Growing Baby Potatoes In Pots - Indoors At Home

Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Hello gardeners, today we are here with a new and interesting topic. Do you want to grow baby potatoes in pots or containers? Well, in this article we are going to discuss growing baby potatoes in pots or containers.

Introduction to Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Growing baby potatoes in containers or pots can make gardening accessible easy for the small space gardener. When you grow baby potatoes in a container or pots, harvesting well is easier because all the tubers are grown in one place. Baby potatoes can be grown in a potato tower, garbage can, Tupperware bin, or even a gunnysack or burlap bag. The process is very simple and something the entire family can enjoy from planting to harvesting.

A Step By Step Guide for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Baby Potato Plant — Potato plants (Image credit: pixabay)

If you don’t have enough room or place in your garden to plant baby potatoes or even if you have no garden at all to grow, you can grow potatoes in containers or pots. Here in this article are some tips for growing potatoes in pots, grow bags, and buckets. Potatoes are very easy to grow and they even provide a nutritious addition to meals.

Things You Will Need For Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Seed potatoes
Suitable container or pot with the required number of drainage holes at the bottom
Suitable soil for growing baby potatoes in containers or pots
Fertilizers requirement for growing baby potatoes in pots or containers
Watering can

Benefits or Advantages of Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots or Containers

1. There is no soil contamination: Since you are using very fresh potting soil, you don’t need to worry about crop rotation, soil-borne diseases, or pests that will leftover from the previous growing season.

2. Growing containers can be placed anywhere: The containers are very easy to care for and can be placed on your patio, balcony, or in any spot in your yard that receives the full amount of sun.

3. Easy harvest: Harvesting the baby potatoes is easier than digging, and there is very little chance of damaging the tubers with a digging fork or shovel. Instead of digging your baby potatoes just dump out the pot and there they are.

Suitable Soil for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Baby potatoes mostly prefer well-drained, light, deep, loose soil, which needs to very high in organic matter. Unlike most vegetables, baby potatoes perform very well and best in acid soil with pH 4.8 – 5.5.

Container or Pot Preparation for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Any medium size container or pots that hold at least two or three gallons of soil can be used for growing baby potatoes. For example, you can include baskets, large paint buckets, trash cans, or even stacks of used car tires. You need to make sure there are adequate holes for excess water to drain.

Fill the bottom of every container with a few inches of potting soil, which will be where the baby potato roots will grow. Mix in a scant handful of all-purpose or organic fertilizer to it. Place the container or pot where it will get sunlight but not too much-radiated heat from a wall or patio.

Prepare the Seed Potatoes for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

There are a couple of theories on preparing seed potatoes for planting and one isn’t necessarily best. Some people await their potatoes to sprout then plant them whole, while others just plant the seed potatoes immediately.

A more “approved” method by experienced gardeners is to chop the seed potatoes into pieces, each containing a minimum of two eyes—growth nodes where shoots will appear. Await the cut surfaces to “callus over” by leaving them to take a seat for a few days before planting.

In case if you miss this: Vartical Gardening Cost In India.

How to Plant the Baby Potatoes in Pots

When it comes to planting seed potatoes, it is very important to understand how baby potato plants develop. After a seed potato has been planted in the pot or container, it grows the main shoot. Rhizomes, which are called underground stems, develop off the main stem and produce tubers at their tips.

This means that baby potatoes are formed above where the original seed potato was planted. When the additional soil is mounded around the main stem of the baby potato plant, new rhizomes will form below or under the soil line, and even more, tubers will develop.

When getting ready to plant, you just start by filling the container with about 6-8 inches of potting soil. Next, place seed potatoes within the container or pot, spacing them about one foot apart. The number of seed potatoes to plant will depend on the size of the container or pots you selected.

To maximize the health and productivity of the plant, you better plan for five gallons of soil volume for each plant. After placing the seed potatoes in pots or containers, cover them with an additional six inches of potting soil. As the growing season of the plant goes along, you need to continue to add more soil to the container, leaving six or so inches of foliage exposed at any given time.

Sunlight and Temperature Requirement for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Full sun conditions with at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight and ambient temperatures of around 16°C will provide the best conditions for growing baby potatoes in pots or containers.

Watering and Fertilizing the Baby Potatoes in Pots

Adequate watering and fertilization are very essential for healthy and good plant development. The potting soil in containers should be always kept moist but never soggy. Water the baby potato plant whenever the top 1-2 inches of soil feels dry to the touch, and then apply enough water for some to escape out of the bottom drainage holes.

Baby potatoes require lots of nutrients throughout their growing season to produce new growth and good quality tubers. Once shoots emerge, you need to begin using a balanced soluble fertilizer once every couple of weeks.

Choose a fertilizer that has a high amount of phosphorus than the amount of nitrogen, because while baby potatoes need nitrogen to grow very healthy green leaves, having more phosphorus is very important for tuber production. Synthetic fertilizers with a nutrient ratio of 5-10-10 are very good choices. Organic growers can instead you can use a combination of fish emulsion, greensand, kelp meal, and bone meal to feed their baby potato plants.

Tips and Tricks for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

Use large containers: The larger your container, the more room your plants need to stretch out their roots and form tubers. Consider the following:

Large Pots: Large pots and planters are very ideal for growing baby potatoes. Select a container that’s a minimum of 16 inches in diameter and 16 inches or 41 cm high. You’ll plant 4-6 seed potatoes during this sized container. These 10-gallon nursery pots are perfect.

