OK I am going to jump in here. I am not using 5 gallon buckets but 18 gallon Rubbermaid containers for some of my potatoes. Some of my potatoes are in the ground in a 12 inch deep bed with leaves on top. The Rubbermaid containers are about the same height as the 5 gallon buckets. I set the seed potatoes out until they got some sprouts. I used a sodder pencil to burn holes in the bottom of the containers and on the inside I put some fiberglass window screen in the bottom so the potting mix will not drain out. I put 6 inches of soiless potting mix in the bottom. I mixed HollyTone fertilizer (4 tablespoons) in the potting mix and also 2 cups of worm castings. I put 3 seed potatoes on top of the potting mix and then covered the entire thing with dry leaves from my yard. Approx 12 inches of leaves. The potting mix I used is Miracle Grow. As long as you put about 4-6 inches of a good quality potting mix in the bottom of your 5 gallon bucket and maybe 2 seed potatoes per bucket you should be OK. Straw sounds OK to me. If you want really small potatoes use 3 seed potatoes. I want huge potatoes that is why I only used three in the 18 gallon Rubbermaid. I like Ronninger's Potato Farm for seed potatoes. I planted Maris Piper, Bintje, Yukon Gold and All Blue. The Maris Piper and Bintje are for frying. Yukon Gold is all purpose and All Blue is for my grandson. Cheers, DL

Mark, the modified mix Al recommends is a good place to start, but are you planning on covering the container and relying upon a strip of fertilizer on the surface to feed the plants? This is critical because if you will use the cover/fert strip you really need a fast wicking potting mix and this means peat and vermiculite. What I often tell people getting started with Earthboxes where a cover and fertilizer strip will be used is that the system was designed with peat based mixes and it works very well with them so give that a try for a year. It will give you a good frame of reference for tinkering in subsequent years. Assuming you do not wish to do this then: I would encourage you to make a mix and set it outside to see if it will keep the surface moist for a couple days before committing. This is if you will use the cover and fertilizer strip. If you won't use either then Al's mix (original or modified) will work fine. Keep in mind my experience is in Wisconsin, somebody in a hotter/drier/windier climate might need to modify a bit. Even with the cover on, the wind gets under it from the holes we must cut for the plants. This wind may not seem like much, but it can quickly dry the surface. You really do need to test though, that's the best approach. Just do it outside. I say this because I made the mistake of evaluating how well various materials wicked *inside* (I was going through an endless winter and wanted a gardening 'project'). How something wicks indoors is waaaay different than how it wicks outside due to temp, wind, humidity etc. Again though, you really only need to modify Al's mix with fast wickers like vermiculite or peat if you want to use the cover and fert strip. One last tip, if you find that the very surface goes and stays dry, but an inch down it's moist you can simply bury the fertilizer strip an inch under the surface. This gives more latitude in compromising between a coarse mix that drains well and one that can wick fast enough to keep that fert strip working. Happy growing.

I think 1 seed potato per 5 gallon bucket would be fine. I also agree that it should work well -- I would make sure that you use a good potting soil. I would probably only fill the bucket up 1/2 way and plant the seed potato. Then, as the plant starts growing, throw on some rich compost and straw (or leaves) -- just keep the top two sets of leaves above the soil line). Do this until you reach a couple of inches below the top of the bucket. This would increase your harvest as the stem of the potato would continue to root and put out more potatoes :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Ft2Garden.com

Figs and other trees will get large in 5 gallon containers if allowed to root into the ground. But then they aren't really in a 5 gallon container are they. For me watering more than once a day just isn't a schedule that works. No tree will get very big in a 5 gallon container watered once a day in hot weather. It can't, there isn't enough water to allow it to get very big. They can and will get bigger than my fig above. They just don't get out of hand. But don't confuse smallish with lack of production. They can be very productive for their size. For the original poster I say try them in the small pots you seem interested in. It can certainly work. At the worst you pot up or allow rooting into the soil in summer. That will allow a pretty big tree.