7 Problems Growing Potatoes in Containers (And How to Fix Them)

Growing potatoes in containers can be really rewarding, and it’s fantastic when you’re short on space or you want to move them around. It’s also super easy to harvest your spuds! But containers do come with issues you’ll want to be ready for. Here are the main problems you might run into, and how to fix them. There’s a handy trouble-shooting guide at the end, you can download it as a PDF!

1. Limited Space for Tuber Growth

POTATO PLANTS GROWING IN POTS CONTAINERS

This is probably going to be your main issue. Potatoes like to spread! In a container, if the soil depth or width is too small, you’ll end up with tiny tubers or just a handful of usable ones. If you use a container that is too shallow or narrow, you’ll probably get a disappointing harvest.

How to Fix It

Even though this is a big problem, it’s one of the easiest to fix. Choose a big container! Generally, the bigger the container, the bigger the yield. You’re aiming a minimum of 10-15 gallons (40-50l). Make sure it’s at least 12-16″ deep. Potatoes grow down and need plenty of space to form tubers.

A final tip – try grow breathable fabric bags! They’re amazing for drainage and don’t overheat like your standard black plastic pots.

2. Water Stress

Container soil dries out much faster than ground soil. And once it’s dried out, it’s almost impossible to re-wet. Potatoes hate drying out mid-growth. They’ll stall or your tubers are going to be funny shapes. You’ll also need to make sure the soil doesn’t stay soaking wet. Pots with poor drainage cause rot and fungal issues. In containers, it can be tricky to get the balance right. This one is easier in the ground, depending on your soil, of course.

How to Fix It

Aim for evenly moist soil. Don’t let is fully dry out, and don’t overwater it so it’s soaking wet all the time. Find that golden balance! When exactly to water depends on the weather. Generally, a rule of deep-watering 2-3 times a week is great. Make sure you give them a big drink sometimes – try not to give them little drinks lots of times.

Tip: mulch! Yes, even in pots. If you’re using a big pot, it’s very possible to provide your potatoes with a nice layers of mulch, which helps keep the soil protected and makes watering easier. You can use just about anything from straw to sugarcane, or even shredded leaves.

3. Nutrient Depletion

Potatoes don’t get so nice and round by not eating! They’re heavy feeders. A container’s soil runs out of nutrients quickly, and if you don’t add ‘food’, your plants will yellow and yields will be less than stellar. You might see signs like purple leaves from phosphorus deficiency.

How to Fix It

Feed them! Side-dress or liquid-feed every 2 weeks. You can also mix a slow-release fertilizer into the soil at planting time. Use a high-potassium fertilizer. Generally, tomato food is easily available and works great. Avoid fertilizers with too much nitrogen. You’ll get tall, leafy plants (they’ll look great!) with tiny spuds underneath. You can also keep your soil healthy with top-ups of compost.

4. Overheating

Potato plant growing in polythene grow bag on terrace

Have you ever felt the side of a black plastic pot in the sun? It’s like an oven! No plants’ roots like baking in the sun. Potatoes are no different. Overheated soil causes stunted growth, can stop tubers from forming, or kills their roots altogether. Meaning no potatoes for dinner tonight.

How to Fix It

Choose fabric grow bags. They breathe and don’t get hot like black plastic pots. If you only have plastic, you can paint them white or wrap them in something like hessian or burlap. You can even put them inside a bigger, lighter colored pot to act as insulation. If days are hot, you can move your pots to a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade. Tuck them behind taller plants for a bit of shade when the day heats up.

Move your pots away from concrete pathways, brick walls, or any other surface that soaks up heat (and holds it). Cover the top with mulch so it doesn’t dry out as much. Water early in the morning so they’re hydrating when the sun reaches its peak.

Final tip – if the heat is particularly brutal, you can use some reflective foil or white plastic around the outside of the pot. It acts as a heat shield and bounces the sun’s rays right back.

5. Pests

Container potatoes can be easier to monitor than field crops, but pests still find their way in. Here are the big ones to watch for:

Colorado Potato Beetle

These yellow-and-black striped beetles (and their fat red larvae) will chew your plants down to stalks if you don’t stop them. They’re widespread across the U.S.

