How to Grow Potatoes in Containers: Hilling Up Process Explained

Рет қаралды 246,541

5 жыл бұрын

Potatoes are one of my favorite crops to grow. There are so many different varieties, methods for growing, and even uses for potatoes. Plus the surprise factor of digging them out of the ground is SUPER satisfying.
Today, we'll look at how to grow potatoes in containers, and specifically the process of hilling up, or adding more soil around potato plants to give them more room to produce those delicious tubers we all love to eat.
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Пікірлер: 210

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

What varieties of potatoes are you growing this year?

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Oh nice, baby new potatoes? Delicious

@tonka978 5 жыл бұрын

@@epicgardening I really don't know what type of potato it is, but it sure is delish 😍

@RobinsTinyHomestead 5 жыл бұрын

Kennebec and White Superior

@ChallengeTheNarrative 5 жыл бұрын

Charlotte

@Neyobe 4 жыл бұрын

I believe Yukon

@greengarden6447 3 жыл бұрын

The Joy of pulling up a root crop is probably one of the purest Joy's in gardening 🥔🥕🧄🌿

@carolynstrover 4 жыл бұрын

Am so happy i found your channel. Am in the middle of urban Berlin and am growing potatoes in hemp bags, growing seeds in my kitchen, growing cuttings etc etc and having so much fun during corona AND staying sane ! Thank you

@Selfsufficientme 5 жыл бұрын

Nice one Kevin 👍They're very healthy looking potato plants mate!

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mark!

@MamsirMamsir 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you both for making fantastic gardening content! Love your channels :D

@PaulC2293 3 жыл бұрын

@@epicgardening You two really need a team up video!!! (apologies if you've done one and I missed it)

@TheBlackScathe 3 жыл бұрын

@@PaulC2293 I second this!!

@marygagliardi5315 2 жыл бұрын

I planted my potatoes in the bags used for making sandbags! It worked great!

@iwanttobelieve5970 4 жыл бұрын

Watching this during the Apocalypse and hearing that he did an apocalypse challenge for fun. 😳😄😩😷

@bersef 4 жыл бұрын

So true about the joy brought on by a root crop. My Gran gave me some radish seeds to plant as a little boy and I was hooked.

@GardenMinistry. 4 жыл бұрын

I've always wanted to see this process! Ive read about hilling the potatoes but I'm a visual person, I just learned a lot from you. Thanks!!

@epicgardening 4 жыл бұрын

You're welcome :)

@hellovicki6779 Жыл бұрын

I am always confused with potatoes. I read that you only hill certain varieties (determinant or non-determinant type). Apparently the type which grows the spuds laterally does not produce more spuds if it is hilled. If anyone knows I would be grateful for the advice. Thanks.

@Jophiel50 2 ай бұрын

I believe that the white potatoes are less porous and work really well with fried and/or shredded potatoes dishes 😁. Great video; most appreciated.

@safiyasoderstrom563 5 жыл бұрын

I just preordered your book. And I am a complete noob to this gardening experience. And I'm pretty much learning all my information from your videos. I want to get to the point where I can supply food for my family, teach my kid how to do this when he's old enough, and then possibly make an income from it? Idk.. taking it a day at a time.. I was discouraged because I started my tomato plants too late, even though they're still growing, they're not mature enough to transplant now like they should be.. 😓 But after watching your potato videos, I got motivated again. 🤗

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

You got this Safiya! Start small and thank you for the pre-order! Remember to email me your address

@missanthropy5808 Жыл бұрын

Tomatoes are the bane of my existence. Try something else before they frustrate you too.👍😊

@sharonrimsza7960 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! I will be making my own grow bags this year. All of my supplies have come in, I have threaded my heavy duty sewing machine and am ready to cut the cloth and sew it up. Plus, I will be making some for gardening family and friends as gifts. 🎁

@joycepappan4796 Жыл бұрын

What kind of fabric?

@grannysweet 4 жыл бұрын

Depends on type of potato. Some produce potatoes on the stem, underground. Those will produce the entire length. I did 4 foot towers. 18 inches of soil, the rest in straw. water from the bottom. Thanks for another great video. 😎👍🐶

@mikeygee4564 5 жыл бұрын

My latest understanding of root veggies is that you want to keep the nitrogen to a minimum and the phosphorous higher. So I've been adding nothing but mix and compost and some good quality organic absorbable bone meal.

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Yup, too much N will produce too much top growth!

