# How to Plant Potatoes In a Potato Grow Bag



## Holy_Ward (Apr 3, 2011)

love this idea will lessen the growing area in my garden so that I may try something new in their spot! Thank you all.


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## Bill_Brikiatis (Feb 9, 2011)

I'm thinking about adding oak leaves as the potato plants grow to keep the spuds covered and hopefully to grow more. Do you think oak leaves on top of soil in the bags would work out? I hear that potatoes enjoy slightly acidic pH. Oak leaves may even be too acidic.


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Bill - To be honest I really do not know how that would work out. I would be a bit hesitant about using leaves, or even straw, in a grow bag similar to this.

The biggest reason is because the soil in these grow bags drains really well (almost too well) and the soil dries out pretty quickly. I have to water it almost every day, with the exception of rain, and it isn't warm yet. So I'd be worried about the plant drying out easier if you planted the seed potatoes then used just leaves.

Using the leaves, or straw, for growing potatoes in a raised bed or in the ground would work pretty good. I have used leaves and straw before when growing potatoes in a raised bed and the straw/leaves were much easier to spread than soil.

I'd be more concerned about the soil drying out than the acidity of the oak leaves. I've never used them though, so it would be a good experiment to try.


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## Bill_Brikiatis (Feb 9, 2011)

That's a really good point. Last year we didn't get much rain and one raise bed of potatoes didn't do very well because it didn't get enough moisture.


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## Vicki_Moore (May 5, 2011)

That is so cool. I've never heard of a potato bag. I'm learning so much from your site!


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## Carol_Jendritza (May 10, 2011)

I'm noticing that additional soil is put on top of the potato plant when it grows in the wooden potato structure. Do I add soil and cover the plant some as it grows and continue to fill the bag?


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Carol - Yes, once the plants reach about 6 inches tall you will cover the plants up with more soil until just the top portions of the leaves are exposed. You would do this until the bag is full of soil.


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## Suzanne_Brown (Jun 21, 2011)

I have potatoes growing in these bags. And they look fantastic. The only problem is they are so tall, is there a way to make these bags taller? It seems like such a waste, the potatoes are now more than twice the size of the potato bag (height wise) and seems like I'm wasting a lot of plant that could produce potatoes.


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Suzanne - Sure, I guess you could make the bags taller if you wanted to. If you are crafty enough you could certainly add some height to the bags.

Good luck!


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## Ken1 (Sep 18, 2011)

Tee,

Well, we tried growing Potatoes in heavy duty black plastic bags this season, and I'm a bit disappointed with the results. We grew four bags worth, using four plants per bag like so many websites recommended. And we tried a different variety in each bag. 

For some reason, the plants were slow growing, so we didn't have to add much soil to them. The soil we did add, was Miracle-Grow Potting mix - the one with fertilizer already added in. Now are area did receive much to much rain this Summer; I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it, also since I like to grow organically, I did not use any chemical fertilizers nor insecticides or pesticides. At one point I did see some Potato bugs on them, and for those, I hand-picked them and they never came back. 

Well, today I harvested two of the bags, the one containing Reds, and the other containing Yukon Gold. Once I dumped the bag containing the Red Potatoes on the ground, I expected to see plenty of potatoes, but I hardly saw any. It was only when I dug to the bottom of the pile did I begin to pull out potatoes, some good sized, but mostly they were very tiny. How many? Only about a pound and a half - if that! Not worth all that work that we put into it, I can tell you that much.

The second bag, the one containing Yukon Gold, contained many more potatoes - again, they were mostly in the bottom of the bag. This bag, I didn't dump out, but hand scooped the soil out, a small potful at a time. The Yukon Gold bag contained about double the amount of the Red - about 3 pounds - but again, most were small. 

One thing I did notice was that the soil in both bags was quite damp - very moist. Like I said, we've had quite a lot of rain this Summer here along the Mid-Atlantic. Could this have been the problem? Usually we have dry spells beginning in late July lasting through August, that is until our rainy season begins again in September. But this year, it's been quite wet with all the Tropical Storms, Hurricanes, and heavy Thunder and Lightening Storms. So, could this over abundance of water affected my Potato crop?

I still have two more bags to harvest - Kennebec and another type of Red potato. I'll let you know how those bags turn out.

Thanks again for your great advice.

Ken


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## Lou1 (Nov 21, 2011)

I'm preparing to give this a shot, looking forward to it. Thanks for the advise and the idea. Was thinking of using old dog food bags since I have a few laying around, thanks to the 2 dogs we own.


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## MAI (Apr 23, 2014)

I would like to ask KEN who said he used black plastic bags, are they trash bags? did you out any holes in the bag? 
thank you
mai


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## Beverly2 (May 12, 2015)

Hi Tee,

First attempt this year to grow potatoes in canvas bag. Saw demo at an herb festival in Lancaster Pa. Started them a week ago and they are growing well. Have covered the new growth with soil twice. I am worried I am covering tops since I read a comment above. How much of plants should covered? Also how do I know when to let plants just grow? And how tall?

Thanks for your expertise. 
Beverly


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