Fix: Hand-pick beetles and larvae daily into a jar of soapy water. Rotate crops yearly (don’t grow potatoes in the same soil). Cover young plants with floating row covers until they flower. Neem oil or spinosad sprays can help if the infestation is bad.

Wireworms

A wireworm pest emerging from a freshly dug potato

Wireworms are common in soil that was once pasture or lawn. They’re wormlike larvae and bore into tubers, leaving tunnels.

Fix: Only use fresh, clean potting mix in containers (not dug-up garden soil). Rotate with non-host crops if you’re growing in garden beds. If wireworms are an issue where you are, try baiting them with pieces of potato buried in the soil, then discard those pieces.

Blight (Early and Late)

Potato leaf blight on maincrop potato foliage, a fungal problem Phytophthora Infestans and is a disease which causes spotting on late potato leaves.

Humid states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York are notorious for blight! You’ll notice it as black/brown leaf patches, mold, and collapsing stems.

Fix: Choose blight-resistant potato varieties (we’ll cover some great blight-resistant varieties a bit later in the article!). Water at soil level, not over the leaves. Space containers apart for airflow. Remove and destroy infected plants quickly to stop the spread. Don’t compost blight-infected foliage.

Aphids & Leaf Miners

These pests multiply faster in pots because their natural predators are less active. Aphids suck sap and stunt growth. Leaf miners tunnel through the leaves, leaving pale squiggles. They’re quite distinctive!

Fix: Blast aphids off with a strong hose spray, or use insecticidal soap or neem oil. For leaf miners, pinch and remove affected leaves early. Encourage predators like ladybugs if you garden outside.

Slugs & Earwigs

Slugs and earwigs crawl right into fabric grow bags, eating the young shoots and even tubers near the soil surface.

Fix: Sprinkle crushed eggshells or diatomaceous earth around the base. Use beer traps or boards set on soil. Check daily and dispose of the slugs or earwigs. Keep the area around containers tidy.

Potato Tuber Moth

A big issue in warm climates! Tuber moths lay eggs near stems or on the soil, and the larvae tunnel into the tubers that are close to the surface.

Fix: Hill up the soil or mulch so no tubers are exposed. Harvest promptly once your plants die back. Don’t leave those yummy tubers lying around or you’ll lose them! Destroy infested tubers. You can also lightly drape row covers over the top of your containers to keep moths from laying eggs near your crop.

6. Blight and Rot

Blackleg of potato. Disease is caused by bacteria in the genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya. They also cause soft rot of tubers.

We somewhat covered blight above, but it doesn’t hurt to revisit it together with rot. Airflow is huge. If you don’t have enough airflow around the foliage, you’ll be encouraging fungal diseases like rot and blight. Wet, dense soil in a pot can trigger soft rot. And once the disease gets into a your container, it often wipes out the whole planting. Yikes!

Now, there are some blight-resistant potato varieties. These generally don’t mean they can’t get blight at all, but they have most resistance to it than other varieties out there. Let’s look at some delicious blight-resistant potato varieties!

Blight-Resistant Potato Varieties

Issaquah, Washington State, USA. Potato plants growing in potato cages.

Sarpo Mira

One of the most blight-resistant potatoes out there. It’s a big maincrop spud with red skin and white flesh. It stores well and is awesome for roasting, baking, and making chips.

Sarpo Axona

Another member of the Sarpo family! This one’s bred in Hungary for blight resistance. It’s a large maincrop with floury flesh that is perfect for mash and roasting.

Sarpo Una

Una is a smaller, earlier variety than Mira or Axona. It’s pink-skinned with waxy flesh, making it great for salads and boiling.

Carlingford

Carlingford is a super reliable salad potato. It is waxy and small, and has resistance to blight and scab. A great choice!

Valor

Valor is a versatile maincrop variety. It has good blight tolerance, a floury texture, and makes great roasties and chips.

Cara

Cara has it all! Pink eyes, round tubers, and a very high blight resistance. It’s a maincrop and has good drought tolerance, too.

