Planting Potatoes in Grow Bags: An Earlier Start for Year Two

Planted all the potatoes that were chitting indoors since February into their bags today.

I'm going to do a little experiment and compare the two batches. I used four bags for the potatoes I bought from Amazon, and six for the organic potatoes from Target.

I've got a tarp set up behind it, and for now, I'll use it to help protect them in case we get any more cold nights this April (30°F or colder).

Related: Potato chitting on St. Paul's East Side! | FLASHBACK: My Very First Homegrown Potatoes!

Last year, I tried my hand at baby Yukon potatoes. While I did have a successful yield, the output wasn't much greater than what I planted. I had 5 lb of tubers, and only got just over 6 lb of potatoes at the end of the season.

I'm thinking I'll have better luck this season and get a larger yield, since those were baby Yukons and these are full-size russets.

Growing potatoes in a bag is really easy, because all you have to do is "hill" the potatoes. You plant your potatoes a few inches apart in about six inches of dirt, then barely cover them with enough dirt so they're not showing. As they grow, foliage will emerge–and you continue to shore up more dirt around the stems whenever this happens. This will encourage more potatoes to grow along the stems.

Once the bag is full, you let the foliage keep growing. It'll eventually turn yellow, wilt, and die off. Wait about 2-5 days after, and voila! Harvest time.

We'll have to wait and see while everything grows!