COSTA: The potato is our flexible friend,
and now is the time of year to get planting.
I'm going to do something a bit different.
Today, I'm planting out a mix of potato and sweet potato varieties
into these large containers
as a bit of an experiment
to see which will give me the best results.
Now, traditionally, potatoes get put into a patch like this,
but the thing is, if you don't have such a patch
and you've only got a small courtyard
or a balcony or a rooftop,
then growing them in containers
is something we can all have a go at.
I have varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes
which, in terms of their family relationship,
are as different to one another
as a rugby league and an AFL player.
Potatoes are from the nightshade family
that includes eggplant, peppers and tomatoes.
Sweet potatoes are related to vegetables like spinach.
These containers are 85 litres.
They've got plenty of depth for the potatoes to grow.
Of course, if you get bigger containers, that's fine,
but any container you use,
make sure you have plenty of drainage holes.
The advantage of containers
is that you can push them around to chase the sun
if you've got shade in your garden.
You're best growing potatoes from certified seeds
rather than shop-bought potatoes,
to avoid disease and pests.
I ordered these online,
but you can get them from your local garden centre.
Now, choosing your potato -
this is where it gets personal.
How do you like to eat them?
In a salad? Roasted? Or perhaps an all-rounder?
Well, I've got all three here.
The fast-growing and waxy kipfler,
which are great for roasting.
The large and buttery 'Dutch Cream' -
perfect for mashing.
And the all-rounder 'Sebago'.
Now, the first step is to put a base layer in the pot,
and that's made up of 50% compost and 50% potting mix.
And I'm putting that in
to a depth of about 10cm.
Now I'm going to add three potatoes,
three different varieties.
Don't overcrowd.
And then cover them with another 10cm.
Now...
..the new potatoes will grow above the seed potatoes,
so that's why we want a deep pot,
because as the shoot comes up,
fill in around the shoot
and then a new layer of potatoes will grow there,
the shoot will grow up a bit more,
backfill it with some more soil,
and so on and so forth.
And you'll get lots of layers.
The next step is to give it all a feed with some blood and bone
or similar all-purpose, organic fertiliser
every few weeks or so.
And then water that in.
Generally, water deep
and don't let the soil completely dry out.
Well, there you have it.
Now it's a matter of around about 3-5 months
before we can start to harvest them.
Some varieties grow a little bit quicker,
but you'll know that they're ready
when the leaves start to turn yellow and drop off.
What I'm hoping to see out of this
is which varieties grow well in these conditions
and what sort of yields they deliver.
Now for our sweet potatoes.
These grow well in hot tropical environments,
unlike the potato varieties I've just planted.
Sweet potatoes are better grown from an established cutting called a slip.
There are several ways of doing this.
Take a cutting from an existing mature plant and pot it up,
or get a cutting or a shoot from a sweet potato
that has been sitting in water or potting mix.
I bought these online and they look pretty good.
The roots of sweet potatoes sprawl across the surface
to form runners,
so a large pot is advantageous.
The difference between the sweet potatoes
and the normal potatoes
is that you fill the pot right from the start.
OK, here we go.
Now, the first thing is to make a hole.
Make it reasonably deep. You can plant them in quite deep.
And then take the plant out.
That's ready to go in.
I'm putting three into this pot.
A handful of organic fertiliser now and every month or so.
Water in.
Water deeply and regularly whilst growing.
And they love full sun.
Mulch to keep moist.
This helps deter weevils from laying eggs.
There you go. How easy was that?
All you have to do now is sit back and watch them grow.
These two pots are low-maintenance
and, hopefully, they'll produce a bounty of goodness.
I'm gonna monitor them over the next few months
and we'll come back and visit them later in the year.