Have you ever wondered about how well potato bags work? You’ve seen them around right? They usually come in the form of a dark green colored bag, that’s made out of a canvas or tarp-like material. The idea is that you fill it 1/3 of the way full of dirt, plant 4-5 pieces of seed potatoes with 2-3 eyes each, then as the plants grow, simply add more soil and roll the bag higher and higher up. It’s really that easy.

It’s a fantastic option for people who want to grow on their balcony or just don’t have the room to grow potatoes in the ground. But I was curious; which would work better? Which way of growing potatoes would produce more potato? So I conducted my own little experiment and planted them both ways.

The answer: potatoes grown in the ground produce more. This really surprised me! I provided the potatoes in the bag with the very best organic soil and compost, whereas the potatoes I planted in the ground got much less of the good stuff. In the end, I think I harvested about 3 times more potato from the ones I planted in the ground, maybe even more.

Now you know!