seed potatoes

[Gonzo & The Peeps]

I got my seed potatoes from the co-op, and they don't have the little white eyes sprouting, I kept them in the paper bag, and put them in a dark place, am I doing the right thing?

 

[vfem]

Nope... they are ready to plant as is. You DON'T want those eyes sprout inside... that will happen correctly under the soil.

It should be about to plant too!

 

[lupinfarm]

Interesting because when I bought my seed taters last year they had tubers on them and did great, provided lots of yummy taters, etc.

Hmm..

 

[simple life]

I would do what you are doing with the paper bag, I am doing that now with a few of them in the pantry.
Mine usually have the start of the little eyes when they send them and if they don't or are not sprouted enough they tell you to warm them for a couple of weeks until they get the eyes.
The directions I get every year with my order tells me if I am going to cut my seed potatoes in pieces to make sure there are eyes on each piece.
If they don't have the eyes and the soil is not consistently warm they will take a longer time to sprout eyes on their own as opposed to getting them going in the house where you can keep them dark and warm.
I had never heard of not wanting eyes on them, what would be the reason for that?

 

[Greenthumb18]

I'm a little confused, aren't the seed potatoes suppose to get eyes before planting? I always made sure i planted potatoes with eyes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm a little confused, aren't the seed potatoes suppose to get eyes before planting? I always made sure i planted potatoes with eyes.

The eyes are the dimples the white sprouts come out of. Sounds like there might be some confusion in terminology.

This article does not address pre-sprouting directly, but it talks about how it is recommended for the professionals to prepare the seed potatoes in Maine.

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/2412.pdf

Last summer I was trying to find out how to replant my freshly harvested potatoes to get a fall harvest for better storage and got this article. It did not help me with that question but I thought it was a decent read.

I was totally unsuccessful in replanting my freshly harvested Kennebek and Red Pontiac potatoes, although I tried all the physical ways to break their dormancy I could come up with. The best my research could come up with, the potatoes need to be stored a certain time and then either cut and stored as this article states or fumigated with some pretty nasty chemicals. My strategy this year is to buy some potatoes from a "natural foods" store in June and see if they will sprout in time for a late July planting. I did plant some store-bought russets last year that sprouted but they did not do very well. May have been their physiological age. Maybe this way I can better control the physiological age.

I would not eat seed potatoes. Odds are they have been treated with some pretty nasty chemicals to break their dormancy before they were shipped.

 

[lupinfarm]

I'm a little confused, aren't the seed potatoes suppose to get eyes before planting? I always made sure i planted potatoes with eyes.

The eyes are the dimples the white sprouts come out of. Sounds like there might be some confusion in terminology.

This article does not address pre-sprouting directly, but it talks about how it is recommended for the professionals to prepare the seed potatoes in Maine.

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/2412.pdf

Last summer I was trying to find out how to replant my freshly harvested potatoes to get a fall harvest for better storage and got this article. It did not help me with that question but I thought it was a decent read.

I was totally unsuccessful in replanting my freshly harvested Kennebek and Red Pontiac potatoes, although I tried all the physical ways to break their dormancy I could come up with. The best my research could come up with, the potatoes need to be stored a certain time and then either cut and stored as this article states or fumigated with some pretty nasty chemicals. My strategy this year is to buy some potatoes from a "natural foods" store in June and see if they will sprout in time for a late July planting. I did plant some store-bought russets last year that sprouted but they did not do very well. May have been their physiological age. Maybe this way I can better control the physiological age.

I would not eat seed potatoes. Odds are they have been treated with some pretty nasty chemicals to break their dormancy before they were shipped.

When I put my eating potatoes (from costco lol, they're Russets) in our under the stairs cabinet, its usually like 2 weeks before they sprout the white tubers...

Eeep, I'm planning on trying some of them this year in the garden.

 

[boggybranch]

Letting the eyes sprout or "pop" is called chitting. The Brits always "chit" their taters before planting.
I bought seed taters and I had a few taters, from the grocery store, that had been sitting on the counter and had pretty good sprouts growing. I planted the bought seed taters (with just the eyes...no sprouts) and the sprouted grocery store taters at the same time. The 'chitted" taters are up and growing "to beat the band" and the store bought seed taters have yet to emerge.

 

[vfem]

That's so weird. When I was talking to them at the gardening center they told me there was no reason to start/sprout the potato seeds. If they had eyes they sprout on their own.

I thought just making sure they had eyes to sprout was all you needed.

 

[boggybranch]

That's so weird. When I was talking to them at the gardening center they told me there was no reason to start/sprout the potato seeds. If they had eyes they sprout on their own.

I thought just making sure they had eyes to sprout was all you needed.

I know several gardeners who will, actually, break off the sprouts before planting the taters. Must be a cultural thing. That's why I like to research the way other countries do the "gardening thang". Some things that appear to be a gardening "taboo" in one country is totally done, with great results, in others.
Learnin stuff....always trying.