I think its way late on either side of the pond for planting potatoes, but especially on yours. We'll see what Flora says.

When I planted my potatoes it took 2 weeks for sprouts to break the surface.

You are being impatient. I hope that there are holes in the bottom (or sides) of your bucket to allow for drainage...this will alow you to keep them evenly watered (not soaked)

Growing potatoes is like having a successful international soccer (footbol) team...it takes time! haha

There are holes for drainage, and yes probably I am being impatient :)

I'm sure I've read you can get potatoes until chistmas here, so I hoping it wont take quite that long :)

Thanks for the help.

Well there's a challenge. I'll start by saying I don't actually grow potatoes except a few earlies some years for new potatoes. I don't have the space. But the surrounding allotmenteers do and theirs are big bushy plants with flowers by now.

You are right that you can have potatoes for Christmas but you will have to bring the container inside because the foliage is killed off by frosts. You can plant from February to July if you have frost protection available. The idea of chitting is to get them started indoors when it is still too cold to plant them out. There's not much point in chitting in June. You don't say what type of potato you have planted and there are differences between varieties in how fast they grow. Nor do you say how long they've been planted so we can't tell if it's slow or not. You also do not say if the bucket is 2ft deep or diameter. Something deep like a dustbin is usually recommended for potatoes with about 5 tubers to a bin. I imagine for an ordinary bucket one tuber would be enough. I don't think you have anything to lose by just waiting to see what happens. Make sure the bucket drains well and don't over water and cause rot. Google potatoes in comntainers, making sure you pick UK sources and you'll find loads of information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Potatoes in containers