From what i've read Red Pontiac are one of the best.

I recently heard that russets also are good for bins. I'll try the Red Pontiacs this year as well.
And it is true about Yukon Gold at least it was for me. I binned the heck out of mine last year (about two feet of soil over the seed) and they only set spuds in the bottom, right where the seed tater was.

alys-
The key to the potato bin is using long season varieties.

I have grown yellow fin, bintje, and red pontiac with acceptable results.

One suggestion I can share with you if I may. Use a very loose and light soil mixture. One that does not compact. It will yield better results.

Good luck with you endeavor. Hope you break the spud bank... :)

I also had bottom layer only Yukon Gold last year. Going to try russet and red pontiac this spring.

Yukon Gold is our favorite potato, so I'm really glad I ran across that tidbit, because it definately would have been the one I picked. I've got the perfect spot I think, to try this. I'm planning on straw, shredded leaves and homemade compost in the bin. I can't wait to see if it works. I'm going to start looking for seed potatoes this weekend and thanks to you folks, I can make a list!

I've been looking for either German Butterball or Yellow Fin for the same reason. We love Yukon Golds but I read they don't work well in bins. So far, I haven't been able to find a long season yellow potato locally.

I am planning to try Bintje this year. Sinfonian of Sinfonian's Square Foot Garden, whose experiment captured so much attention last year and encouraged many of us to try binning, has posted the following on his blog:

"**NOTE - EDIT** Greg from Irish-Eyes Garden City Seeds let me know that Yukon Golds, and all early varieties set fruit once and do not do well in towers. You only get potatoes in the bottom 6 inches, which is what I got. Late season alternatives to yukon gold are Yellow Fin and Binjte."

I hope that everyone has great success with their potato bins this year! I would love to hear of progress reports.

Bob

Just a specific note to the first couple posters, Red Pontiac is an EARLY season potato and therefore is NOT a good choice for growing in bins. Go to some online catalogs or the link below and look at the list of LATE SEASON potatoes.

By the way, I just noticed that there is a data entry mistake in the Cornell database. In the text description of Red Pontiac they correctly note that it is an early season potato but if you use the drop down menu to do a search for all the late season potatoes it will incorrectly include Red Pontiac in the list.

I've not grown potatoes, just lurking here and enjoying reading what everyone writes. When you say "bin," do you mean a large pot?

Can I take a russet from the store, chop it, and grow pieces in a large pot?

Socks - store bought potatoes have usually been treated in such a way as to stop reproduction, although the ones I buy sure seem to sprout sometimes. The bin I'm talking about is basically a box you build up as the potatoes grow.

I did not find ANY late season potatoes in my area. So I have two types of main season potatoes, kennebec and viking, that I'm going to try. If they don't work well, it will still have been an interesting experiment. And at 35cents a pound for seed potatoes (I bought 8 tiny spuds, paid about 20cents) if I even get a pound or two I'm money ahead. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a bin thread!

bobb_grow, you saved me. I snipped your note about early varieties and Yukons and put it in "Potato Tips" in Evernote. I was about to pull the trigger on my High Mowing Seeds order of an early and a Yukon when I thought to look at my tips first... Thanks!!!

you know you responding to post that is over 8 years old and the original poster is long gone.

Nope...not gone at all. :D I have, however, given up on potato bins. When I did one, I put in 7 seed potatoes and harvested...7 potatoes, lol. Could be because the darn deer kept eating them. I decided theyre cheap enough i didnt care anymore.

:-) I did pretty well with one last year, but not great. This year is the make it or break it for potatoes.