Thank you for the feedback so far. But back to my original question (and to clarify a few things): 1. My potatoes are planted in containers by themselves. I have several large round buckets and bins... I'd say they are about 2 feet deep and 2 feet across. There are ONLY potatoes in each pot, but since I cut up the seed potatoes I have several potato plants per pot. Hope that makes sense. 2. Of these multiple plants in a single container, they vary in height from 1 inch to 5 inches. Since the guideline is to hill soil around the potatoes once they reach 6" tall, some of these plants are almost ready for hilling. THE PROBLEM: There are much shorter plants very close to the taller plants. Making it impossible to hill soil around the taller plants without covering the small ones. My question: Will I harm the smaller plants if they get covered up completely? Will they continue to grow? Still looking for feedback to my question...thanks!

Potatoes separate into 4 types of tissue. The leaves which are above ground are solar collectors producing photosynthate that eventually winds up in the spuds as starch. The stem is the vertical part of the plant that supports the leaves and acts as a conduit for water and nutrients going up and photosynthate going down. The roots collect water and nutrients and bring them into the plant to support growth. The Stolons are stem-like extensions that grow out and slightly down sometimes branching numerous times. At the end of each stolon and stolon branch will be a developing potato. The stolons acts as sinks into which nutrients from the roots and photosynthate from the leaves flow. This is key to understanding potatoes, the leaves are sinks for nutrients from the roots, the roots are sinks for photosynthate from the leaves, and the stolons are sinks to both the roots and the leaves. Stolons arise only from stem area that is not exposed to light, but with a caveat that some wild species have a trait that produces stolons from any covered part of the stem even if it has greened up. A very few cultivated varieties also have this trait. These varieties are viable for progressively filled containers. The varieties often mentioned for such container growing produce stolons only in the 6 inches of stem nearest the seed piece. That means growing them in containers and progressively filling the container to the top does not gain any benefit. However, you can increase the number of seed pieces in a given area and from progressive filling of the container you will harvest more spuds. The key to large spuds is even watering. If you want them big, set up an automated watering system. DarJones

Since I grow my vegetables in the containers, I use a potting mix. It's loose and light. I'm transitioning to a DIY potting mix next year so I'll see if my carrots perform better in that. I'm surprised that the carrots don't like loose soil! I thought they need room to stretch out. I heard if you left the carrots in the soil too long, the taste'll turn woody? I'm concerned about that. Oh, I do agree that West Coast is expensive. I prefer their company because they have excellent service and they're close to where I live. I do have the cheap, generic seed brands too, so I'm not above it.

I remember helping my father years ago do this. He did the one where you slowly fill the barrel with straw so that after the barrel is filled to the top you have a ton of tater's with virtually no cleaning necessary. It takes a lot of water (remember we are supposed to have a drought this summer) to grow container potatoes. The trashcan needs to be kept somewhat cool otherwise the tubers towards the edges tend to rot (remember we are supposed to have record breaking heat this summer). Potatoes need full sun to do well. This technique does work but it isn't necessarily easier than regular garden soil growing - maybe for some people in certain areas but not for everyone. Another way to accomplish this is to raise them in used car/truck tires. You start with the first tire and as the plant grows you stack more and more tires on top and fill with straw or mulch or soil. By the end of the year you undo to the whole stack and harvest. Easier than getting a lot of light down into the bottom of a trashcan.