For those of you who want seed potatoes from the grocery store

If you buy a bag of Dole Red skins they will sprout. My Dad just called me he found some that he forgot about and they ALL had multiple sprouts on them. After a promise of prepping the bed he'll be planting them. Had I known I wouldn't have bought any and just planted those but I've already got my seed potatoes.

Thought Id pass the word on

A friend gave me a big bag of potatoes a couple years ago. They were russets and sprouting like crazy. They did not produce potatoes. Well, maybe 10 tiny ones (smaller than an egg). Not sure what the deal was. The next year I had purchased seed potatoes and had a bumper crop. I don't think you will be sorry you bought yours, Jared... God only knows what they do to those grocery store potatoes!

Some of what they do to those grocery store potatoes (Cornell, click): "Although most potato varieties are dormant for two to three months after harvest, they will eventually sprout even in long-term cold storage. Two chemical sprout inhibitors are available to lengthen the storage period. Maleic hydrazide is applied as a field spray on green foliage two to three weeks after the full bloom stage. This material is translocated to the tubers and helps prevent sprouting. Chlorpropham (CIPC) is applied as an aerosol through the air ventilation system of the storage facility or as a spray on tubers on the packing line."

Here's another something they do to supermarket potatoes and a quote from that Cornell webpage: A diluted solution of herbicide may even be applied during the growth stage, "To enhance skin color of red skinned varieties, apply 1.6 fluid ounces per acre in 5 to 25 gallons of water of Riverdale 2,4-D . . ."

Finally: "Chemical vine killing is used to aid in the harvest operation by desiccating potato vines and weeds and conditioning tubers to reduce bruising and skinning during harvest and handling."

Lesa, I'm a little surprised that your plants grew but then produced very poorly. Well, a little surprised - after all the abuse before and during storage . .

Steve

thanks for the info digitS. good post

I ran across this when I researched trying to plant my own harvested potatoes for a fall crop. The effort was a spectacular failure, one of the most complete failures Ive ever had in gardening. The article has some pictures that are interesting. I saw some of the potato no top in some from last year that I recently threw away.

I also learned that some pretty nasty chemicals are often used to break the dormancy of seed potatoes. I make it a point to never eat seed potatoes.


http://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2412e/

Physiological Age of Seed

The physiological age of seed is an important factor in choosing potato seed. Factors affecting the physiological age of tubers include growing season stress, storage temperature and time. Temperature is very important because warmer storage temperatures will speed the aging process of the tubers. Since precutting seed also ages the seed physiologically, it helps to understand the stages of aging.

To determine the physiological age of seed potatoes, gather a sample, place them indoors and allow them to sprout. Observe the sprouts that come from the sample to determine the physiological age of the seed. There are distinct stages through which potato seed passes.


Physiological Age of Seed
Dormant Seed:

If the potatoes do not sprout at all, they may still be in a period of dormancy. Most potatoes undergo a dormant or resting period. The length of dormancy varies with the variety. There are chemical and nonchemical means to break or greatly reduce the dormancy period.

Young Seed:

Young seed is characterized by apical dominance. Young seed will have one or just a few sprouts. These sprouts emerge from eyes on the apical or bud end of the tuber. There is a strong, internal inhibitor that keeps eyes on the center and stem end of the tuber from sprouting. Eyes distant from the apical end may never sprout. Young seed will produce a plant with few stems. A low stem number leads to a low tuber set. Larger, but fewer, tubers would be expected from young seed.

Middle-aged Seed:

Middle-aged seed will have multiple sprouts. All the eyes on the potato could sprout. There is no clear apical dominance; eyes from the bud end, the middle and the stem end will sprout. Middle-aged seed produces plants with multiple stems that lead to high tuber sets.

Old Seed:

Old seed will have branched sprouts that can appear hairy. These sprouts are weak, and they will not produce a vigorous plant. Typically, plants from old seed will produce high tuber sets, but the plants lack the vigor to bulk the tubers to a desirable size.

Potato No Top:

Seed can be so old that small tubers form on the sprouts once they emerge from the eyes. Potato No Top is the name given to this disorder of extremely old seed. Seed with Potato No Top disorder should not be used. Any stress during the growing season produces potatoes that are physiologically older than those grown without stresses.

Good to know and Ill tell him not to bother then. It took some convincing to get him to even think about planting potatoes (he was worried they couldn't eat them all) I've got 12lbs of seed potatoes going in the ground here shortly. 5lbs each of both a red skin and a russet, and 2lbs of purples.

The purples are specifically for Thanksgiving when all the nieces and nephews come over, figure they'll have fun eating purple mashed potatoes.

Thanks Ridgerunner and digitS, that was very pertinent info. I found the physiological ages of potatoes fascinating, who knew the humble spud was so complex?
I'm looking forward to planting some middle aged potatoes soon.

Jared77 said:

Good to know and Ill tell him not to bother then. It took some convincing to get him to even think about planting potatoes (he was worried they couldn't eat them all) I've got 12lbs of seed potatoes going in the ground here shortly. 5lbs each of both a red skin and a russet, and 2lbs of purples.

The purples are specifically for Thanksgiving when all the nieces and nephews come over, figure they'll have fun eating purple mashed potatoes.

Click to expand...

Is there a purple that actually stays purple when cooked? All the purple potatoes I have tried turn white when cooked.

Ariel301 said:

Jared77 said:

Good to know and Ill tell him not to bother then. It took some convincing to get him to even think about planting potatoes (he was worried they couldn't eat them all) I've got 12lbs of seed potatoes going in the ground here shortly. 5lbs each of both a red skin and a russet, and 2lbs of purples.

The purples are specifically for Thanksgiving when all the nieces and nephews come over, figure they'll have fun eating purple mashed potatoes.

Click to expand...

Is there a purple that actually stays purple when cooked? All the purple potatoes I have tried turn white when cooked.

Click to expand...

Purple Majesty does.

Mine are Adirondack Blues Ive never grown purple potatoes, or potatoes at all before this year so I figured Id give it a try. I didn't order them from there I bought them locally. I had my daughter with me when I went to buy my seed potatoes and they told me that their grandchildren LOVE that they can get purple mashed potatoes on the holidays and that was the type they grew. So I bought 2lbs and figured Id give it a try.