, and then you can either plant them whole or cut them into pieces, with up to three eyes per piece. Use pretty much any container, as long as it holds at least 10 gallons (perfect for up to six seed potatoes) and is at least 15 inches deep. Want to plant more? Get multiple containers or a bigger planter. You can use buckets (as you can to grow hassle-free cucumbers), grow bags, or even laundry baskets to get the job done.

Potatoes will also grow in pretty much any type of soil; add about four to six inches of soil into the container, then put the potatoes in, sprout-sides up. Place more soil over the seedlings, about eight inches. As the potatoes' stems get higher, you'll add more soil to cover them until the entire container is filled. Make sure the containers are in a sunny spot with at least six hours of sunlight, and keep them well-watered. Your potatoes should be ready to harvest in as few as 90 days and up to 120. You'll be on your way to extra crispy, golden homemade fries in no time.

Aside from waiting the requisite time for your potatoes in containers to mature, there is a major visual cue that will let you know they're ready to be harvested. The big, leafy, green stems will start to die off, turning brown and crispy. This might be alarming for you, intrepid gardener, but it's simply a sign that the leaves are done serving their purpose, because the potatoes within are fully grown. You might wait a week or two before actually harvesting them, though, to allow the skin to thicken, which is a boon when storing them (preferably in a breathable cardboard box kept in a cool, dark place).

Now, as for how to harvest potatoes grown in containers, it couldn't be any easier. Unlike harvesting them from the ground, which requires delicacy so as to avoid cutting into the flesh of any tubers, you can simply dump the container and its contents out. Then, get on your hands and knees and go treasure hunting! You can use a shovel to gently separate the soil, but the best tools are literally your hands, which can feel out potatoes better than anything else in your gardening arsenal. The nice thing, too, about harvesting from a container is that your search is finite; it's a lot easier to get every single spud you've grown from a bucket than from an in-ground garden bed.