How to Plant and Grow Potatoes in Containers, Pots, or Grow Bags
Potatoes are easy to grow, incredibly fun to unearth come harvest time, and the rich homegrown flavor is unbeatable! So come learn how to grow your own potatoes in containers, pots or grow bags – perfect for small gardens, patio gardens, or larger spaces alike. We’ve been using this method for nearly a decade with excellent results!
This post covers everything you need to know about growing potatoes in containers: how to prepare seed potatoes for planting, the best soil to use, hilling and other ongoing care, and tips for harvest and storage. We’ll also explore various types of potatoes to grow and container options. At the end of this post, check out the video of planting potatoes in grow bags too!
Note: This post was originally published in March 2019.
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The Best Containers to Grow Potatoes
You can grow potatoes in a wide variety of containers: in a large pot, 5-gallon bucket, plastic tub, grow bags, used coffee sacks, half wine barrel planter, a cylinder made of wire fencing, or even trash cans!
The size of the container dictates how many potatoes you can plant and grow. For the best results, choose a container that is at least 15 to 24 inches tall (which allows space for gradual hilling) and has at least 10 to 15 gallon soil capacity. Seed potatoes need to be spaced about 4 to 5 inches apart, so the wider the container, the more you can plant.
Potatoes require excellent drainage and do not tolerate soggy soil (they will rot) so ensure your chosen container has ample drainage holes.
We personally love to grow potatoes in 15 to 20 gallon fabric grow bags because of their ideal drainage, mobility, ability to control the soil condition and moisture, and easy harvest.
Potato Varieties and Characteristics
There are dozens of different potato varieties to choose from, which can vary in size, shape, color, texture, flavor, best use (e.g. frying, mashing or baking), storage life, and time to harvest. The variety description should outline all of these attributes. Potatoes are also broken down into three categories: early, late, or mid-season varieties.
Early, Late, and Mid-Season Potatoes
- Early season potatoes or “new potatoes” reach maturity within 75 to 90 days. These could be ready to harvest in early summer, depending on when you plant them. Early potatoes are least likely get blight, as they’re usually harvested before disease can take hold. However, they don’t last as long in storage. Popular early potatoes include Yukon Gold, Caribe and Red Norland, but there are many more.
- Mid-season potatoes, also referred to as “second early” are just a tad longer than earliest types. These ones will be ready to harvest in about 95 to 110 days. Red Pontiac and Kennebec are staple mid-season potatoes. Yukon Gold is sometimes considered a mid-season variety too.
- Late-season potatoes, also called “main crop potatoes” are generally ready to harvest within 120-135 days, closer to the middle or end of summer. While they take longer to grow, the late-season type are known to last longer in storage as well. These are said to be best for baking, mashing, and roasting. The earlier varieties are more crisp and tender for pan-frying. German Butterball, Kennebec, Russet Burbank, and Butte are well-known late-season varieties.
Ideal Sun and Temperature for Potatoes
Potatoes are considered a cool-season crop, ideal for the spring or fall garden. Potatoes grow best when temperatures are 50 to 80°F. They can withstand brief periods of higher heat, but will become stressed and stunted if the soil routinely stays over 55°F at night.
Potatoes are also sensitive to frost and freezing; the exposed greens will easily wilt with frost damage. It’s easy to protect potatoes from temperature extremes using either shade cloth or frost cloth as needed.
Place your potato container in a location that receives full sun. Yet if you live in a climate with very hot summers, consider a location with a little late afternoon shade. Also avoid the hottest spots of your garden, like near a south-facing wall or other source of radiant heat.
When to Plant Potatoes
- Plant potatoes outside in early spring once the soil temperature has reached at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a basic soil thermometer to monitor, and measure about 6 inches deep.
- Refer to your growing zone. You can plant potatoes as early as two to four weeks before your last frost date in spring.
- It’s best to chit (pre-sprout) potatoes a few weeks prior to planting. See instructions below.
- For climates with very hot summers, it’s key to plant potatoes as early as possible. Planting fast-maturing early season potato varieties in spring is good way to beat the heat! Or, plant early potatoes in late summer for a fall harvest; they can mature quickly before the first frost hits.
- In our temperate climate (cool coastal CA zone 9), we are able to plant potatoes at various times throughout the year.
Starting with Seed Potatoes
You can either buy potatoes that are specifically sold as seed, or try sprouting store-bought potatoes to grow. Each seed potato that you plant will grow a cluster of 3 to 8 new potatoes!
Generally, you’ll have the most guaranteed success with seed potatoes. They’re grown specifically for this task, and are usually certified to be disease-free. They often times even come slightly pre-sprouted for you! You will also have more options to find and grow unique varieties that way.
