Has anyone tried growing potatoes in a bag?

[Pater est Pullis]

Figured I'd give it a shot, so far so good, except today when I went to water; TERMITES! How do I get rid of the buggers and save the potatoes?

 

[cavemanrich]

Question??????
Are you just growing one bag ???
What are the termites snacking away on.???
What Are your bags made of???
I do not grow potatoes. Only flowers. My neighbor does grow potatoes, and uses automobile tires. Has great success that way, and potatoes grow above ground, well drained.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Pater est Pullis]

Yeah, one bag, since I've never tried this method before, wanted to see how turns out before committing to multiple, larger bags.

The media I used is a blend of garden soil (Miracle Gro from Lowe's), composted cow manure and potting soil. I recycled a 50 pound, garden soil bag, seems to be doing the job. The garden soil appears to be primarily composted wood chips, still plenty in there, I think that's what they're feeding on.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

I am currently growing potatoes in grow bags, which are kind of like a mix between canvas and felt. My potatoes were doing great until we had torrential downpours for two weeks straight, and all but one plant died. I haven't seen any bugs on them though. Would the termites even hurt the plants, though?

 

[cavemanrich]

The wood chips are the key to the termite attraction. I am thinking along the lines of the above post. Maybe the termites wont hurt the potatoes...
I have no Idea on how you could eliminate the wood chips from your soil at this stage.
Consider it a learning experience. I don't think you want to go chemical route to kill off the termites. I don't know of any natural non chemical, non dangerous route to take. DE would not function very well because termites avoid dry areas. DE will not do much when moist/wet.

 

[Pater est Pullis]

The wood chips are the key to the termite attraction. I am thinking along the lines of the above post. Maybe the termites wont hurt the potatoes...
I have no Idea on how you could eliminate the wood chips from your soil at this stage.
Consider it a learning experience. I don't think you want to go chemical route to kill off the termites. I don't know of any natural non chemical, non dangerous route to take. DE would not function very well because termites avoid dry areas. DE will not do much when moist/wet.

I was thinking using a boric acid bait I made (boric acid, rice flour, karo syrup), should be ok, if I don't over do it. Thoughts?

 

[staceyj]

I took back a bag of that exact soil because when I opened it , it was full of termites!!!!!!

 

[staceyj]

I have had great luck in the past growing potatoes in a plastic laundry basket lined with landscape fabric by the way.

 

[cavemanrich]

I was thinking using a boric acid bait I made (boric acid, rice flour, karo syrup), should be ok, if I don't over do it. Thoughts?

I don't think that bait would attract termites. More of a bait for ants. Ants like sweet. Termites like wood.

 

[staceyj]

Wood and moisture.
I think you should start over and get rid of that bag.