I’ve always grown potatoes in beds either at home or at my old allotments. I love growing potatoes but starting them off has still required quite a bit of work and taken up a lot of space. Most years, I lose a few to pests and blight.

I have persisted with growing potatoes because they store so well and, following giving up my allotment, I have not wanted to give up on them. This is the first year I have used grow bags. You can watch a vlog of me setting them up below.

So far, I have had a great experience and thought I would share 5 reasons why I intend to make use of grow bags in the future:

1. Relatively cheap – When it comes to gardening equipment, grow bags are low cost; however, you do need to take compost into account when you are considering value for money as you will need to add compost.
2. Easy to use – The are as simple to set up as opening a bag, adding compost, placing in seed potatoes, topping it up as the plant grows and watering.
3. Avoid pests – Being in a container above ground means you are less likely to have pests, such as slugs, eating away at your potatoes.
4. Uses less space – Grow bags have a small footprint and allow you to grow vertically, not horizontally, so ideal for people with small gardens, balconies or looking to add Potatoes to an already full garden.
5. Avoid disease – So far, I have not had any issues with blight, and I can spread the grow bags out if they are damp and need some extra airflow.

So, would I recommend using potato grow bags? Yes, based upon how things have gone so far, I would recommend them. I have a control group growing in my veg plot, and I will cast my final verdict when I get to compare how productive grow bag potatoes are.