Some places we’ve bought seed potatoes from over the years include High Mowing Seeds, Seeds Now, Peaceful Valley, Territorial Seed, Johnny’s, and Irish Eyes. We also sometimes see them at our local garden center or nursery. Note that most places will sell out of seed potatoes by spring! It’s best to order them in the winter if possible, or you may be left with slim pickings.
Growing from Grocery Store Potatoes
If you opt to try to grow from store-bought potatoes, here are a few tips: One, most definitely choose organic. Non-organic produce can be treated with chemicals that inhibit sprouting. I’d also suggest buying your potatoes well in advance (like months) before you want to plant them. This will give them plenty of time to soften up and sprout, also referred to as “chitting” – explained below.
How to Pre-Sprout (Chit) Seed Potatoes Before Planting
Chitting is the process of encouraging your potatoes to sprout before planting. By sprouting them in advance, it gives the potatoes a head start and will result in a more robust harvest. The chitting process can take 4 to 6 weeks. If you buy seed potatoes from an online seed company, they may come sprouted and ready to plant right away.
- To chit potatoes, first put them in a warm, dark location for a week or two. Around 70 degrees is a good target. This helps them break dormancy – waking them up to allow for sprouting.
- After that time, move them into a slightly cooler area with bright ambient light (but not directly in the sun). We set ours on a shelf in a spare room across from a large window.
- When you move them out into the light, take a look at each spud. Determine which side of the potato has the most eyes. The eyes are the little indentation or nubs along the otherwise smooth potato skin. Those eyes are where potential sprouts will emerge from! The portion of the potato with the most concentrated number of eyes is called the “rose end”. Place the seed potato in a position with the rose end facing up, exposed to light.
- By following these steps, the potatoes should begin to sprout shortly.
Dividing Seed Potatoes
Large seed potatoes can be cut into smaller portions to create more seed pieces if desired. This isn’t necessary (or recommended) when the potatoes are fairly small, or if you have plenty of seed.
- When cutting up a seed potato, ensure that each new piece will still have at least one or two promising eyes once divided (explained above).
- Using a clean knife, cut the larger seed potato in half – or more, depending on size and number of eyes.
- It is important to do this at least several days prior to planting outside. A week or more is even better. The fresh cut sides need time to dry and scab over before being planted. Otherwise, they can easily rot!
Potato Soil Preferences
One of the best things about growing potatoes in containers is that you can easily control and adjust the quality, composition, and pH of the soil – which is key to success!
- Fill your potato container with soil that is rich in organic matter, loose, and well-draining, such as potting soil amended with compost.
- Potatoes grow best in acidic soil, and thrive in a pH range of 4.8 to 5.5. Therefore, we like to use a potting soil that is specifically made for acid-loving plants. You can also amend soil with horticulture sulfur to lower the pH and make it more acidic. However, sulfur is generally slow-release so it can take months for the soil to adjust its pH – plan in advance!
- Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers. Potatoes grow large green tops but smaller tubers when too much nitrogen is present.
- To help keep the soil from becoming too compact, straw is often layered between the soil while growing potatoes, explored more in the ongoing care/hilling section below.
How to Plant Seed Potatoes in a Container
- To plant potatoes in a container, start by adding 4 to 6 inches of rich, fluffy, acidified soil and compost to the bottom of the pot. Don’t fill the container completely yet! You’ll add more soil and/or straw later as the potatoes grow.
- Next, place pre-sprouted potatoes on top the soil, spaced about 4 to 5 inches apart. We usually plant about 5-6 large seed potatoes or 7-10 smaller seed potatoes per 15 to 20 gallon grow bag. I try to set them with the sprouted eyes facing up.
- Finally, cover the potatoes with 3 to 4 inches of soil on top, and water thoroughly after planting.
Watering Potatoes
Potatoes like to be evenly and consistently moist, but never soggy. When overwatered or grown in heavy soil, they easily rot. Yet a lack of water leads to undersized and less prolific potatoes. Therefore, water deeply and routinely but allow the soil to partially dry out (but not completely) between watering.
To make things easy, we like to use auto drip irrigation for our potato grow bags to provide consistent even moisture. Learn how to set up drip irrigation for containers here.
Burying or Hilling Potatoes
In-ground potatoes are usually hilled (buried) as they grow to encourage more potato formation, and you can do the same when growing potatoes in containers, pots, or grow bags! By covering the leafy green tops as they get taller, more potato tubers will grow off of the buried stems.
