Reuse Plastic Bags to Grow Potatoes

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May is the perfect time to plant potatoes! Homegrown potatoes are a different beast than grocery store potatoes. It’s like the difference between fresh-squeezed and bottled juic

Planting in thick grocery bags or clean emptied garbage bags works better than planting in the ground for several reasons.

• First, you don’t need a garden, just a sunny square foot or so.
• Second they are much easier to harvest from bags – simply dump them out – than by prying them out of the earth.
• Last, you can move them around for more or less sun as the season changes.

Here’s How:

Poke a couple of holes in the bottom of your bag for drainage (important), and fill with 3-4 inches of soil. Roll the bag down to just above dirt level.

Plant organic seed potatoes or sprouting grocery store organic potatoes (eyes up!) about 1″ below top of the soil.

Water well and give lots of sun. I don’t use any fertilizer or soil supplements. Organic gardening friends, chime in here – does fertilizer make bigger and better potatoes?

As the tubers sprout their green tops, roll the bag up and add more soil up to the base of the leaves. Only the top leaves should be showing above dirt level.

Potatoes grow all along the part of the stem that is buried. So the taller your plants get, and the more soil you pile up to leaf level throughout the growing season, the more potatoes you’ll have.

When the greenery begins to droop and the blossoms wilt (in 80-100 days), it’s time to harvest. Dump out the bags, retrieve the taters, and save the bag and soil for next year. Put the green tops in the compost.

See The Truth About Recycling to learn why it’s important to reduce, reuse and upcycle plastic