Kitchen Garden Forum

have planted some seed potatoes in those planter bags and they have started to show some shoots do i just let them grow now or what else do i need to do. please go easy on me as its my first time at growing anything really, i have also got some tomatoes on the go plus cabbage,leeks,onions
spring onions and aubergines oh and strawberries am i mad, just need loads of advice.
ash

Don't worry, ashb, everybody here will be happy to help with advice!

About your potatoes: it depends if you filled the bag right to the top at the start. If you only filled it half way with compost, you can now top it up and cover the green shoots which have appeared and carry on doing that until the bag is full. Make sure you give them plenty of water (I assume the bags have draining holes) and some fertiiser, particularly potato fertiliser which would increase your yield.

thanks Monika, for that sound advice yes i have only half filled
the bags have 3 on the go with potatoes and yes they do have
drain holes so will go and give it a top up thanks.
ash

I'd just add that we're growing potatoes in bags for the second year. The advice from the supplier was to fill the bottom third of the bags with compost and plant the seed potatoes; then, when the leaves were showing well, to fill to two thirds; and then finally to the top. I added the second layer of compost for this year about a week ago and have been astonished at how quickly the shoots have come through as if they had never been buried. I suspect it is the good growing conditions at the moment - I'm keeping them moist and, of course, it is very warm.

I never cover the shoots completely, reasoning that if they get some light they will be able to photosynthesise and not deplete the seed of nutrients before it's tired out!

Might be barmy but that's what I do.

Watering is crucial in very hot weather - maybe twice a day. If they are only just appearing then you probably don't have to worry too much, but later on if it stays/becomes hot they can dry out very quickly. Having said that I am off to water mine - first earlies nearly ready to harvest.

Tip for your strawberries, are they in containers or in the garden soil? Catch any slugs before your strawberries ripen. As the green fruits form put down some organic slug pellets, which will not harm other creatures such as birds.
Strawberries like a nice deep moist root run so water well and then mulch around the plants with straw this helps stop evaporation, and gives the strawbs a clean place off the soil to ripen