Plant whole- or cut up????

[Nicos]

So- how do you plant your spuds??
I've always planted salad spuds or 1st earlies and never cut mine up ( they're pretty small to start with)

However I've noticed loads of the 'oldies' cut their spuds into 3 or 4 before planting them and are shocked at the waste of us planting whole spuds!...and their final produce as much the same as ours in weight!

So..what do you do - and why??...and to what variety???

[Alison]

I planted most of mine whole but where I wanted a couple of extras to make up full rows then I cut some in half making sure that there were eyes on both sides of the cut.

[jacob marley]

I must be classed as a oldie if they are big cut them i always do making sure that you have a eye and plant them as you cut them then they do not dry out .
My mate gave me some Nicola last year that he had got fed up with big one's i cut some of them into four's and every one grew and it was a fair crop.
If you are buying seed spud's by weight always pick the smaller ones but if you are buying by the spud ie-Ryton potato days get the biggest and cut them....jacob

[teakdesk]

I planted a peeling last night - with one sprout on it - and ate the rest of the potato like they did during the war..... fingers crossed!!!

[Flummery]

I only plant earlies anyway and they are a bit small to be chopping up. There is also the possibility of letting disease into the cut. If I had some massive maincrops I might - but I don't so I don't!

[Snadger]

I only plant earlies anyway and they are a bit small to be chopping up. There is also the possibility of letting disease into the cut. If I had some massive maincrops I might - but I don't so I don't!

Here's another experiment Flum .......to carry on the theme of Duronals real potato seed................just plant an actual 'eye' of the spud? You could get half a dozen tattie plants from one tuber that way!

Anyone tried it?

[Duronal]

I'm sure i read a post that suggested that potato peeling can sprout and produce shoots in compost. Maybe i've gone mad though....

[FionaH]

I'm sure i read a post that suggested that potato peeling can sprout and produce shoots in compost. Maybe i've gone mad though....

Youre not mad, you did read it, and yes they can
Ive got bigger plants in my compost bin than I have in my plot!

[bubblewrap]

I have had potato plants growing in my compost bin too!

[Flummery]

Here's another experiment Flum .......to carry on the theme of Duronals real potato seed................just plant an actual 'eye' of the spud? You could get half a dozen tattie plants from one tuber that way!

Anyone tried it?

Ah, but that's not an experiment - people do it and it's another clone just like using a seed potato. The excitement of the true seed is that you don't know what you'll get!

[teakdesk]

I planted a peeling last night - with one sprout on it - and ate the rest of the potato like they did during the war..... fingers crossed!!!

I'm sure i read a post that suggested that potato peeling can sprout and produce shoots in compost. Maybe i've gone mad though....

Yup, they do.... it was a common method of growing potatoes without wasting precious food during the war. I'm trying it to see just how many spuds I get !!!!

A peeling with one sprout from last sunday's roast spuds put into an inch of compost (I'm keeping the compost moister than I would with a whole seed potato - nothing showing yet )