seed potatoes vs shop bought ones sprouting in the cupboard

[khitajrah]

I read somewhere that you should only plant seed potatoes and not use the ones that are growing in the cupboard. Does anyone know if this is true and if so, why it is true? My J.K. Mainlands' Maris Pipers are sprouting like mad and I'm thinking of planting some of them. Also, when, um, should they be planted? Now-ish? Or wait awhile?

[Fjool]

I heard that it was due to viruses and other potato afflictions which could spread and ruin your crop. Not certain on this though.

[paulb]

the idea was to get your seed potatoes from further north than you were. thus less blight/canker or whatever it was. as were really as far north as we can get then as long as the potatoes are clear they should be ok.

[Keedle]

We planted two bags fae Whiteness shop and got a huge crop last year . They lasted us into March this year . Going to do same this year !

[Guest posiedon]

As Fjool said, the only difference is the seed tatties are certified disease free, I can't see what odds it makes as your shop bought tatties will have come from certified stock anyway.

I grew rooster last year from shop bought tatties and got an excellent crop.

[as]

Unfortunately though some of the locally grown tatties are def not desease free. From certified stock they might have been when planted but they picked up nasties during their growing cycle. Have a very close look at what you peel for the dinner table, the tell tale signs are there and that's why I never use dinner tatties for seed. The risk of infecting your land are to big for my liking, esp where blight is concerned.

[khitajrah]

What are the tell-tale signs? I'm planting them in stacks of tyres so if one batch got spoiled by something it would be unlikely to transfer anywhere else, no? I'm very new at this tattie growing thing.

[as]

As we have just finished our homegrown crop I was forced to buy shop tatties recently and had a batch of tatties which def suffered from blight. The tatties had grey patches on the surface and below the skin were reddish brown. It means that the blight spores from the foliage had reached the tubers. Blight is a very serious desease and can spread fast on the wind infecting other peoples crops. It pays to be vigilant and inspecting your growing tatties regularly and acting quickly.

 

I have also had shop bought tatties suffering from variuos form of scab.

 

And the thing which most annoys me is the fact that a lot of tatties had not been earthed up properly.

 

In fact, there are "losses" out of nearly every bag bought, so this year I will be growing enough tatties to feed ourselves so we don't have to buy any!

 

If you decide to use shop tatties for seed inspect them very closely and only use the ones which are absolutely blemish free.

 

It also pays to spend a few Quid on a good veg growing book. Most will give illustrations of desease to help identify problems and nipping them in the bud before you end up with a full scale outbreak of nasties.

[mainlander]

My other half usually buys seed potatoes, but has sometimes planted ones we have bought that have sprouted and had no trouble with them. Sounds like he has probably been lucky, though.

[Heimdal]

Reading this reminds me of a long dead uncle who lived in Edinburgh during WW2. Food was in such short supply that it was inconceivable to use a whole tattie for seed.

What he did, when peeling tatties, was to cut the skin off a bit thicker under the 'eye' of the tattie. He was successful growing enough in this way in his allotment to keep his family going over the winters of the war.

Difficult for us nowadays to realise just how short of food the nation was then, although here, in Shetland, we were not so badly off as the mainland cities.

Thread drift here...

Even after the war, food for the millions was scarce and many Skarfs were shot here and sent south ( most probably to 'Bookless Brothers', Glasgow) [ask your grandfather] ; a pal of my father, when out shooting skarfs also shot a gannet (by mistake, he said); anyway it was stuffed in the same bag as the skarfs and sent off.

A few days later, he received a telegram ( remember them ?) with just three words..

"Send more Geese".

[ghufar]

Hi

 

As a fairly novice gardener I was thinking of planting a varieties of potatoes in deep pots - I was thinking of using seed potatoes but perhaps someone can advice otherwise. Its just for my own domestic use.

 

The discussion so far is pretty inconclusive...

 

Ghufar

[shetlandpeat]

Don't just bury them. In pots or bags you plant them in about 5" in the botton. As they grow you continue to top em up with soil till about 4" from top and let em go.

From looking at some seed pots I have, and some in the bottom of the cupboard, the only conclusions is that the seed pot comes from a source that is not used initially for food. They have many eyes and are small. But, there is no reason why any other small pot cannot be used. Remove all but the strongest growths, you can cut the pot to make two seperate pots. They need to be well drained and well watered, it can be a good idea to insulat the pots from the wind.

That is my experience, hope it helps.

Oh, I think some of the pots in the shops may have been modified genetically, seed pots probably too but to give you a harvest. You could try organic I suppose, I think I may test that idea myself.

[as]

I wondered how long it would take until somebody mentioned cutting out-ouf-date-supermarket-spuds-in-half? But if it works for you - fine!

The fact that certified seed potatoes are g.m. is news to me, thanks for sharing that insight. It certainly does not mention it on the package. Must ask the seller tomorrow, I bet they will be pleased to hear that!

Each to their own I suppose....

Has it never occured to you that seed potatoes should be chitted in a light, frost-free place and not in the bottom of a cupboard? Removing all but the strongest growth is valueable advice, too.

I can't emphasize enough for any veggy virgins to get a decent book and read it before they believe in old-wives -tales.

Inconclusive discussion? Not as far as I am concerned.

[MJ]

Oh, I think some of the pots in the shops may have been modified genetically, seed pots probably too but to give you a harvest.

Wow your tattie suppliers are fast workers the only GM tattie got approval from the EU in March. Wasn't aware of a licence ever being issued in the UK.

Remember to keep your GM tatties away from livestock as they're still not sure if it passes on it's immunity to antibiotics.

[shetlandpeat]

Genetic modification can be as simple as selecting the plants with the most flowers and breeding them, don't always mean lab stuff. How did they make some potatoes more resistant to blight?