Another dumb potato idea...
 

I'm wondering if I could take some of these containers:

[url]http://www.mortonproducts.com/page.cfm/1480[/url]

cut the bottoms off then dig a hole a few inches down, stick the pot in there, plant potatoes at the bottom, then fill the pots with soil or mulch as the plants grow. Would this work as alternative to the usual hilling method?

If the pots aren’t buried all of the way would the sun heat up said containers and cause the potatoes to not make as well due to the increased temperatures the sun would cause to them?
If this is not so then I don’t see why not.

Worth

Worth, that is a good point. I'm hoping Mr. Wagner can chime in.

At various times, I have grown potatoes in 1 gal. containers. The black pots do heat up a bit, but it helps if they are side by side. I like the idea of being buried in the soil as that aids in avoiding too dry of soil in the container. If the seed piece is not planted too close to the bottom of the pot, harvest is easy. Too far down and tubers form outside the vent holes.

If you have plenty of space outdoors, I wouldn't do this container thing unless space, time, and isolation is of utmost importance. Greenhouse growing in containers works good for increase of stock, but I wouldn't count on it as a superior method of producing potatoes to eat.

Tom

Tom, thanks again for another quick and intelligent reply.