Elba

Elba is one of the most blight-resistant potatoes you can grow in U.S. It’s a maincrop with round, white-skinned and white-fleshed tubers. Perfect for mash, boiling, frying and baking.

Defender

Defender was bred specifically by Cornell for late blight resistance. It’s a maincrop (90-100 days) with tan skin and white flesh. Great for fries and baking, and they store really well. If you’re in a blight hotspot like the Northeast or Midwest, Defender is one of your safest bets in containers.

Setanta

Setanta is an Irish-bred, red-skinned, floury maincrop potato. It has strong late blight resistance and excellent flavor.

Orla

Orla is an early variety with blight resistance. That’s handy because most early potatoes are very vulnerable. This is great for new potatoes in the summer!

If you want to dodge blight completely in containers, another strategy is to grow earlies like Orla (they’re harvested before blight usually hits mid-to-late summer). Pair that with a resistant maincrop like Elba or Defender, and you’ve got both ends covered.

Note on availability of Blight-Resistant Varieties

Not every variety is easy to find in every state. The Sarpo varieties are legendary for blight resistance but can be harder to source in the U.S. More common varieties are Cara, Valor, Orla, and Setanta. Seed companies like Wood Prairie Family Farm (Maine) sometimes stock resistant types. Wood Prairie had both Mira and Una seed potatoes available at the time of writing this article! Whoop!

7. Early Die-Off

Potato plants in containers often die back earlier than in-ground crops because the soil volume dries, overheats, or runs out of nutrients sooner. This can cut your harvest short.

How to Fix It

Use a large container – at least 10-15 gallons
Make sure it drains freely
Mulch heavily
Fertilize every couple of weeks
Shade the pot in hot weather
Harvest quickly once the tops die back so your tubers don’t rot or attract bugs.

Container Potato Troubleshooting Guide

Potato Troubleshooting Guide in a wooden frame with illustrated potato plants. The chart lists common problems when growing potatoes in containers. Problems include yellow leaves (early and late), purple leaves, too many leaves with few potatoes, small tubers, green potatoes, rotting tubers, wilting in hot weather, blight, and potato tuber moth damage. Each row shows what it looks like, the likely cause, and the fix, such as improving drainage, adding fertilizer, hilling soil, shading pots, or removing diseased leaves.

See the table below, or I’ve created a handy, free PDF you can download here: Potato Troubleshooting Guide.

Problem	What It Looks Like	Likely Cause	Fix
Yellow leaves (early in season)	Lower leaves go pale or yellow	Nitrogen deficiency or uneven watering	Give a liquid feed with balanced fertilizer; keep soil evenly moist
Yellow leaves (late in season)	Whole plant yellows, stems flop	Natural die-back, crop maturing	Stop watering and prep to harvest
Purple leaves	Leaves take on a purplish tint	Phosphorus deficiency, often from cold soil	Warm the container (move to sunnier spot, mulch), feed with high-phosphorus fertilizer
Lots of leaves, few potatoes	Tall, bushy plants but tiny tubers	Too much nitrogen or not enough potassium	Switch to a fertilizer for tomatoes or potatoes (higher K, lower N)
Small tubers	Harvest yields marble-sized spuds	Container too small, shallow soil, or plant too crowded	Use larger pots, fewer seed potatoes per pot, deeper soil layers
Green potatoes	Tubers turn green, bitter taste	Sunlight reached the tubers	Hill up soil/mulch to cover tubers fully
Rotting potatoes	Mushy, foul-smelling tubers	Overwatering, poor drainage, waterlogged soil	Improve drainage, water less often but more deeply
Wilting in hot weather	Plants collapse midday, recover at night	Container overheating, water stress	Shade pots in afternoon, mulch thickly, water in morning
Blight (brown patches, fuzzy mold)	Leaves with black/brown spots, stems rot	Fungal disease in warm, wet conditions	Remove affected leaves, improve airflow, avoid wetting leaves, rotate crops each year
Potato tuber moth damage	Tunnels in tubers, frass inside	Moths lay eggs in soil/near stems	Keep tubers covered with soil, harvest promptly, destroy damaged spuds