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Trash Bag vs. Laundry Basket: Which Actually Grows More? #gardensolace

Garden Solace

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Laundry Basket vs Trash Bag Potato Growing which method REALLY produces more?

I tested both container gardening methods side-by-side for an entire season using identical soil, potatoes, sunlight, and care. The results were shocking: 51 lbs from a trash bag vs 32 lbs from a laundry basket. This video breaks down the full experiment with real data, real yields, and practical lessons for small-space gardeners.

If you want to grow potatoes at home, maximize food security, and get the highest yield from container gardening, this comparison will help you choose the BEST method.

🌱 What You’ll Learn:
• Which method produces more potatoes: laundry basket or trash bag
• How progressive filling affects potato yields
• Water retention differences between containers
• Cost per pound comparison
• Setup time and ease of use
• Harvest results and storage quality
• Best method for beginners vs serious growers

🥔 Final Test Results:
• Trash Bag Yield: 51 lbs
• Laundry Basket Yield: 32 lbs
• Difference: 59% higher yield from trash bags
• Cost Per Pound:
• Trash Bag: $0.50/lb
• Laundry Basket: $0.63/lb

🏆 Final Verdict

Choose Trash Bags if you want:
• Maximum potato production
• Best return on investment
• Higher food security yields
• More progressive filling layers
• Less frequent watering
• Serious bulk growing

Choose Laundry Baskets if you want:
• The easiest beginner method
• Quick setup with no tools
• Faster, cleaner harvest
• Reusable containers
• Low-maintenance gardening

🎯 Who This Video Is For:
• Container gardeners
• Apartment and balcony growers
• Urban homesteaders
• Survival gardening enthusiasts
• Beginners learning to grow potatoes
• Budget gardeners
• Anyone comparing small-space gardening methods

💡 Key Takeaway:

Both methods work but if your goal is maximum yield and food independence, trash bags win. If your goal is simplicity and convenience, laundry baskets are better.
#PotatoGrowing #ContainerGardening #SmallSpaceGardening #UrbanHomesteading #TrashBagPotatoes #LaundryBasketPotatoes #GrowYourOwnFood #FoodSecurity #Homesteading #BudgetGardening

👍 Take Action:

If this experiment helped you, LIKE the video, SUBSCRIBE for more real garden tests, and COMMENT which method you’ll try first!

20 Comments

@Gardensolace Creator 1 month ago Pinned

I lined a basket with cardboard paper to grow potatoes and the result was mind blowing

20 Lbs of Potatoes From One Laundry Basket (The Cardboard Trick)
https://youtu.be/Db9EPSkvLns

@bergerfry5424 5 months ago

Would have liked SEEING a video of you harvesting the potatoes instead of the photos

@oldbutstillyoung2170 4 months ago

This is absolutely the best potato-planting video I've seen. Thank you!

@bobbrueckner7498 4 months ago

PROCESS MODIFICATION!
Use TWO laundry baskets.
Cut the bottom completly out of one, put it inside the other.
Plastic bag inside of that.
That way the modified basket can be raised as needed when adding soil.
During the initial filling holes can be punched in the bag for drainage.
This way you get the benefits of both ways of your system.

@patricktamber6149 7 months ago

I've grown my garden inside a trash bag inside a laundry basket for several years now.....i came up with the idea bcuz i was renting and didnt want issues with mgmt. As plants grew i could move them around in the baskets (need more sun, too big for the area etc). It works like a dream!! At tge end of the season, you dump your dirt in your yard, spread it out, and enrich the property. Grass next year comes up lush green. I own my home now so i can run amok.

@angelahalligan9306 4 months ago

I am acualy doing the trash bag method for my sweet potatoe slips 2026 spring. Can't wait to see my harvest

@sallygrantew4804 7 months ago (edited)

I used a taller laundry basket and could add more soil as plants reached 8 inches in height. Was easy to layer up.

@ForgottenHealingPlants 6 months ago

was genuinely shocked by the yield difference! It’s incredible that a 75-cent trash bag could produce 51 lbs of potatoes, nearly 60% more than the laundry basket. The progressive filling technique (adding soil as the plant grows) really shows its worth when you have that extra vertical space to create more production layers. Definitely choosing the trash bag for my main crop this year!

@RUNoutofBABYLON 7 months ago

Has anyone else noticed that the laundry basket keeps changing? From white to green to gray and even the type of basket? Some with handles and others without? Some round, others rectangular? This experiment started out well until he started showing the growth stages.... very interesting .

@Klediments 6 months ago

I use potato bags that I got from my garden center. I put them in the dollar store oil changer plastic containers...Works GREAT with those potatoes that are starting to mush. I keep starting new batches in my garage since it is winter and then finish them off outside. Easy peasy no hassle

@raamannair8072 2 months ago

You missed the important fact of surface area and difference is soil quantity between the two. That could explain the difference in yield.

@edwarddudgeon2519 4 months ago

Use hay to hold in soil. Baskets best for me. Extend top with card board. Hi from Australia.

@karla7225 6 months ago

People have done this for years... but once you're potat[es start to take root..don't move the trash bag..it tears the roots off. Lesson learned...

@Gramma-Lisa 6 months ago

I’m going to grow potatoes for my first time. I am trying the trash bag out. Wish m good growing!

@susanhennings5171 5 months ago

I will try the trash bag method. However, I am going to put the bag into a plastic laundry hamper/basket to give more support as the bag fills.

@HomeGrownVeg 7 months ago

Unbelievable! No small potatoes, no roots and all washed potatoes to boot. I'm surprised farmers aren't doing it this way.

@pennyfeddersen7395 5 months ago

I live in Arizona and we are pretty drought pruned down here so I would think that the water you saved by doing it in the trash bag is well worth the effort and the money.

@melindaeash7192 7 months ago

Try the experiment with tall laundry hampers. You can line them with shade cloth. Lets water drain, blocks light, reusable year after tear. I've had good luck with this method.I like the taller rectangular baskets. I've also used contractor bags in large cardboard boxes, such as appliance boxes. Poke holes from the inside thru bag and box, to allow drainage. Just tip to harvest on plastic or tarp to save and reuse soil and container.
Sane method works well for tomatoes.

@reindervantil2582 6 months ago

How about a jute bag in a laundry basket?

@lulabelle4760 6 months ago

I had a great potatoe harvest last year- Yukon and sweet potatoes in the same basket! Bought dollar store baskets, lined some with trash bags others with cardboard and had them on a table, behind the wood chip pile with all kinds of things to block the deer.