@Coconutoilcrazy 4 жыл бұрын

Kind of ironic, you are doing this for an Apocolopis challenge- I am watching April 25th, 2020 during the Covid pandemic. You were not to far off,,Great info!

@epicgardening 4 жыл бұрын

No kidding right?

@grannysweet 4 жыл бұрын

Yep

@jl_woodworks 3 жыл бұрын

Far from an apocalypse though.

@Scbirdsfan803 Жыл бұрын

Fast forward 2 years and we’re in a proxy way with Russia and a cold conflict with China….

@GinaKayLandis 3 жыл бұрын

Love your channel! Thanks for the tips, first time growing potatoes in a pot this year!

@MoonduckPsy 2 жыл бұрын

This was really helpful. Thanks, Kevin!

@laurafedora5385 3 жыл бұрын

Good timing for this to come up in my feed. I’m trying potatoes for the first time this year, they’ll be in grow bags. You’re right about the mystery of pulling up root veg. Last spring I pulled up my first crop of parsnips and one of them was 4’ long 🤣 Apparently it was good, I gave it to my sister and she said surprisingly it was sweet

@CindyRussi. 5 жыл бұрын

I’m so jealous of your garden✨ it’s so beautiful and cute😃

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Cindy!

@gardeneroncarriagehill 3 жыл бұрын

Extremely helpful thanks

@free2binnh 3 жыл бұрын

The reason I don't use fabric bags is the soil touching the bag dries out, so the roots will not grow into that dried soil. In a solid container, the roots will grow up to the edge of the container.

@katsinnamon 2 жыл бұрын

Your garden look so cool love it

@ecclairmayo4153 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this!

@GhostAdvance 5 жыл бұрын

The garden is beautiful bro, great work

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks my man

@LeafGreenLPs 5 жыл бұрын

From what I know, white potatoes are good for baking and "processing" (making fries, chips, stuff like that). I think you can also use them for mashing, though I honestly prefer the Yukon Gold by far for mashing since the skin is very tender and is good to mash in. Think with your white potato varieties, anything you can do with a Russet, you can probably do to them. Russets are only popular because they ship easiest with their thicker skin.

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Got it - thanks for the heads up!

@timan2039 5 жыл бұрын

It is the differences in starch content of the potato variety unfortunately I don't recall much beyond that.

@danakarloz5845 4 жыл бұрын

I like them for fried potatoes and onions!

@valeries9297 2 жыл бұрын

Me holding my blue potatoes: I just think they're neat.

@ruthgreenwood3553 4 жыл бұрын

Please do a video on growing sweet potatoes

@JudeHannah 3 жыл бұрын

I’ve run out of bag to keep hilling up! What now? Ack! First time potato grower in Vancouver. Love your videos Kevin. Have helped this novice veggie gardener so much!

@Angie_978 4 жыл бұрын

This was great. This is the first year I've used growbags. I'm kinda excited to see how it goes. Do you know if there's any potato varieties that keep longer than others?

@crissyhosein410 4 жыл бұрын

Hi kevin thank you for the great videos, since I want to start my own garden, your videos has taught me alot. I,m from TRINIDAD and Tobago 🇹🇹🇹🇹.

@reshabriella 2 жыл бұрын

Hey, I'm a Trini too! Hope your garden is going great!

@reshabriella 2 жыл бұрын

Okay, I think I can go bravely and try to grow potatoes in a 10-gallon grow bag. Thanks, Kevin!

@3mily5ays 5 жыл бұрын

I actually am watching this on Good Friday. 😂

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

LOL

@Dormant81 4 жыл бұрын

I’m watching this on Good Friday too!

@philk9948 4 жыл бұрын

Very interesting raised bed planter you have in the background on wheeled pallets: could you please enlighten me about it?

@rosielo249 2 жыл бұрын

I LIKE THIS VEDIO

@cancel2394 3 жыл бұрын

This dude knew 2020 was coming I swear lol who perfectly times a month off the grid experiment like this 😂

@MrBob58o 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the info and videos! Do You you have to remove any of the lower foliage when hilling? Can the lower leaves rest on the top of the soil? Do you only hill up to the bottom of the foliage?

@leannettecabrera 3 жыл бұрын

Hi, I wanted to know, how often should the potatoes be watered and how often should the soils be fertalized or looked after?

@jamesmartin1033 4 жыл бұрын

I have a nice amount of Okinawa purple potatoes. I pulled one off the ground the size of a softball, baked it and sprinkled some salt. Okinawa potatoes are sweet so it was a nice mix.

