The farmer tills the potato field, the garden owner creates a potato bed. And the balcony owner? He grows his potatoes in buckets or tubs. Sounds unusual at first, but succeeds without much effort.
Everything you need
Almost every balcony or roof terrace has a sheltered spot with a few hours of sunlight - the best prerequisite for growing potatoes on the balcony. Join in:
- a planter of at least 10 liters - bucket of water, mason's tub, potato tower, wooden boxes, sacks - with a drainage hole in the bottom
- loose garden or potting soil; at least as much as the whole planter holds
- Compost or ready-made compost-soil mixture from the hardware store
- Seed potatoes, for a 10 liter bucket 1-2 tubers, from 20 liters 3-4 pieces
- water for regular watering
planting time
You can sow early potatoes from the end of March and the mid-early and late varieties from mid-April to mid-May. To protect against late night frosts, cover the potatoes with a blanket.
This is how planting in a bucket works
First, make sure the bottom of your jar has a drainage hole and drill it if necessary. In addition, fill in a 10 cm layer of gravel for drainage. This is important so that the tubers do not rot in soil that is too wet.
Cover the drainage layer with about 15 cm of soil. Ideally you have mixed in mature compost or horn shavings (€32.93) or used a compost-soil mixture. It is also possible to add sand to loosen the soil.
Place 1 to 2 pre-germinated seed potatoes on the soil. Then you give soil again so that the tubers are well covered and pour everything carefully.
After a while, the first green tips will appear at the top. When these are approx. 10 cm high, cover them again with soil. You repeat this until you reach the edge of your container.
A small edge should remain at the top so that the poured soil does not overflow. By filling in layers, the potato plant develops its tubers in different levels one above the other.
It is time to water once a week, more often if it is dry for a long time. The plant does not need additional fertilizer.
After about 100 days, the first potatoes are ready to be harvested. Until then, the potato will delight you with its blossoms. When the herb begins to wilt, the potatoes are ripe and you can harvest in layers.
tips and tricks
Garden centers and online retailers offer ready-made extension sets for the balcony. One of them is the Floragard Potato Pot. The set includes a double-walled pot with water reservoir, soil and seed potatoes.