Many of you have contributed to several threads regarding potato fruits and the collecting of potato seed. Many of which can be found below.


As for the actual growing of potatoes from seed some people wanted instructions so here's my account on this years potato experiment.


I harvested seed at the end of 07 by picking off the potato fruits from some king edwards and leaving them to ripen indoors (turn black) When the fruits were ripe i scooped the seeds out onto a kitchen towel and left to dry. Following this they were scraped into a manila envelope and left for 6 months.

I sowed the seeds just prior to Easter this year (march) in fine drills of multipurpose compost and left them to germinate in my cold frame. Within 14days 80% of the seeds had germinated but i lost 6-8 seedlings to slugs in the 1st week. Consequently i pricked out the remaining seedlings into 6" pots of multipurpose and left them to develop. When things were starting to look a little cramped i repotted the plants into deep 10" pots of more multipurpose but planted each seedling quite deep so that only the top leaves were visible.

As for the post care treatment these plants have largely been neglected. I have been careful not to let them dry out but that's it,

Due to my absolute fear of potato/tomato blight this year i decided to harvest all my potatoes early to ensure that there was a reduced chance of spreading blight to my tomatoes (20 odd plants). I had no idea if I would find tublets or potatoes of an edible size and i have to admit that the results have been a great suprise.




1 Kilo of potatoes the potatoes in question are firm with increadily smooth skin and nice yellow flesh i'm just dying to eat them!

What i'm most amazed aboutis that these potatoes have had no extra care and also they were grown in small pots. I hope to continue this experment next year with multiple plants in a large bag and also to compare the results of regular feeding.

So we now know that it can be done.....so who is interested in having a larger scale experiment next season?

That's interesting...

I have some new raised beds that I filled with Rowlawn blended loam. It's suposed to be screened (which I took to mean sterilized) but I got loads of tiny potato seedlings popping up (presumably from seed) I left a few and sure enough they produced small crops of perfect tatties

With your spuds grown from seed, Duronal - if you gat one you particularly like the look of, don't cook them all at once. Save one or two and if they turn out brilliant, put those in your salad drawer in the fridge and plant them next year. You then have your own strain of seed potato that will come up the same each year. (The trick is stopping people eating the spuds in the salad drawer!)

Wow! I thought it would take ages to get a crop from a little seed rather than a seed spud!! Hope some of my spuds form fruits now so I can give it a try

Excellent news! I have saved about 8 of the fruits so far and they're ripening in the shed and on a plate in the dining room (!). Look forward to growing them next year. I may even experiment and seed one over the winter, indoors. Hopefully I'll be a very smug Sluglobber in the Spring!!

It was interesting to see how you got on - thanks for posting.

Yes, Duronal - Many Thanks for that snapshot of your 2007-8 efforts.

It will serve as an excellent guideline for those of us trying the same next year.

Your crop looks delicious as well!

I've also PM'd pigletwillie regarding the possibility of getting a 'Special Projects' category to keep this kind of thing together - so it will be easier to find and refer to ourselves and also for newcomers having a bash.

Good stuff Duronal!

I wonder why you can't buy potato seeds from a seed merchant much as you would any other seed ?

I also wonder if you plant three to five seeds together, will this simulate potato growth utilising tubers with multiple eyes and give an increased crop?

It was on the cards last year but I never got round to it.................. but I'll deffo be having a go this year!

Originally Posted by Snadger

Good stuff Duronal!

I wonder why you can't buy potato seeds from a seed merchant much as you would any other seed ?

I also wonder if you plant three to five seeds together, will this simulate potato growth utilising tubers with multiple eyes and give an increased crop?

It was on the cards last year but I never got round to it.................. but I'll deffo be having a go this year!

At one time there was 'true potato seed' sold by Thompson and Morgan, but it said in the catalogue that it wasn't available in the EEC (shows how long ago that was). I presume it was due to the potential variability? The variety they had was Desiree.

Originally Posted by Hilary B

At one time there was 'true potato seed' sold by Thompson and Morgan, but it said in the catalogue that it wasn't available in the EEC (shows how long ago that was). I presume it was due to the potential variability? The variety they had was Desiree.

It would be expensive then because I remember reading that Desiree had Duke of York in its heritage which would make it a hybrid!

As it happens Diseree is my favourite maincrop and Duke of York my favourite early and my Diseree are in full flower at the moment with a few potato fruits already on my Duke of York!

Just - wow!

What i found most interesting is that these plants were pretty small and yet produced very reasonable crops for a minimal effort.

I found this quite interesting as it talks about growing conditions and yields.

1 Ton of Potatoes - AllotmentTV.co.uk

But i wonder if we couldn't manage to grow our own grapevine variety, I'm sure someone said that they grew blue potatoes and were saving the seed from fruit this year........i just can't remember who it was.

Duronal - it was I, quark - I PM'd you a day or so back as I saw you were interested in seed on another thread.

As the house 'expert' I thought it only fair to save a set of 2 fruits for you - if you're interested? - and invite you to input your expertise - which you have done - Ta.

Just let me have your address details and I'll get them off to you!

Just had a look through google and you CAN get true potato seed!

Potato Seed - Catalina Potato

none of my first earlies gave me any seed....have maincrop with loads of flowers on now..hope i can get some seed off them to try...