@angelalibi1 5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, great video! And now I'm looking at our bag of potatoes to find one that has chitted!! Lol!

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Wohoo!

@conversingwithconita 3 жыл бұрын

I love your video's and dude your super green thumb

@yvettek.yessayantz956 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Kevin, thanks for your no nonsense videos. Up a bit in LA/ zone 10 wanna grow potatoes on my hillside. I have a shady area kinda filtered sunlight but lets just say shadier ...would it grow there? and do we really need the microbial adds if we cant find them now ? thanks in advance

@hubblebubble7350 5 жыл бұрын

Ooo potatoes! I freaking love potatoes 🤤 haha

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

You and me both!

@KARDAYAHSSoulServices 4 жыл бұрын

I'm so grateful for your channel. I love it. Todah YAH for you. Shälam.

@djk5v 4 жыл бұрын

Maybe you did this in another video, but please explain what hilling up is next time or maybe in a better way. I had to look that up elsewhere. It’s basically that you need to cover the potato leaves with soil up to the top leaves once the leaves reach 6-9 inches so that the potatoes can grow more.

@toothless3835 3 жыл бұрын

Watching this, wanting to grow blue potatoes because they're pretty. Haha

@haticee5893 3 жыл бұрын

Hey, nice video. A question, are you reusing (like to grow another bag of patatoes) the soil in the bags after harvesting the potatoes?

@carolwyban3947 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Kevin! If you had to choose between a 5 gallon fabric bag and a five gallon plastic bucket for potatoes, which would it be?

@JohannaRache 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Kevin, love your channel it really helped me a lot! I went from plant killer to plant mama :) Can you use the same method for sweet potatoes?

@brandicapuchino-mendoza7226 4 жыл бұрын

Exactly Judith! Blank thumb to green thumb during quarantine! Hoping for some corn, potatoes and melon soon!

@chrisdarry-roseelrod4481 5 жыл бұрын

This is my 1st year to try to grow potatoes. I'm attempting to grow baby red skins, purple potatoes and a golden type . I've seen videos where they just put the opportunities in the ground and just left on for 3 months and come back and harvest a bunch of potatoes. And I've seen videos like this one where you've Hill the potatoes. So although I am growing like it's nato's in containers pharma I was wondering which way of growing them as fast and how many should I start in a 10 gallon container?

@malialindsey4166 3 жыл бұрын

4:05 same 😆

@keiran.6090 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Kevin - I have both 100 gallon and 20 gallon bags. Would I be better off growing a bunch of potatoes in one of the 100 gallon bags or in several 20 gallon?

@lilybee_ 2 жыл бұрын

What happened to the white bucket potatoes?

@virsapiensfortisest922 Жыл бұрын

I would like to know also

@marcowalbrugh2971 3 жыл бұрын

Love the shoes

@Drippin94 4 жыл бұрын

What was the harvest like?

@dianneiverglynne 3 жыл бұрын

The ability for the tigers to continue growing up the newly billed sections depends on the variety and length of your growing season. Like other nightshades...like tomatoes...there are determinants and indeterminants. Determinants cannot produce tubers beyond the first leaves so hill only the first section. Indeterminates can continue in each section above that your area can provide continued sunlight for visa vid full tuber development. The towers are for indeterminate varieties.

@TheowlFreedompharms 4 жыл бұрын

So funny! I'm watching this on July 5th 2020 to learn how to grow potatoes next season now that were in a real apocalypse 🌳✌😷🌳

@guillermomelendez7950 5 жыл бұрын

Are those mangos?? Yum!!

@squaresoralfetish 4 жыл бұрын

Loquats.

@Tea7N 4 жыл бұрын

oh the loquat fruits

@sarahanshew8095 Жыл бұрын

Do you keep a gardening journal?

@VictorPaulDiaz Жыл бұрын

Can you use the hill method with sweet potatoes?

@djk5v 4 жыл бұрын

How far apart did you plant the tubers?

@pammcdaniel24 5 жыл бұрын

Homegrown potatoes are the best!

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Great minds Pam!

@mikebainter8917 2 жыл бұрын

What time of year is beast for growing the taters? I'm in central Alabama which i think it's similar to your planting zone if I'm not mistaken.