Potato Pots: These potato pots are made from two parts, an inner and an outer container. You’ll lift the inner pot bent check on the progress and harvest potatoes, and then return the inner pot to the container; therefore, the plant can continue growing. Plant 2-3 seed potatoes in these containers.

Self-Watering Containers: Self-watering containers are an indoor growing system that decreases moisture evaporation and offers a uniform water system to your plants. Self-watering planters are the right solution for maintaining a uniform moisture level for your potato plants. Since the soil wicks water as required, using self-watering containers helps eliminate over-watering and dry soil. You’ll need a deep container to grow potatoes.

Use a light-weight soil mix: Potting mixes specifically made for containers will work. If you’re mixing your own, an honest mix is 1/3 good quality finished compost, 1/3 vermiculite or perlite, and 1/3 coconut coir or sphagnum.

Feed the plants: Add an organic granular fertilizer, like Plant Tone to the container at planting time. Once the plants emerge from the soil, feed the foliage every fortnight with fish emulsion. Spray the plants early within the morning to offer the foliage time to soak up the nutrients and dry before the recent midday sun. Follow the instructions on the packages.

Water well: The watering requirements of potato plants grown above the bottom are greater than within the ground. Since the soil isn’t insulated also as within the ground, water evaporates quickly. The plants may stop growing if they become dry or overheated.

Check the containers frequently in warm weather by sticking your finger within the soil. Water your pots if the highest two inches of the soil feels dry. Water deeply until the water drains out rock bottom holes therefore the moisture reaches the roots at the rock bottom of the container.

Keep the tubers of the plant covered: baby potatoes will develop areas of green skin when they’re exposed to direct sunlight during growth. The green areas are toxic and will be trimmed away. Prevent your baby potatoes from forming green skin by covering with soil or mulching heavily on it so no light reaches the tubers.

Grow potatoes fully sun: Potatoes thrive with a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight per day. However, potatoes are a cool-season crop that doesn’t just like the heat. The plants may stop growing once temperatures reach the high. So if your climate or weather is very warm, attempt to locate your containers in the neighborhood that receives morning sun, then is partially shaded during the afternoon.

Common Pests and Diseases of Baby Potato

The common diseases are listed below:

Bacterial ring rot
Blackleg (Soft rot)
Common scab
Black dot
Black scurf & Rhizoctonia canker
Gray mold
Pink rot
Potato Early Blight
Powdery scab
Early Blight
Leak
Potato Late Blight
Potato leaf roll
Potato virus A
Potato virus X
Potato virus Y

The common pests are listed below:

Aphids
Colorado potato beetle
Cutworms
Flea beetles
Wireworms

Harvesting Baby Potatoes in Pots

Harvesting Small Potatoes

You can harvest your baby potatoes as soon as they reach the size you desire. Generally, “new” potatoes are will be ready approximately in 60 to 90 days from planting, depending upon the weather and the baby potato variety you choose. One sign that young baby potatoes are ready is the formation of flowers on the plants

Within two and a half or nearly three months you can start sifting gently through the soil at the base of each separate stem to gather small new potatoes, leaving some to continue enlarging. You should not wash them, just dust off the excess soil, and store them temporarily in a cool, dry, and dark place.

Commonly Asked Questions for Growing Baby Potatoes in Pots

How many baby potatoes can I plant in a container?

Fill the pot or container about 1/3 full with a 50/50 mixture of garden soil and compost. You can plant one seed potato for every 3 gallons of pot or container. For the 15-gallon container, for example, you can plant 5 seed potatoes. For the 10 gallon container, you can plant 3 or 4 seed potatoes.

Do baby potatoes grow well in containers?

It is possible to grow baby potatoes in any large and deep pot or container, from large pots or nursery containers to big garbage cans. Even the trash bags or stacks of tires will do the best, though you have to be cautious about these while using because they can get very hot in the sun. Smart Pots are a fantastic option for baby potatoes as well.

Can I grow baby potatoes from store-bought potatoes?

If baby potatoes you buy from the store do manage to sprout, then you should plant them. There is no real advantage to growing potatoes from store-bought ones because those soft, sprouting grocery store potatoes will make good compost.

How long do baby potatoes take to grow well?

It takes about 4 months to grow.

While it takes about 4 months for most baby potato varieties to come to full fruition, baby potatoes are generally pulled out a month or even two earlier. This results in smaller potatoes, but also very sweeter and less starchy plants at the same time.

Baby potatoes are just small potatoes?

New Potatoes–is the term for any variety of baby potato that has been harvested before it has reached maturity. However, mature round red potatoes are also known as new potatoes simply because they are very small. New potatoes are also known as baby potatoes and sometimes they are known as creamers. They can be very small as marble-sized.

When should I stop watering my baby potatoes before harvesting?

Water the baby potatoes as evenly as possible. This may help the tubers to have a uniform shape and even help to make a better yield. Stop watering nearly about 2 weeks before harvest or when the vines of the plant turn yellow and naturally die after 90 to 120 days. This can help cure the baby potatoes for harvest.

Growing Baby Potatoes In Pots – Indoors At Home

Table of Contents