Once the green tops reach at least 6 to 9 inches tall, bury the majority of the exposed plant with more soil and compost, but still leave a couple inches of the greens exposed on top. Repeat this process every few weeks as the foliage continues to grow taller, until your container is full and you cannot add more soil.
When hilling potatoes, we usually add more of the acid planting soil mixed with compost. Sometimes, we add a light layer of straw too. Straw helps keep everything nice and fluffy, the way potatoes like it! If you live an area with rainy summers, I definitely suggest layering in straw with soil and/or compost to help promote drainage.
Fertilizing Potatoes
Potatoes are modestly heavy feeders, so don’t skimp on the compost! The fresh soil and compost added during the hilling process will continue to provide fresh nutrients as they grow. We also water our potatoes once or twice with a dilute seaweed extract or aerated compost tea halfway through the growing season.
If you’re using fresh quality potting soil, additional fertilizer likely isn’t needed. However, if you re-use the same containers and soil to grow potatoes again, amend the soil with a balanced all-purpose organic fertilizer before planting more. As I mentioned, a high-nitrogen fertilizer isn’t recommended for potatoes.
When to Harvest Potatoes
The exact time to harvest potatoes depends on the variety and growing conditions. After several months of growth, the potato greens will start to die back, turning yellow and then dry brown. This is a sign that it is close to harvest time! While the greens are withering away, the potato tubers are drawing in the last bits of energy and nutrition from them.
Once the greens have mostly died back, stop watering your potatoes (ideally 2 to 3 weeks prior to harvest). By cutting water, it helps the potato skins start to toughen and prepare for long-term storage.
Finally, it’s time to gently harvest potatoes about 2 weeks after the greens have completely died back. See tips on how we like to harvest potaotes from containers below.
How to Harvest Potatoes from Containers
Growing potatoes in containers makes them exceptionally easy to harvest – and incredibly fun too! All you have to do is gently dump the container out and start hunting around for potatoes. We like to empty our potato grow bags into a wheelbarrow, which makes makes it more comfortable on our backs and also easier to dump the soil back into the bags afterwards. This method also reduces accidentally damaging the potatoes, compared to digging them up with a shovel or pitchfork.
It’s best to avoid washing or wetting potatoes prior to storage, though we have before without issue. Just be sure they’re 100% dry again before storing them.
Storing Potatoes
It’s best to store potatoes in a cool, dark, well-ventilated, dry space – ideally between 45-55°F. A basement or root cellar is ideal, though a cool pantry or spare closet can work too. Store the potatoes in a breathable container such as a paper bag, mesh bag, or cardboard box.
Most sources say to avoid refrigerating potatoes since colder temperatures can convert their starches to sugar, and therefore negatively impact the texture and taste. However, we don’t have the best cool dry storage options in our home, so we’ve often stored homegrown potatoes in the fridge post-harvest… and they taste just fine! That way, they stay firm and good for months.
And now for the best part: enjoy the best potatoes you have ever tasted! If you have never had the pleasure of tasting homegrown potatoes, I am super excited for you!
Here is a video about all how to plant and grow potatoes:
So, are you ready to go grow some spuds?
What is your favorite way to prepare potatoes? I am a sucker for pan-fried, or mashed with garden chives on top. One of our favorite potato recipes is this Roasted Two-Bite Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes, perfect for the smaller-than-average spuds. Or, try our drool-worthy, creamy vegan Potato Leek Soup recipe. We love to freeze portions as a way to preserve homegrown potatoes too!
I hope you enjoyed this post, and found it helpful! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below.
You may also enjoy:
- How to Plant and Grow Cucumbers: Tips for Success and Big Harvests
- How to Grow Turmeric in Containers, in Any Zone!
- Garden Companion Planting Chart, Plans, and Benefits
- How to Make DIY Seed Starting Mix: The Best Recipe
111 Comments
Dan
Aaron/ Deannacat,
Thanks for the great article.
I live in SoCal Zone 10A
So I understand, the minimum height at the beginning is roughly 12″, then roll the bag up as you mentioned?
Also, I prefer Red or White Rose Potatoes, this there anything you’d recommend for these varieties?
Take good care and thanks again !!!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Dan, we typically just mix it up on potatoes varieties year to year and have a hard time remembering which potato was which so it’s usually a toss up for us, haha. But you may want to focus on some early season types of potatoes as we are heading into winter and the late season types may not have enough “good” weather (even in zone 10a) to mature properly this time of year. But yes, just start with the bag slightly rolled down and you can continue to “hill” them or add more soil/compost as the greens grow. Hope that helps and have fun growing.