@lydiahubbell6278 4 жыл бұрын

Hey! I heard you say you are coming to Tennessee! Where, exactly? I am in Nashville. Would love to come see your operation. I built a 3 bin worm system about 18 years ago and it is still churning out compost. The Rubbermade totes are starting to crack...been outside by my porch. About the potatoes...i read that there are some indeterminate varieties that produce all along the stem. I have never used that kind and have never got a huge crop.

@christinarodriguez297 4 жыл бұрын

At 10:15 is that a small strawberry plant growing near the foot of the table?

@Arkish78 4 жыл бұрын

What do you like best? Growing the potatoes in the smart containers or in the beds like you did in another video over on the corner of the yard by the sidewalk? (That was fun to watch pulling those reds out- how satisfying and rewarding was THAT!?)

@kbee225 3 жыл бұрын

I'd say the best is bags, they let you harvest all the potatoes easily.

@CamMcB 3 жыл бұрын

Gotta ask regarding bags. We got snow and cold. It seems the bag was colder than the ground, as the potato plant in the compost pile, not affected by the cold, and the bag potato one of thems leaves got dark, rest survived. Unsure why one got weird. Plant height was about 2 inches. Though about hiling the leaves next time so they are below surface when cold arrives. Any thoughts?

@cowboyblacksmith 4 ай бұрын

Unless the potatoes are indeterminate (grow along the stems going up) hilling doesn't do anything but waste precious time. The potatoes that are most common are determinate and grow just above where they’re planted in one layer for the most part. Put about 4" - 6" of soil in the bag, place your potatoes in and then fill to the top and done. Hilling or mounding up soil is generally only useful to cover any potatoes that might be growing above the soil level to keep sun off them and turning green. Otherwise don't hill potatoes. It's an old trope that just keeps getting repeated and repeated and people believe.

@Ikigai.Fauna_Flora Жыл бұрын

Do you fertilize the potatoes every time you hill them?

@malialindsey4166 3 жыл бұрын

Yukon is the best for mashed 🤤

@Fire_Assasinshorts Жыл бұрын

How and when do you water the potatoes

@hellovicki6779 Жыл бұрын

Hello. Just found this channel, so having a binge watch. One of the best gardening channels in my view, I also like 'Self Sufficient Me'. Both channels provide all the information that you need and want to know minus the irrelevant crap. It annoys me watching videos for a specific purpose then having to suffer through circumstantial banter that I did not seek. Also great timing because I am preparing to plant for Autumn/Winter. I also obtained useful watermelon growing tips that I did not know and which will hopefully allow me to succeed (3rd times a charm maybe!). I am curious if Kevin has any formal education in horticulture or if he is self taught over time with experience? Cheers. PS. Does anyone have a good system for keeping cabbage moths from delivering those disgusting green grubs on broccoli etc. I've tried mothballs, chemical powders and nets (I swear the buggers just drop eggs from the air and through the nets). I was going to try a finely woven but sheer gauze fabric, sown around a frame to form an unbroken barrier this year.

@jpgx265 4 ай бұрын

What size is the grow bag?

@mikebainter8917 2 жыл бұрын

Can you use this method of growing taters in a above ground garden box or what would be the preferred method?

@elizabethpowell5042 3 жыл бұрын

That's quite ironic that you did the apocalypse challenge a year before the actual food shortages from the covid apocalypse started. Good practice!

@BritishWestIndian 2 жыл бұрын

No one really talks about it but many of us have seen rapid growth in our potato plants..in a few weeks the plants are so tall / heavy they’re flopping over. Should we trim them or stake them? Does anyone know?

@gazellerichardson9135 5 жыл бұрын

What kind of soil do you use. New to gardening. Using pots on my deck. Having to buy soil. Assume felt pots have good drainage. Don't have a root cellar. Other options for storing?

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

For pots on deck, use a good potting mix. Fox Farm, Recipe 420, etc. For storing, cool dry and dark is usually your best bet

@AlexandraBondArt 4 жыл бұрын

How many potato plants are in each of those 15 gal bags? Is it 3 because usually it’s one plant in a 5 gal container?

@babhadorkhongdup1361 4 жыл бұрын

Please upload the video which you planted potato in a bucket.... thank you from India

@mariapiasandoval2589 3 жыл бұрын

Could this be done with straw? So one layer soil, then the potatoes, then on top of the potatoes only straw?

