You don’t need a large garden bed or a field to grow potatoes. You can grow potatoes in containers on a balcony, deck, or patio and get a decent harvest to enjoy in late summer or fall.
Growing potatoes in containers or pots is easy and fun. Just choose an appropriately-sized container, give it sufficient water and 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day, and you should get a successful crop if you follow these guidelines.
Choose a variety of potatoes appropriate for containers
If you’re new to growing potatoes, you may not be aware that there are dozens of varieties you can grow. Potatoes differ by shape, size, color, texture, harvest time, skin thickness, starch content, and taste. For containers, choose a variety on the small side, as big baking-type potatoes like Russets won’t perform well, given the limited growing space. For any variety, your harvested potatoes may not be as large as those grown in the open garden.What kind of container can you grow potatoes in?
Potatoes are tubers – they grow below ground and each plant produces multiple tubers. This makes the size of the container very important – it needs enough soil to hold the mature crop. And naturally, the size of the container dictates how many potatoes you can grow in it. For instance, Russett potatoes, typically known as “baking potatoes”, grow 4-6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter; but Fingerling potatoes are 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. Each mature plant of any variety will produce roughly 6 regular size potatoes and a few smaller potatoes, depending on growing conditions. As a rule of thumb, you’ll need about 2.5 gallons (10 liters) of soil for each plant. If you cram in more than that, you’ll just end up with tiny potatoes.
