jnicholes said:
My question is, how long does it take for the plant to flower and to produce potatoes?
Hi Jared. Potatoes are very temperature dependent, both soil temperature and air temperature. IIRC, flowering generally occurs when soil temperature approaches 60F. That's also about the optimum temperature for tuber development and growth.
jnicholes said:
Is a 5 gallon bucket a good container choice?
Maybe if your goal is to grow enough potatoes for a small bowl of potato salad.
I grew potatoes in containers a few years back. The containers I used were 32 gallon black plastic "trash cans". I grew them in the fall, and under lights in my basement through the winter, and brought them back out in the sun in early spring. Our summers are too hot here for much growth for potatoes. We're much better for sweet potatoes than white or red potatoes.
I got a pretty good harvest from 3 cans in late April, enough potatoes to last through most of the summer here. We eat a lot of potatoes, if they are available. I probably got 30 pounds or maybe a bit more from each can.
I just took your advice and I VERY carefully transplanted it into a 32 gallon can I had lying around. These are Russet Burbanks that I planted from an old one I found in my garage, and it is doing REALLY well! I was just wondering, when leaves form and you need to put more dirt in the container, do you cover the leaves with dirt?
