Sweet Potatoes in Containers

[rangardener]

That looks nice!!

I grew 4 varieties of sweet potatoes in containers of similar sizes last summer in my “greenhouse” - quite a dim place due to the very old roof. The problem with growing sweet potatoes for my location is not having enough heat. In the greenhouse it did reach the needed heat units quite early on, but the yield was not really better than those growing outside without any shelter, both were pathetic. So next year I plan to only grow them in a full sun location in the garden, but I’ll have to build something to hold translucent plastic films so to help increase the heat they can receive.

[steev]

Might the spuds do better in shade, at least the pots? I never had any luck with spuds until I added lots of OM to the soil and mulched heavily.

[steev]

I think they are "free spirits" that like to be unconfined, but resent dry and hot; I'm much the same.

[reed]

I like growing sweet potatoes in containers but it takes large ones for them to produce well. I use big tubs that cattle feed comes in and with my new sweet potato habit, need to collect up some more of them. Not sure what kind of dirt would be best. I have just used mix of weeds, grass and dirt scraped up from paths, seemed to work pretty good.

[prairiegardens]

I got a couple of those tubs last year and intend to get a whole lot more for next year. I wasn't able to find the gallon capacity, but I'd guess they are about 18 -20 inches tall and maybe 20 - 24inches across, possibly a tad less but thereabouts; huge enough to offer a fair amount of root space. I actually wondered about trying to grow carrots in one of them over the winter but they are just a bit too big for the floor space available. They are considerably taller/bigger than the pots that the small trees came in. 

Raised beds in general are a blessing for those of us who can lift but not dig, can bend but not kneel. Simple raised beds that are high enough to be useful takes an enormous amount of soil unless you're using a base of hay or straw. Our latest village council thinks we are in an HOA and bales of straw or hay are far too bucolic for a metropolis of 300 people, apparently they prefer laundry baskets lined with burlap, but there's no accounting for people's tastes, and large containers are expensive.

Next year I want to get enough tubs to make self watering wicking arrangements. That will be work to set up but afterwards should be extremely easy to look after and harvest. What to do with them at season's end may be a bit of an issue, thinking now just to cover them to stop too much rain or snow getting in there, then top dressing in the spring with compost and possibly a trowel or two's worth of garden soil for the microbial boost. Maybe mulch with leaves.....They are designed to be out in the weather so hoping that will work, can't imagine dumping them out each fall and refilling in the spring.

[reed]

Mine are 24" across and 16" tall. I use a 1" wood bit to put in several drain holes and set the bottoms two or three inches in the ground. I do dump mine each fall and refill in spring. Two of them fit on my pull part and I tug them around filling mostly with clean up material. They are too heavy to easily get off the cart when all the way full so about 2/3 the way there I take them to their spots to finish up. I just leave in the garden through winter, whatever the plastic is it most be pretty UV resistant cause never had one get brittle or crack.

I'v grown lots of different things but they are black and they do get hot, of everything I'v grown sweet potatoes seem the happiest.

[prairiegardens]

Found growbags with a 20 inch circumference x 15.5 inch height rated at 20 gallons ( and $20 each!) so the tubs hold about 1/5 more? My tubs are green or black but they also come in orange, the black being a tiny bit smaller with very  slightly thinner plastic so fractionally lighter and with a somewhat sculpturish profile, the others making no pretense at being anything but heavy duty workhorse tubs. They make great containers for fermenting thistles in.


The growbags are being recommended for squash or potatoes. In case any of that helps.

[reed]

Ouch, 20 bucks each? I'll just make rounds of everyone I know that might have some of the tubs. I have another idea that I did one time years ago. Line up two rows of square hay bales about two feet apart and fill the middle with soil. Works great for anything and then the bales become soil. If nothing else I'll just grow in the ground.

The ground is fine except in my TSPS project I have to inspect them all closely and frequently for a couple of months. Don't want to have to get on the ground to do it. Also they are safer from rabbits up off the ground.

[gilbert]

I grew sweet potatoes in a raised wooden cold frame box with a plastic lid. I don't think I had the right kind of soil, and watering was spotty when other things came up last summer, but I did get 10 pounds of potatoes out of it.

[mskrieger]

When my only garden was a bunch of scavenged plastic filing boxes and paint buckets set on a little roof jutting out from my bedroom window in Washington, DC, it did very well. Part of the success was due to what I originally thought was a detriment: the northern exposure. Plenty of light on a rooftop, and being shaded from the southern sun was protective. Allowed me to forget to water for a day or two and the plants were OK. Never tried to grow potatoes, though. Too much weight for a rooftop.

[mskrieger]

and should another one of the takeaways from this be: for in-the-ground growing, sweet potatoes should get more space than irish? I was thinking of planting them alongside my driveway bordered by zinnias or something this year, and working out how wide the bed should be. 18+ gallons of soil for a single plant means a pretty wide border.

[walt]

Dec 21, 2016 14:48:42 GMT -5 mskrieger said:

and should another one of the takeaways from this be: for in-the-ground growing, sweet potatoes should get more space than irish? I was thinking of planting them alongside my driveway bordered by zinnias or something this year, and working out how wide the bed should be. 18+ gallons of soil for a single plant means a pretty wide border.

Depends on how deep the roots go. Anyone know how deep sweet potato roots go?  Sure, it depends on soil tyoe and soil preperartion.  But estimates anyone?  Yes, I'm also preparing a new sweet potatao bed.

[reed]

I'd say they range in the neighborhood of four to eight inches. In ground or pots either one. They are generally easier to find and dig than potatoes. That's for the part you dig to eat, I suppose the little roots may go deeper. Most I'v grown have also were right under the main vine but I'v read that some spread out a lot more.

[Al]

I have had good results growing (ordinary) potatoes in Air-Pot potato towers, these hold 50 litres & I plant with 4 tubers per pot. Yield is 1 kg per plant which is the same as in the ground. Useful for very early or late plantings when crops in pots can be more easily protected from frosts. Exhibition growers often grow potatoes in containers in pots in the U.K. to get perfect showbench quality tubers, it's easier to exclude pests & concentrate soil amendments & feed. Some start in an Air-Pot & then allow deep roots to grow out the bottom through perforated base into the ground, a sort of ring culture which contains crop but allows additional water seeking roots full run. I'll be growing Kondor in Air-Pots, this variety holds record for heaviest tuber! Also have sweet potatoes sprouting to produce slips which I will try in these pots in a poly tunnel, they are not an outdoor crop in Scotland.

[mskrieger]

I ended up getting more slips than I expected from Southern Exposure and planting them 18-24inches apart in two long rows on 3 foot centers in prime garden space (sandy loam soil amended with a dusting of compost and lime) as I wasn't counting on being able to water this year and I wanted a return on my investment. I've found I can plant Irish potatoes considerably closer than that, about 8-12 inches apart, and get good yield if we get good rain...we'll see how the Irish compare with the sweets in terms of yield per row-foot.

I'll report back.