Test: Potatoes in Bucket vs. Potatoes in Ground

[jal_ut]

This was a test: I planted a potato in a bucket and a potato in the ground next to it. Both got the same treatment. Here is the result:



Those on the left were in the bucket.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Interesting James,

I have a few questions.

Why the color variation.

If you planted similar potatoes, why so many little ones from the bucket. Did both tubers have about the same many eyes / stems.

I may have some follow ups

Eric

[jal_ut]

Eric, the potatoes I planted were alike of the same size and of the same stock. Red Pontiacs. I planted them the same day and did nothing special. They both got the same water when the sprinklers came on the garden. Neither bunch got any special water, fertilizer or treatment. Your guess is good as mine why the ones in the bucket made so many little ones, and different colors.

My reason for this test in the beginning was to demonstrate what I thought would happen concerning planting potatoes in buckets. My conclusion? No Way is planting in a bucket as good as planting in the ground!!!

[rainbowgardener]

"My conclusion? No Way is planting in a bucket as good as planting in the ground!!!"

Yeah, I grow potatoes in buckets -- actually 50 gallon trash cans cut in half. But even though they are big buckets, the results have been pretty disappointing.

But since I don't have much choice I will probably keep doing it. Hmmm..... I have a raspberry patch that I'm thinking about taking out. It is too much work trying to keep them from taking over the yard and the birds get the berries anyway. Maybe the raspberry patch can become the potato patch...

[DoubleDogFarm]

Ok,

How about weight. Hard to tell by the photo. It doesn't appear to be a big difference. I personally like the larger potatoes, it's easier to clean and prep.

For a true test, next year, you need to do a hundred buckets and hundred in the ground.

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

I forgot to say, my potatoes in buckets came out looking just like James' -- ranging from marble to golf ball size.

I have to say it is reassuring to me that an experienced potato farmer like James got the same result. Thanks for doing the experiment, James!

[digitS']

I'm glad that this myth of wonderful bucket potato yields meets reality but I see the idea coming up again and again. It is partly that folks are trying to maximize their gardening space. Nothing wrong with that and the plants in buckets can do kind of okay in some circumstances.

Generally, I don't have to be that concerned about space. I can also look at the potato fields of southern Idaho and central Washington and see how the people in commercial production grow spuds. Still, I get ideas . . .

What I think might be a good way to grow "contained" potatoes is in something like a very large strawberry pot . There are pyramid planters that folks build out of wood, also.

Let's just imagine a square raised bed with, maybe 2 by 10's for a frame. It is square and you build another, smaller, and set it on top. Up and up, stacking several more, progressively smaller frames - filled with soil.

You now have something of a pyramid, in tiers. You could also turn the smaller frames so that their corners rest on the frame below. Plant the tiers in potatoes. Water at the top. Pull the frames off one at a time and harvest potatoes.

Hilling needs to be done with the realization that the plant's LEAVES gather energy and make the potatoes thru PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Progressively burying the leaves as the plant grows, denies it sunlight. Potatoes are not truffles. Potatoes are green plants that grow in sunlight.

Steve

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'd also be interested in the temperature of the soil in the bucket versus ground temps. I'm thinking the bucket soil could be much warmer or cooler. Fluctuation swings

Eric

[jal_ut]

Temperature? I didn't actually take a thermometer out, but if I had to guess, I would think the soil in that black bucket above ground got much warmer than the soil.

For a true test, next year, you need to do a hundred buckets and hundred in the ground.

OK, looks like lots of interest in this subject, but I am here to say: I will not be growing in buckets again. Sorry. Run your own experiment if you need more info.

Spend some time looking around this site: https://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrar ... 37toc.html

You will soon see why plants in buckets don't have a chance at real root development.

[DoubleDogFarm]

OK, looks like lots of interest in this subject, but I am here to say: I will not be growing in buckets again. Sorry. Run your own experiment if you need more info

No thanks. I have plenty of open space and I'm done goofing around. Time to hone my skills and just grow food.

Eric

[bryce d]

The buckets probably have a finite amount of water. As the potatoes used the water the soil went drier. As the potatoes in the ground used up water, more moisture from the surrounding ground could move in. I wonder if that could have been happening. Would the temperature of the bucket drive out some of the water?

[rainbowgardener]

Don't think the water is the issue. Mine were in a big container and I watered regularly, if needed. Our spring and early summer was so rainy, watering was rarely needed. Soil nutrients could be the issue - even in a big container, the soil could get depleted and I don't fertilize.

But I know what james will say - just not enough room for the plant to spread out roots, which is where it gets nutrients from. Here's a reference he has given us about the root system of the potato when allowed to develop naturally:

https://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrar ... 9ch15.html

From the above: "A single cultivation when the soil is well filled with roots may, in the absence of a rain soon after cultivation, reduce the yield fully one-half." That is if you till the soil after the roots have developed, you cut a bunch of roots, which dramatically reduces your yield. Not allowing the plant to have a root system like that, presumably has a similar effect.

[imafan26]

I would think root space would be more of an issue than water. In the bucket did you use the same type of soil and fertilizer too? How many potatoes did you plant in the bucket to start with?

I plant araimo, not exactly potatoes, but they are root crops in buckets, mainly because they can be invasive in the ground. If I crowd them too much they get a lot smaller than if I plant them in a deep bucket and they only get 4 or five pieces in a 3 gallon wide container.

My dad planted potatoes in his raised bed and he got small potatoes about 3 inches long. Since when he dug them up, some of them were missed and they kept multiplying and the potatoes were more marble sized. It did not help that the avocade tree roots had invaded the garden and was stealing all of the nutrients too.

[jal_ut]

OK, for those who need to plant taters in a bucket, May I suggest a fairly large bucket. This one I used was about 8 gallons, and I think that is probably minimum. Also, since the area the roots have to go in search of water and nutrients is so limited, it would be well to water the bucket often and give it a little fertilizer weekly. I think you could do much better than I did with a little more effort. Like I said, no special treatment in my test. I suspect the bucket dried out between the once weekly waterings it got when I turned the sprinkler lines on the garden. The roots of the one in the ground could go deep and wide in search of water and nutrients, and have much more volume of soil to draw from.

[jal_ut]

I would think root space would be more of an issue than water. In the bucket did you use the same type of soil and fertilizer too? How many potatoes did you plant in the bucket to start with?

To address these questions. Yes, I filled the bucket with the same garden soil. No fertilizer was added to either spot. What I planted was one whole potato about 2 inches diameter. One in the bucket, one in the ground. Both got watered when I turned the sprinklers on the garden. These sprinklers are field type 4 inch pipes with a rainbird each 40 feet. This line runs for 12 hours once a week, and it gives the area a good drink. I never did add any extra water to either spot. This past summer rain was miserably lacking, so the irrigation was all it got.

[mhannum]

Interesting - I didn't expect that much of a difference.

[billw]

I'm impressed that you got that kind of yield out of a bucket. A potato root system is quite a bit bigger that a bucket and potatoes set tubers earlier and die younger when the root system is constrained.

That actually looks kind of encouraging for some applications, like growing new plants from true seed while keeping the tubers isolated.