Growing potatoes in a bucket may sound a bit far fetched but in reality, it is just another form of container gardening. For those who have very limited or no ground at all to garden in this is a great solution. One of the added benefits of this type of gardening is that when it is time to harvest your potatoes you simply empty out the bucket on the ground and pick up your potatoes. Really it can’t get any simpler you don’t have to dig, weed, or even mulch just keep the bucket watered. This is a picture taken on the 18th of June

Preparing The Buckets For Planting

Clean 5 Gallon Bucket Clean 5 Gallon Bucket

Obtain a 5-gallon bucket and clean it thoroughly. Next drill drainage holes in the bottom and around the sides as well about 2 inches up from the bottom.

I used a 3/8th size drill bit for this bucket. Be sure and put in enough drainage holes to allow the water to drain out there are 20 drain holes in this bucket between the bottom and the sides. Once you have the bucket prepared it is time to add some drainage medium

Adding The Drainage Material

When the bucket is all prepared you will need to add about 21/2 inches of drainage material to the bottom of the bucket.

Bucket With Pea Gravel Bucket With Pea Gravel

I used pea gravel in my buckets as it was leftover from another project. You can use broken crockery, stones, or any other material that you have available as long as it allows the water to drain. The reason the drainage layer is 2 1/2 inches deep is to allow the side drains to work as well as the bottom. Once you have The drainage in it is time for planting.

Add 3 inches of topsoil mixed with good compost to the bucket so that the potatoes will have something to root into. You will only need 3 inches to put the potato pieces into. As the potatoes grow you will add 3 more inches each time the top growth reaches 6 inches until the soil is 1 inch from the top of the bucket.

Planting and Grow Potatoes In A Bucket

Once you have the soil-compost mixture in the bucket place the potato pieces with a couple of eyes on each in the bucket 4 inches or so apart. Once all the pieces are in place add more topsoil compost mix to cover with about an inch or so of soil mix. When the potato plants have grown 6 inches add three more inches of compost soil mix around the plants continuing this process till there is only one inch of room left from the top of the bucket. The potatoes in this picture where planted on the 23rd of March, you must respect your hardness Gardening Zone Map.

Harvesting The Potatoes

Once the potatoes flower, they will grow a little longer than begin to die back. This signals the potatoes are near to harvest once the plants are all brown the potatoes can be harvested and then allowed to dry for several days in a cool shady spot.



