[cheese]

Hi everyone

I planted some potatoes (Charlotte and Pentland Javelin) last March and April in containers. They grew very well - perhaps a metre tall after a month or two. I have added more soil to the container as they grew - about 30-40 cm. However since then they have kind of flopped down over the edge of the container and become brittle or broken in places. They are craning for light too, following the sun around the corner of the building in the afternoon. This means they grow on top of each other causing more problems. We also get a fair bit of wind which I suspect also contributes to damage.

A number of the leaves have also gone brown and died. This is possibly just due to broken stalks though it's hard to tell. Either way they look decidedly limp compared to what they did in May. I compared any leaves with discolouration to pictures of those with blight and it's doesn't look like that's the problem.

I have been using a generic organic fertilizer and watering regularly. The plants do not get full direct light - from dawn to about 2/3 in the afternoon only and I've tried to tie them up a bit to keep them upright. I've removed as much of the rotting leaves as possible to deter pests.

There is no sign of the plants flowering as I would have expected by this stage. We pulled up one of the broken plants to have a look at it seemed to have some potatoes (albeit slightly small - http://www.twitpic.com/8r6s4) as you'd expect.

Should I be concerned about this? I am a bit of a newbie at this so I hope I haven't done something obviously wrong - too much of one thing or not enough of the other. I have linked a couple of photos of the plants below. Any thoughts are much appreciated!

http://www.twitpic.com/b1g3k
http://www.twitpic.com/b1g2h

[cooler]

Some potato plants will flower some won't. It will also be dictated by the amount of sunlight they have available. so don't get too hung up on the flowering thing.

Your sample spud looks quite healthy as well so no need to worry. Apart from the size. At the end of the day you are growing in containers and not in the soil of fields and gardens which is what so many gardening books cater towards. So you cant be expected to have the same results of flowering and cropping that ground gardeners do. You are giving it a damn good try though from what I can see though.