Kitchen Garden Forum

Taking into account that weather conditions, type of soil etc can affect the flavour of potatoes, has anyone noticed whether the flavour of potatoes is affected by growing them in potato bags or containers using a multi-purpose compost mixture?

Been trying to answer this one but decided that whether this is true or not, it would be very difficult to properly test it? Different potatoes, different taste preferences, cooking - too many variables but maybe anecdotal evidence?

I assume from the tone of the query you meant adversely affect the flavour?

I do mean that Colin.

Maybe I'll have some idea later as we have grown the same variety of potato in a potato sack in compost and in the ground. So far we have only harvested the growing bag.

I just wondered if anyone else had done a similar thing and noticed a difference in taste/texture etc using the same variety.

I have no experience of bag growing but I would expect there to be a difference. From other posts in the past (Johnboy I think) I have the impression that watering has a great effect on flavour, the over irrigation of commercial crops being one of the reasons why your own usually taste better. Predicting what will happen with bag growing is difficult. By the pathetic yields most people seem to report (by this time of year anything less than a kilo a root I would consider poor) I would guess they are often under watered so the flavour should be superior. That's a theory without experience, it will be interesting to read your conclusion!

Hi Geoff, i happen to be growing my potatoes in bags
in peat free compost i dont think ive starved them of
water or over watered them they should be due for
lifting in the next couple of weeks so i will let everyone
know what they taste like
ashb

Judging my the amount of rain we are getting down here my spuds will be absolutely tasteless! Actually they are not thriving at all and seem well behind having a dig around they are mostly
a) hard to find!
b) the size of a pea!

I'm getting the best from the volunteers from last year.

Westi

This is just supposition but I'd imagine that commercial MPC might be deficient in micro-nutrients which could affect the flavour.

I haven't grown spuds in the open ground for three years but I've never been disappointed with the flavour of most of the varieties I grow in containers.

Hi Gallotments I think they achieve more flavour in home grown compost and I usually add some seaweed too, the jersey potato growers stack seaweed from the spring tides to let the salt leach out then apply to the soil in generous quantities in the autumn, their potatoes are renowned for taste.
I think you are right Westi, potatoes like good drainage, Jersey soil is sandy and they grow on slopes, the heavy rains and getting waterlogged is not helpful - my outdoor strawberries, don't have the dense flavour they usually have either, too much rain swells them quickly and there's not enough sun to sweeten them,

NB - I am sure that seaweed can help but the Jersey Royal potatoes that a certain large store were trying to sell - at half price - were appalling, not just in taste but in the fact that quite a proportion of them had 'bad' patches in them.

I grow my new potatoes in pots and indeed have grown 2nd and main ones in previous years, but all in garden soil - not enough compost to go round. Obviously the chemical composition of the compost/soil that is used is crucial, whether 'organic' or not, but so is watering. I had a problem with Charlotte yield a couple of years ago and this is what Alan Romans told me..

'Your situation is probably down to the watering at two key growing stages. You may have noticed that growers are always keen to organize irrigation for surprisingly young plants in the late Spring. This is because when the plant “decides” on how many tubers to set at the “hook” stage soil must be moist if lots are to set. There is then another key stage a week or two later when the plant “decides” how many tubers to fill out – again moist soil determines outcome. Pots dry out very quickly and even with care it is easy to stress the young plants without noticing – they won’t even wilt slightly because they are getting emergency rations from the mother tuber. You describe the signs of water stress at the first key stage perfectly. Water little and often and enjoy the fewer but much larger Charlotte you will get. '