Ellyce M
Hi Deanna nd Aaron! Thanks for the info–I can’t wait to try my first batch of potatoes. I’m a bit confused on the timing and I’m hoping you have some insight. I’m in zone 9b and I read a few planting calendars that started potatoes in October for zone 9b. Have you done this? Will it actually be growing though the winter?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Ellyce, I believe we did grow potatoes over winter or at least for a winter harvest when we were living in zone 10a, potatoes like to grow in temperatures that are 50-80 degrees F so it likely depends on how cold your winter months are. I am sure the potatoes themselves can handle some colder weather overnight (but no hard freezes) as long as it warms up more during the day but if your summer weather is more temperate (average of 80 degrees F or less), you can likely plant potatoes now and harvest before winter sets in. If you do get hot summer weather and unless you really want to grow potatoes this year (or winter), I think you will likely find more success with an late winter/early spring planting of potatoes. Hope that helps and have fun growing!
Joy Valerio
Do you grow sweet potatoes in grow bags?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Joy, we have yet to actually grow sweet potatoes but we keep telling ourselves that we need to start! Sweet potatoes just require a longer and warmer growing season than regular potatoes but you can definitely grow them in grow bags or containers all the same. Hope that helps and have fun growing!
Janna Weiss
Hello, friends!
Do you have a source for your straw? Im always Leary to purchase at the feed store as I don’t know how it’s been handled and if there will be seeds.
Thanks!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Janna, straw can be hard to come by with any type of confirmation on if it was sprayed or not. In the past we have used straw from a local feed store to build up a hot compost pile and thankfully didn’t have any issues with the final product. Now we typically don’t use straw for growing potatoes because it is less easy to come by for us, Epic Gardening does carry a variety of straw to use as mulch but you may want to reach out to local feed stores to see if they have any information on how the straw was grown as it’s easier to source locally. I am less concerned with the straw containing seeds than I am with the straw being spray with herbicides or pesticides. Hope that helps and have fun growing!
Mary Yahnke
Thanks for all the great information on planting potatoes in bags. Do you use the same soil (with additional compost) for the next year’s planting of potatoes? Any disease issues?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Mary, yes we typically save the soil for the following season and re-amend the bags with additional fresh soil and compost upon planting. Last year some of our potatoes developed scab so we didn’t save any of the soil from those bags, hope that helps and have fun growing!
Ema
Thank you for the article; you inspired us to try potatoes in grow bags last season! The only issue we had was that the plants grew beautifully, but never flowered. Rather, they turned yellow and that was the end of that. We did get a decent harvest of tiny potatoes, but I’m wondering what went wrong.
I notice in the photos that you’ve set the bags on some type of blocks? Ours were sitting on stone. I wonder if we should elevate the bags? Maybe drainage would be better? We live in Maine, zone 5A. Thank you!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Ema, that’s great to hear your potato plants grew so well last year! Our potatoes don’t normally flower either and the greens dying back is just the plant telling you it is time to harvest. Right now, we just have our potato grow bags sitting on our gravel garden space, since they are in fabric bags, drainage shouldn’t be an issue. I would double check the potato varieties you grew and be sure to grow the right varieties for your climate and growing season, you don’t want to grow potatoes that take longer to grow and mature if you have a shorter growing season. Hope that helps and feel free to reach out with any other questions.
Mariangela
Just read this post as I learned about Huckleberry Gold as the first low glycemic potato and since my husband has some family history that would recommend keeping sugars in check thought this would be a good first potato to grow in bags. Thank you for the detailed post and tips!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Good luck and hope you have fun growing potatoes Mariangela, we usually have to grow at least one crop every year, although that usually means 5-7 different types of potatoes!
Terri
Thank you for so many good articles on your website. I am wondering about the safety of the grow bags. I have read that most companies are not open to discussing what the bags are made out of. Is the plastic in the bags a concern to you? I grew potatoes in burlap sacks a few years ago but they did not do very well. Just trying to come up with another option.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Terri, do you have raised beds or an in ground plot you can grow potatoes in? Epic Gardening also sells a variety of metal raise beds, one of them being a small round bed that is 38 inches in diameter and 15″ tall which holds just under 10 cubic feet of soil, using the code “deannacat3” will also save you 5% on your order. In regards to fabric pots, unfortunately, most if not all fabric or felt pots do contain plastic in their makeup, it’s not ideal but many grow bags are made from BPA free plastic if that makes you feel any better. However, we aren’t overly concerned with the crops we grow in fabric bags in regards to them being made with plastic. You can give burlap another try even though you had poor results, I would say that possibly moisture retention was maybe an issue with your previous grow as when you use burlap or even fabric grow bags, they will dry out much quicker than when growing in the ground or even raised beds. Unfortunately, when it comes to container gardening, most containers are made of some type of plastic material. Hope that helps and reach out if you have any other questions or concerns, good luck!
