Duronal's Potatoes from Seed Experiment '08 and into '09

[quark1]

A few of the Salad Blues I started on 7th Feb have popped through - left on small pieces of kitchen paper - indoors in heated living area. Did inadvertantly swamp them a bit too much with water - but they've survived.

Nothing yet doing with the Roosters started at the same time.

Just a germination test really - but its good to know that the SBs I sent out seem to be viable if not prolific! Everyone who had fruits from me had a single off 2 separate plants to hedge the bets. A couple of others who may have received later seeds would have received on kitchen paper - just cut up into pieces containg 3-5 seeds.

Will start the intended/larger - set in next 2 weeks - this will be for eating (hopefully!).

Did save a few tubers from SBs, Sarpo Uno and Vivaldi.

[Flummery]

Not in yet Duronal. I'm planning to leave most things till March.

[Duronal]

To test the above germination theory i planted some King Edward and Salad Blue at room temp and left with a lid on. Most of the seeds germinated on the 16th with a few stragglers coming through this morning. (birthday spuds! )

It would appear that the salad blue seeds aren't germinating as well as my kings so i'll be wrapping them in cotton wool in order to try and get them through.

How are other peoples looking?

[Skotch]

Well, I have 6 seedlings germinated so far (that makes it a 10 - 14 day germination period so far) - all I did was use a couple of old plastic egg boxes (the type where the lid 'locks' down) abd have kept them near a window in our dining room. Temperature is around 18 to 20 degrees C. If they carry on at this rate, then I reckon I will be transplanting into larger pots by the end of February!!

[BrideXIII]

Mine are going in today, wish me luck.

will report back when i get results.

[MaureenHall]

Here's some pictures of what they look like so far, not very good photos, had to take them on my mobile All 3 are the same pot just taken from 3 different angles. They're in a clump because I didn't take the seeds off the kitchen paper before I sowed them. I've sowed the seeds in moist coir, I got some blocks from Wriggly Wrigglers that you just add water to, so they aren't getting any nutrients really as yet. What should I feed them, and when should I start feeding them?

Temperature in my conservatory can go down as low as 5 but during the day I get it to about 15. The heated propagator that they were in has temperature fluctuations of between 11 and 36! (Think it's a bit faulty) but the higher temperature was when I'd got the calor heater on and the sun was blazing through the windows

[Duronal]

Wow so that's a 22 day germination for you maureen. Could you post a picture of your seedlings so people know what they're looking for? (just in case!)

I think i'll put some more in tomorrow - my ramiro peppers are just about to germinate....I'll try to put some in the airing cupboard too.

Cheers

D

UPDATE:

It would appear that we need to aim for a temperature of 12 - 15 degrees C for germination

"Germination is highly variable with variability occurring within families of the same genotype as well as across genotypes. In addition, temperature strongly affects germination. High germination rates usually occur between 12 to 15 oC while low rates occur at extreme temperatures, i.e., 5 oC and 25 oC. In tropical environments, shading is a good practice to reduce the adverse effects of high temperatures on germination. In San Ramon (Peru), for example, shading at 75-80% reduced temperatures of seedbeds by 7 oC and resulted in faster emergence and enhanced initial growth." more here http://www.lava.net/manrique/newslet.htm


P.S i've just found this http://www.cipotato.org/publications...am5/prog53.asp

[MaureenHall]

I sowed potato seed on 8th January and it had germinated by 30th Jan. I did put the pot into a heated propagator about a week or so after I'd sown the seeds. The seeds had dried onto kitchen paper, and rather than try and peel them off (they're so tiny!) I just cut a small square of the paper with some seeds on, placed it on top of a pot of compost and covered it lightly. The seedlings are about an inch high now, I did put another small layer of compost on the other day but I'm now contemplating pricking them out into individual pots. What do you think?

[Duronal]

Hi Snadger

I'm starting to think that maybe our germination results indicate that t.p.s is quite finicky. I'm going to try sow some more seeds and try various conditions to see if they germinate any quicker. I'll let you know if i get anywhere.

Best of luck.

D

[Snadger]

At last! The experiment is go. Kind edward seeds are up but there's no sign of the salad blues as of yet.

this means that my batch of Jan seeds in the heated propagator have taken 24 days to germinate. They're located next to a french window down stairs but i'm still suprised at the germination time. (quite long?)

Still at least they're up.

How about anyone else?

Sowed the first lot of dried Desiree seed in propagator about three weeks ago......still nothing. Still had some potatoe fruit that had turned a cream colour, been outside in the frosty weather so well stratified. Harvested the seed and the pulp and put them in another pot about a week ago. Nothing there up til now either!

[Duronal]

At last! The experiment is go. Kind edward seeds are up but there's no sign of the salad blues as of yet.

this means that my batch of Jan seeds in the heated propagator have taken 24 days to germinate. They're located next to a french window down stairs but i'm still suprised at the germination time. (quite long?)

Still at least they're up.

How about anyone else?

[MaureenHall]

They will be a completely new variety Maureen. I don't think it matters what you start with - each seed gives a different plant - so if you get a dozen germinating you'll have a dozen individuals. Select out anything you feel is special and save some in the salad box of your fridge till this time next year. Maureen's Marvel - a star is born!

Ooooooooooooooo what a good idea I like the sound of that.

[Flummery]

Wish I knew what the variety is though

They will be a completely new variety Maureen. I don't think it matters what you start with - each seed gives a different plant - so if you get a dozen germinating you'll have a dozen individuals. Select out anything you feel is special and save some in the salad box of your fridge till this time next year. Maureen's Marvel - a star is born!

[MaureenHall]

Mine were stuck to kitchen roll too, I just cut out a little square of them and put it on top of the compost then a sprinkling of more compost on top. I've still got some seeds left that I'll try later on

[Skotch]

I planted the Picasso seeds I retrieved last year. Problem was that as they were wet after extraction, I put them onto a piece of kitchen towel. As they were small, I left them on there and they subsequently welded themselves to the paper.

Last weekend, I decided was a good time for planting of said seeds Instead of trying to prise them away individually from the paper, I cut around small clumps and planted each clump into a separate modeule. There are 48 modules and I am hopeful that when I next look into the propagator tonight, there might be some sign of life.

Skotch