Getting ready to plant potatoes! And some thoughts on true potato seeds.
Our potatoes made it through the winter! And despite being in warmer than ideal conditions they are doing pretty good. Those are some potatoes I'll be proud to plant again this year :) They already started sprouting in the dark room where we kept them. I won't take credit for the chitting. They potatoes know what they are doing.
On the left are Peruvian Purple potatoes that were started from a dozen or less seed potatoes we purchased last year. It was hard not to eat them all this winter! If all goes well we have have plenty to eat next fall and winter!
On the right are a mixture of Kennewick, Yukon Gold and Russet that we got mixed up. They were given to us by a friend in Washington to eat through the winter, two winters ago. His generosity left us more potatoes than we needed so we planted them last year.
Its funny that potatoes that are sold or save to plant are called seed potatoes, even though they are clones and not seeds. But potatoes actually produce small fruits above the ground that contain seeds. Those seeds are called true potato seeds. Even though true potato seeds don't breed true to seed. I think its confusing.
Anyway, my long term plan is to grow true potato seeds out so that I am not only planting clones every year. I have some heirloom true potato seeds but I am not sure if this is the year yet, I haven't decided yet because I am imagining our bed space is going to be pretty tight with everything we have planned - but I need to soon. Now that I am typing out loud, I am thinking I will try a small amount and learn from the process this season.
My reasons for wanting to grow potatoes from true potato seed:
- I think the potato crops will have a chance to be stronger and more resilient than growing clones year after year.
- If my main potato crop fails to frost, pest, storage or any other number of reasons I have a seed backup that is much smaller, portable, easier to store and much less perishable.
- True potato seeds are much less likely to carry diseases like potatoes can.
- I'd like to establish a potato grex for genetic diversity, strength, resiliency and can only do that by breeding true potato seed.
Why only plant clones? Why worry if seeds don't produce true!? Do you really want the same exact potato every day of your life?
Isn't diversity the spice of life? This is the same reason I am growing apples and pears from seed. To embrace pollination, to embrace genetic diversity, and to let go of some control in my garden. How nice to allow the potatoes to express themselves!
If this topic is interesting to you, you will probably enjoy this read: http://garden.lofthouse.com/botanical-potato-seed.phtml
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It will be interesting to know how you'll be testing for solanine and other glycoalkaloids in your new potato varieties. Solanine is bitter, but in the commercial trade, breeders have to test their new varieties before they can release them. There's such a tradeoff between pest resistance and glycoalkaloid content. But high solanine content keeps many new varieties from being released. And concentrations can change within a variety as the spuds mature or age in storage, so the tests happen under a range of conditions. It will be exciting to see what you get from your true seeds!
Hey Thank you very much for this info @haphazard-hstead. I had never heard of potatoes being bitter or with high solanine content if grown from seed. This is good to know ahead of time. Yes it will be interesting to see what happens! I wonder how common it is in concentrations that are toxic or unpalatable.
Great info on the potato. I love planting a few each year and I am amazed at how earthy the fresh potatoes are compared to that which you buy from the store. My soil makes them so tasty.
Yeah! I love fresh home grown potatoes too! :)
You have some valid points there. We always plant potatoes, never seeds. It works for us, although we only plant a small quantity.
Can you please tell me why are those potatoes on the right cut in half? Are you planting them cut as they are on the photo?
The potatoes are cut to get more planting stock from some of the larger potatoes. They say at least 2-3 eyes on each piece is a good minimum. After they are cut you can let them heal for a day or two so that they are not planted wet. This is said to reduce chance of disease/rot but some people say it doesn't matter if they are healed before they are planted or not. I tend to think it doesn't matter too much if the soil isn't too soggy and it is healthy soil.
This is interesting. I've never seen it before but I have to try it out. We usually keep the small potatoes for planting and eat the rest but of course, this is a practical solution.
Thank you for explaining this to me and have a nice weekend!
I really like that! It makes a lot of sense! I wonder if the smaller potatoes also store better.
I just planted Purple Peruvian potatoes today and most of them are pretty small so I didn't bother cutting any of them.
Actually, we select them when harvesting. The small ones go separately and put aside for seeds.
Interesting, maybe some of the plants could cross-pollinate and create species that adapt to your environment! How are you planting yours?
Never knew about the potato seeds, just figured you could grow them from the potato sprouts. Thanks for sharing, keep us updated on the potato journey.
Well so far I've put out some of the potato seeds into trays to germinate like I do with tomato seeds. If they germinate and get big enough I will transplant them like transplanting a tomato plant. I am a little late to sow the seeds this season, but likely we'll have a long season so we'll see how it goes.
One sweet things about long growing seasons is the ability to experiment! I hope those germ well for you and are strong little transplants with fertile roots!
You've been visited by @thistle-rock from Homesteaders Co-op.
I do so love growing potatoes, I feel so rewarded when I receive a large crop, but it is always hit and miss for me depending upon how soon I can get them in and whether or not I actively hill them. Abundant varieties make for tasty meals!
Now I am interested to collect the seeds and start from true!
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It sure is a learning curve to get the timing of the hilling right! What is your technique? I am reading that 6" of leaves showing is a good time to hill up.
"Warmer than ideal conditions" made me chuckle... I will be planting potatoes here in Thailand late April, when it's rarely below 90F. LOL. They grow FAST here. And need a special drainage system to manage monsoonal rain. I am a very tenacious gardener. 🌱💚
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LOL!! well idyllwild liked to keep our house around 80-90F last winter with our wood stove. So we put our food and potatoes/onions/garlic in a back room and closed the door to keep it cooler.. even still it is warmer than ideal. From what I understand in Thailand you don't have to store food because it grows year round?
Everything grows all year round. Food storage other than rice totally not necessary or smart... MOLD & more bugs than you have ever seen in your life. 🐜🕷🦂🤣🤣🤣
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Never knew that about the seeds.
Because I don't have a proper root cellar, my potatoes all sprouted really early on this year. but there's a REAL root cellar on the new house plans. :))
Root cellar would be amazing!! How exciting :)
Old timers practice I've heard about in the villages in our country. Leave a few plants to go to seed and dry. Bury the "seed pods" in a marked spot. Next year come fall, dig out tiny potatoes that grow out of the seeds. Plant those the year after that.
Never tried that myself, however :)
But it begs the question, if a potato is pollinated by a potato of the same variety, how much more different the offspring could be?
Hey thanks for sharing that old timers practice. That sounds like a simple approach!
I need to do more research but from what I understand heirloom potatoes can cross pollinate and so crossing would allow more genetics to express themselves. I am growing seeds from a handful of varieties that are already crossed, but I imagine if it is even the same variety there would be some interesting expression possible that you would never get from clones. Maybe your old timers' seeds are a land race that was never bottle necked?
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