Terri Egge
Hello Aaron, we have a no till “on” ground garden. So my beds have borders but no bottom and we have been building up the top soil the past three years. I did not want to take up garden bed space with potatoes so I tried to sacs. The plants grew beautifully but there were very few potatoes. Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Terri, it sounds like you have an amazing garden space! Did your potato greens completely die back before you harvested them? If not, they may not have had enough time to fully grow, we have also found that some potato varieties do better for us than others so it may have something to do with that as well. Hope that helps and have fun in the garden!
Sara
Thank you for sharing all of your awesome knowledge with those of us who have no clue what we’re doing but are figuring it out and learning as we go. It helps to have a trusted source to turn to! This post clarified so much for me, but I’ve run into something I didn’t expect so before I throw away my seed potatoes and start again… I am in Zone 8 but in southeast-ish Texas where we have lots of humidity and it gets hot fast in growing season terms. My early season red norland seed potatoes have been chitting away getting ready to go into grow bags in the next week or so. I decided to cut some of the larger seed potatoes in plenty of time for them to scab and dry before planting. Two days later, they’re furry. It’s a white/gray fuzz that looks very much like mold. My husband read that we should plant them anyway. That is super counterintuitive to me – I’m not even sure they should go in the compost bin. Is it time to start over?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Sara, I think you are fine to plant the cut potatoes as long as they are not completed molded through. Once the potatoes start to sprout, the old seed potato will decompose and rot anyway with time. Hope that helps and good luck getting in a good crop of potatoes before it gets too warm!
Anna Schmidt
You guys are really so great, and I appreciate being able to refer to your blogs for all of my gardening questions. I live up north in Sonoma County, but still in zone 9b. I am just wrapping up my first crop of potatoes and am wondering if there is a method you use for storing your acidic (used) potato soil?
TIA
Anna
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Anna, thank you so much for the kind words and we love Sonoma County! If you have an outdoor shed or are able to store it in the garage, that may be the best way to keep it. You can either leave your soil in their original containers or dump them all into one large tote or grow bag. When the time is nearing for you to replant potatoes, get all your soil set back up with some good compost and get the soil reinvigorated by planting some cover crops like ryegrass, barley, or oats. When it’s time to plant your potatoes, chop or cut all the cover crop down and turn it into your soil before you plant out your potato seed. Hope that helps and have fun growing!
Hannah Smith
Hi,
Im just starting my potatoes in socal and I’ve read a few things that say not to water until the sprouts emerge above soil as the potatoes could rot? I’m using grow bags and currently watering to keep the soil moist but not soggy, but now I’m worried that my seed potatoes are rotting in there! Do you water during this time?
Thanks for the help!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Hannah, it’s good to keep the soil moist but not overly wet, once you see sprouts and the greens continue to grow, you can water a bit more freely. As long as the soil isn’t overly wet, they shouldn’t rot, hope that helps and have fun growing!
Jennifer
Loved the article, and I have my first crop growing well in grow bags as you suggested! I am in the same gardening zone as you and I’m wondering if you will plant a second round of potatoes? According to the planting chart it is possible. I was wondering what type of potatoes you would plant. We have such a warm, beautiful Fall here on the Central Coast I’m thinking there would be plenty of time. Would you use an Early Season, Mid or Late? Thanks and thanks for all the beautiful photos and videos of your garden. So helpful!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Jennifer, I am not sure if we will plant more potatoes or not just yet but it is definitely possible to plant more once you harvest in more temperate climates. I would likely stick to the Early or Mid season varieties just to play it safe. Thanks for following along and have fun growing!
Elvia Sornoza
Hi! Love your blog and your IG account so much. Thank you for all this great information. I recently harvested my potatoes and went ahead and put them right into a paper bag in a cool dark place. But am I supposed to cure my potatoes before I put them in a paper bag? Does it matter what variety they are? If I do cure them, does it have to be in a cool dark place too? I just don’t want my hard work to go to waste by the potatoes turning bad. Thanks again!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Elvia, thank you so much for the support! Placing them in paper bags and then curing them in a cool (45-60 F) and dark location with 85-95% relative humidity for around 10 days is best. Getting the humidity levels that high is likely going to be difficult for most people and something we don’t worry too much about. Once your potatoes are done curing, you can move them into storage, separate your potatoes by variety as they may have different storage abilities and keep them in a cool (45-50 F, dark, and dry environment. We usually end up storing ours in the refrigerator but they can develop a sweeter flavor in time when stored below 40 F. Hope that helps and congratulations on your potato harvest!