Potatoes in the playground: Growing in containers

This step-by-step guide shows how your class can grow potatoes in containers, making food growing accessible even without garden beds.

Harvesting potatoes
Harvesting potatoes
Learning objectives:​
  • Learn how potatoes grow and develop
  • Use measurements to space out potatoes and add compost
  • Understand how container gardening helps save space and resources
Curriculum links:
  • Science: Understand plant growth, the life cycle of potatoes, and the process of chitting
  • Maths: Measure distances between potatoes and calculate container capacity
  • PSHE: Encourage teamwork and patience as students grow and harvest potatoes

Jump to

Key vocabulary

Potato | Container | Planting | Growth | Harvest | Soil | Watering | Tubers

Symbolised guide

Use this symbol-based guide to support understanding:
Download Widgit guide (92kB)

Introduction

Potatoes are an easy and versatile crop for beginners. We recommend planting early varieties of potato in March as they should be ready to harvest before the start of the summer holidays.

Step by step

1. Choose and buy your seed potatoes from a garden centre or online retailer. There are many different varieties of potato so check which type they are and when they should be planted

2. Place the potatoes in an egg box in a cool, light place until they grow small shoots. This process is known as chitting and it gives your potatoes a head start. Once the shoots are 2-5cm, the potatoes are ready to plant

3. Select a large container with drainage holes and quarter-fill it with compost. Place the potatoes on top about 30cm apart and then cover over with a layer of compost

4. Once the shoots start to appear, gradually add more compost around the base of the stems to cover them up. This is known as ‘earthing up’ and prevents light from reaching your potatoes as they grow

5. Water the container when the compost is dry, particularly during hot or dry weather

6. Continue to bury the stems by topping up with compost until the container is full

7. The potatoes will flower but if these develop into fruits, make sure your pupils are aware that they are poisonous if eaten

8. Stop watering at this point and the leaves and stems will start to die off above the soil. This is a sign that your potatoes are ready to harvest

9. Tip the bag upside down and allow pupils to rummage in the soil to gather their crop. Discard any potatoes that are green, as these are potentially poisonous if eaten

10. If you are not using the potatoes straight away, store them in paper sacks in a cool, dark place

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