how to store seed potatoes to plant in summer

[vegelady]

Hi
My seed potatoes arrived yesterday (first and second earlies) and I ordered twice the quantity so I can replant the containers when first lot harvested, but can anyone advise the best place/way to store my seed potatoes until July as I have never grown them before. I have read about how to plant up one container a fortnight all through summer and sounds good to me!
thanks
Alison

[Aberdeenplotter]

basically you need to put your potatoes into a state of suspended animation. The only way I can suggest you do this is to keep them refrigerated.

[Kristen]

Have you got room in the fridge? I think that should be OK

Whilst not recommending it I have left seed potatoes chitting on a windowsill in a centrally heated room for 6 months. The tubers shrivel right down, but are still active - so would probably grow (particularly if you kept them cooler - although that will be difficult the nearer to July we get. (I didn't actually plant mine so can't tell you how they would have done I'm afraid)

[vegelady]

thank you, I do have space in the fridge so think will pop them in there in a black bag.
best wishes
Alison

[Kristen]

in a black bag.

Don't let them sweat though and best to examine them once a week or so

Don't let them freeze (frost ruins potatoes as well as their foliage ) - so perhaps not right next to the freezing element.

[chris]

I bung mine in the salad drawer, and when that's full I stick them in an internal garage-converted room that's not used for anything, witht he heating off. Very cold in the there, but frost free I store mine in the mesh bags they come in so they can't sweat/rot - but often check them as above.

[vegelady]

thats great thanks, in the salad drawer in the fridge, no plastic bag and check regularly!

[Aberdeenplotter]

And nextyear,bear in mind that some of the seed companies actually sell seed potatoes for a later crop including potatoes for cropping at xmas. They have all the hassle of storage.

[chris]

You can store in plastic bags, I'm just idle and can't be bothered to split the mesh bags

Don't forget your fridge is dark when the door is shut (light is off), so they don't really need to be in black plastic. Loose in the drawer is fine. That said, if you chit them at the same time (or perhaps staggered) you'll give them an advantage of getting started faster for your 2nd crop. However, there are arguments either way for chitting. I managed to squeeze xmas spuds in, in August I think with a week's chit. Pulled them up 2 weeks before xmas (in the greenhouse, mind).

[Alison]

And nextyear,bear in mind that some of the seed companies actually sell seed potatoes for a later crop including potatoes for cropping at xmas. They have all the hassle of storage.

Yes but then you'll have to pay postage twice so if you have room to store (and it's not like people usually plant many for Christmas) then it's the best way of doing it.

[Kristen]

Seed potatoes for Xmas tend to be more expensive too (they have had to store them, plus I imagine its a small novelty trade, so harder to tool-up for. plus the postage, as you say.

I've got some Xmas ones that are still chitting on the windowsill - I planted all I wanted to and was humming-and-hawing about whether to find some more containers ... so I'll try planting them with the this-year ones and report back in June when I can do a harvest comparison

[solway cropper]

Once you let them get started chitting it's very difficult to stop them, even in a fridge. Last year I put some surplus that had woken from their dormancy in the fridge and when I looked a month later they had very long white spindly shoots. This year I bunged them in as soon as they arrived from JBA.

what I've been doing:the recycled gardener

[rana]

I have kept seed potatoes in the fridge salad drawer for a year. Although a bit shrivelled they performed as normal when finally required to chit.