Increase the root area for a bigger crop
Growing your own potatoes is hugely satisfying as they taste so much better than supermarket produce. If space is restricted and you are growing in bags or pots stick to the varieties that are expensive to buy in the supermarket such as the first Earlies and salad potatoes.
You earth up potatoes in order to increase the amount of roots the plant grows. The more roots it has the more nutrients and water it can uptake and this will result in an increased yield.
You will need:
- multi-purpose compost
If you are growing potatoes in bags once the potatoes have put on about 15cm (6”) of growth roll the bag up a little and top up with compost up to the bottom of the first leaves.
Carry on doing this until the bag is half full of compost.
If you are growing the potatoes in containers you will have initially put in about a third of a pot of compost and placed the potatoes just under the surface. Keep adding compost as the potatoes grow until the pot is full.
Keep them well watered.
Harvest once the flowers have died back.