a few weeks back there was an advert run in a few of the national papers advertising spud planters and speed seed potatoes ..guaranteeing that you get 100lbs of spud from the planter ,well being a keen gardener like me mum we decided to go halves on this ..well they showed up two days ago ...not what we expected but nothing ever is is it ? the box contained four planters and 5 bags of different varieties of seed spuds ...charlotte,king edwards,maxine and one other i forget ..the instructions couldnt be more easy if they tried ...but the actual planters are only a small version of those hippo bags or builders bags literally 2ft tall by a sq foot ...and then we see the catch ...each variety has to be planted in its seperate bag and will yield 26lbs of spuds ..crafty buggers ,i expected one massive planter ...so two varieties have been planted already ,ill save the other two for in a month or twos time for a staggered harvest ...ill report back later on when theres any action going on in the planters ...how do you lot think they will do ? bearing in mind im using levingtons strwberry mix of organic soil in the planters ..

Cool! Sounds like an ace idea. If you don't mind me asking, how much are they?

those potato planters are excellent , you roll em up gradually as the plants grow . You really can get a massive crop too, and because they're aa bit higher off the ground you avoid some of the nasties .

for the four planters and the seed potatos plus pand p it came to £14.95....seed pots alone in the stores around here are averaging out at £3.95 for between 7 and 10 potatoes ,thats the king edwards the other varieties are more

Making your own Potato planter

Some good ideas on the site.

Just paid 35p a pound for seed spuds (average about 10 per lb) but thats at the allotment shop.

If you've an allotment around you it may be worth asking if you can buy some off them?

sadly no allotments near me ..there used to be but a councillor bought the land and built crappy flats on it ...but next time i venture out into the country ill have a lookie around for one ..plus that site is well handy for info thanks for that .

Just for reference, if you can get a list of only six names on a petition asking your local council to provide suitable land for allotments, they are obliged by law to do so.

an easy spud planter if your not to fussed about looks.
stack 4 old car tyres and fill with compost and seeds spuds job done

Just bought 4 bags today,£1.99 a bag, i do it the traditional way ie in the ground,had real bad blight probs last year,not supposed to grow them in the same soil year in year out ,they got to about a foot tall then turned black and died
So looks like i need to dig a new plot.
Going to be doing onions,carrots,sweede,parsnips,garlic,strawberrys too this year..also got a plum tree a pear tree and loads of damson trees,all of which need attention as they are rubbish...

cheepest and easiest way of doing spuds is to re-use your old compost bags , there free , and youll get decent crops from them just the same as the sacks you can buy

its almost time to empty out the bags at last ..after a slow start with them probably due to the cold night temps ..they are now a good two foot above the top of the bags and look very lush thanks to some root grow added into the soil and plenty of bn qs home brand organic liquid feed ..update soon as i empty the bags out ..ill take pictures of the yield too be it good or bad

If u get at least 6 sig's, your local council has to provide by law, land for the use of allotments....