@CzBrat81 3 жыл бұрын

I am struggling with getting potatoes to grow. I have them both in 20 gallon plastic containers with plenty of drainage and also in grow bags obviously with plenty of drainage.. They do well all the way through the hilling process, grow up big beautiful foliage, and then one by one they all die. I water them regularly, I tried adding more water and less water, nothing seems to help I keep them fertilized. But one by one they all fall. It usually starts with the plastic containers and then works its way down through all of the cloth containers. The big beautiful foliage just sort of falls over and melts and looks rotten. I'm in Central Florida where it's obviously wet and hot. Anybody can offer any suggestions help or ideas I surely could use it!

@Parnder 5 жыл бұрын

How many potato eyes did you put per pot?

@theashrook6129 4 жыл бұрын

So I have a question, does it matter what surface you put these bags in. I’d like to put them directly on my patio but does that mean if the patio floor gets hot in the summer it’ll hurt the potatoes in some way? I have some old pallets I could put them on. If not just straight into the back lawn for now. Just curious if it matters other than drainage

@solar24090 4 ай бұрын

How much water do you use each week ? Or how often do you water ?

@Guavamente 3 жыл бұрын

White potatoes are the best all-around potatoes there are. They’re low on flavor, but they are good to fry, sauté, put in stews when cut in large chunks, they grow very quickly and are very hardy. I prefer Yukon’s and russets for eating but growing is easier with the whites

@barrybundles2788 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Kevin, so did you just start with about half the container full of soil - and just plant a few sprouted potatoes per container and theyve grown to fill them out? Or how did you start these? Thanks for your content, big fan!

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

I started with 4", planted, covered 2" and have hilled 2x since then!

@pauldominic2150 5 жыл бұрын

It would have been nice to see the whole process from start (adding first layer of soil and potatoes) to finish in time-lapse for us newbies.

@leticiaurbach1720 3 жыл бұрын

What month is best to plant our potatoes?

@virsapiensfortisest922 Жыл бұрын

Does anyone know what those bags are made of? I want to use these but also don’t want toxins leeching into the soil.

@christinahuffman7071 2 жыл бұрын

What month did you start these potatoes?

@gmarc166 Жыл бұрын

I thought Yukon Gold and Red Norland are determinates so no hilling required?

@suzannehelps4724 Жыл бұрын

Is that a loquat tree growing in the foreground?!? I grew up in Stockton, CA, and we had one in our backyard. After I grew up and moved out my parents sold the house and moved to NV, and I have never seen a loquat tree since then!

@Pp7450-n5u 3 жыл бұрын

I guess my question would be for indeterminate potatoes grown in pots. If seedlings aren't growing at the same rate, let's say one is 6 in high and the other is barely popping through the soil, do you go ahead and cover them up? Will that "drown out" the one barely popping through?

@beeestuff9819 3 жыл бұрын

So hilling is just adding soil as the stem and leafs come up?

@michellelynn530 3 жыл бұрын

How many seed potatoes 🥔 per container?

@joanies6778 3 жыл бұрын

My understanding is that the soil becomes too compacted in a tower, and that stunts the potato growth.

@nickduxfield4324 Жыл бұрын

i filled a 60cm high bag, with potatoes at bottom. They break through the top quite quick, making hilling no need for me. Learn that technique here on youtube.

@stacytool7087 2 жыл бұрын

Are you in San Diego?

@chefroger84 5 жыл бұрын

What are those yellow fruits at the end of the video?

@epicgardening 5 жыл бұрын

Loquats

@gottawon6415 23 күн бұрын

Last year grew 2 bags of potatoes and they turned out pretty good. This year I’m doing 5 bags, just wondering if you really need to add fertilizer? My plants are growing like crazy this year, I didn’t fertilize last year and they came out good. Also, I just hilled my bags a few days ago and less than a week later I have to hill them even more, curious when 1 or 2 of the stems are way smaller than the rest of them, how do I go about hilling this. I feel like I am going to have to cover the smaller stems completely in order to support the bigger ones.

@GeorgeVivanco 3 жыл бұрын

Watching this in 2021 you must have had seen it coming...😯

@caribbeanqueen6107 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, what size grow bags are those?

@designomatic Жыл бұрын

I think he said 10 gallons.

@MarkFaust 3 жыл бұрын

Please help..... I had hilled mine in 25 gallon grow bags for the first 4-6 inches and then switched to straw for the rest. Was that a mistake? Never hilled potatoes before so it was my own experiment when I had no compost left. Thank you.

@eversunny 2 жыл бұрын

How'd this work out? Curious because I'm considering adding straw amendments to a tower-type bag to help lessen the possibility of soil compaction with hilling.