Everything you need
Almost every balcony or roof terrace has a sheltered location with a few hours of sunlight - the best prerequisite for growing potatoes on the balcony. Join in:
- a planter at least 10 liters in size - a water bucket, masonry bucket, 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 can hold
- 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
also read
- This is how it works with sowing the potatoes in the garden
- Recognize and combat diseases and pests in potatoes
- Potatoes - when is harvest time?
Planting time
You can sow new 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 that the bottom of your vessel has a drainage hole and drill it into it if necessary. In addition, fill in a 10 cm high layer of gravel for drainage. This is important so that the tubers do not rot in soil that is too wet.
You cover the drainage layer with soil about 15 cm high. Ideally you mixed in ripe compost or horn shavings (€ 6.39 at Amazon *) or used a compost-soil mixture. It is also possible to add sand to loosen the soil.
Place 1 to 2 pre-sprouted seed potatoes on the ground. Then you give back soil so that the tubers are well covered and carefully pour everything on.
After a while, the first green tips peek out. When these are about 10 cm high, you cover them again with soil. You repeat this until the edge of your vessel is reached.
A small edge should remain at the top so that the poured soil does not overflow. By filling in layers, the potato plant forms 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 any additional fertilizer.
The first potatoes are ready to be harvested after about 100 days. Until then, the potato will delight you with its flowers. When the cabbage begins to wilt, the potatoes are ripe and you can harvest in layers.
Tips & 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 a water reservoir, soil and seed potatoes.
