Potato Plant Questions

[dargo]

Does anyone produce there own potato seeds? I want to try my hand at making my own line of potatos, nothing seriouse just a bit of fun and learning for me. I need to know but cant really find an awnser..... when I plant a potato seed (the seed from the berry that grows on a pollenated potato plant and looks like a little tomato) how long does it take to grow and produce potato seeds (the little tubers that we plant out to get our big potato crops) & when would I plant the seeds out?

 

[resinryder]

To be honest I've never seen a potato "seed"
What I have seen is seed potatoes which is a chunk of potato that has eye's on it. Every year we used to keep potato's in the cellar that we would let the eye's grow out on so we could plant them the next year. We'd simply cut off a chunk of the potato that had an eye on it that had grown out, throw it in the hill, cover it over and shortly a new plant would appear.
Was raised on and around farms and never saw a farmer or gardener let their crop go to seed. If there's another way I'd like to see it as well.
BTW, one thing we did find extremely important was to wrap a piece of tissue around the potato chunk before planting it.

 

[dargo]

I allways thought the same thing, but talking to the farmer he told me that potato plants when pollenated produce berrys (like cherry tomatos, but there poisonous) full of seeds, you plant these seeds and a little potato plant grows with little potatos which are the potato seed that you buy from gardening center or wherever and plant out to get your potato crop.

I want to try crossing my blue potato with something bigger and this is how you have to do, he also said that most potatos you buy from the supermarket have been treated so that they dont produce berrys so you cant get seeds off them.

So the potato life cycle can be.... potato > potato plant > potato > potato plant and so on, or....... seed > plant > potato seed > potato plant > potato

I just found this information online......

TPS or True Potato Seeds. Now these are hard to come by. It is almost unheard of that a collection contains True Potato Seed and if something happens in today's society and you cannot find seed potatoes at the local market or feed store you may not see potatoes the rest of your life. If you have True Potato Seeds that becomes a different story.

'TPS-true potato seed-is harvested from the berries that grow among the foliage of potato plants. An average plant produces dozens of berries, each of which contains hundreds of tiny seeds. Similar in appearance to tomato seed, TPS is usually sown in seedbeds three or four weeks prior to the potato planting season. The plants in the beds produce small tubers, sometimes called tuberlets, which farmers plant in the field much as they would conventional seed tubers.

This practice sidesteps much of the drudgery involved in handling heavy seed tubes, provides farmers with vigorous disease-free seed, and eliminates the need to store part of the previous year's crop for following year's planting. Many of the production problems that potato farmers experience result from the deterioration of the seed tubers they save for planting, storing them for eight to nine months in inadequate storage facilities.

 

[Hazy Lady]

Here they are dargo.
Edit, I didn't see your's, I skimmed over thinking they were toms, oh well

 

[resinryder]

Well I'll be danged. I've never seen them do that before but I guess it could be because we never let them stay in the ground long enough for them to produce seeds like the ones shown. Learned and have seen something new today. Thanks for the insight!

 

[dargo]

Here they are dargo.
Edit, I didn't see your's, I skimmed over thinking they were toms, oh well

thanks, its a better photo as I can see where they are going to grow from. how you been anyway?

Well I'll be danged. I've never seen them do that before but I guess it could be because we never let them stay in the ground long enough for them to produce seeds like the ones shown. Learned and have seen something new today. Thanks for the insight!

How long do you leave your in the ground? I allways leave mine untill the plant is well and truely dead and then some, I never seen them before but alot of the potatos I grow started life in a supermarket so could have been treated, Im really hoping for some on my blue potato plant

 

[Hazy Lady]

I am well dargo, thanks for asking , hope things are good for you and yours. Hiya Resin

 

[dargo]

all the flowers on my potato plants fell off with no seed pod things for me

 

[s13sr20det]

same here

 

[dargo]

The bloke I been working for has loads of different varietys of potatos on the grow, he said he has seen the seed pod things on a few of his and that he will save me any he gets this year

 

[AcroPhobic]

Interesting .. i just cut off the "eyes" on potatoes and let those grow out. My grandmother taught me that.

 

[dargo]

il be trying that next year, less chance of a rotten crop! I had a few manky potatos this year caused by the main tuber the plant was growing from going to mush. I think they was just to big, but I got plenty of good potatos.

 

[gronko]

We have potatoes too. We generally just chuck the potato that has little eyes growing out of it straight into the ground. Then harvest when all the top foliage has died off and gone brown.

Just today i saw a lil green potato peeking through the soil...

potatoes are awesome!

Interesting .. i just cut off the "eyes" on potatoes and let those grow out. My grandmother taught me that.

 

[rexamus616]

Certain varieties seem to not want to set flower.

Don't despair... try some "heirloom" varieties... or find some native seed.



Supposedly, you get the seed out (after your fruit has ripened and become soft) and dry it, then sow it, and you'll get a tiny tuber, which will go on to produce a plant of reasonable (hopefully) size.



Potatoes were the first plant I ever grew. Mum showed me when I was like 5 or something.... we dug a hole and put a few potatoes in it, then a few months later there were a whole bunch of potatoes underground!

Bloody marvelous.