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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?
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?
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