During the winter, I posted about some potato bags that I purchased online. I told you that I would report on how they work. This is the first post in the series.
Today, I planted two jumbo bags with 8 small seed potatoes each. I have chosen KENNEBEC
and NORLAND RED
for this year's crop.The directions say to choose a lightweight potting mix that will retain water. I didn't want to have to buy anything so I made my own using stuff I already had. To start filling these bags, I mixed two 40 pound bags of 3-in-1 mix, which contains topsoil, peat moss and compost. To that I added a 50 pound bag of play sand. My husband used those to add weight to his pick-up truck this past winter. Instead of using the usual sand bags for that purpose, he used play sand so that I could reuse it later in the garden or for my leaf casting molds. The final ingredient that was added was a 40 pound bag of aged cow manure. I mixed everything well.
The instructions also suggested adding a fertilizer to the soil mix, but since I started with manure and compost, I will wait to add a slow release fertilizer until after the start growing leaves.
The first step is to fold the edge of the bag down about 4" to form a cuff that will help hold the bag's shape while you are filling it with soil. Place the bag in a place that gets full sun and a place where you will not need to move the bags. I don't imagine you will even be able to move them anyway, once full.
Fill the bag with a 3" layer of soil mix and place the seed potatoes on top of the soil, spaced evenly apart. The directions say that the jumbo size bags will hold 6-10 lime sized seed potatoes. I used eight in each bag, which my husband, Gary thinks is too much. But I am hoping that the method we are using will allow me to grow more in a smaller space.
I have two more smaller bags that I think I will try growing zucchini in. They take up so much room in the garden, and I need to free up some space, so we'll see how that goes.
And as a reminder, I have not been compensated for posting on this product, but if you choose to purchase one using the Amazon link above, I will receive a small referral fee from Amazon. This helps to support the hosting fees for our website www.gardensandcrafts.com.
If you have been using the grow bags, I'd love to hear what you have to say about them. Post a comment here, or you are welcome to post pictures on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/GardensAndCrafts .
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