Seed potato size

[ameno]

I read somewhere that small seed potatoes will result in fewer but large potatoes, while big seed potatoes result in smaller but more potatoes.
Admittedly not something I've ever empirically tested!

That's half true.
It's the number of sprouts which lead to that (more sprouts mean more potatoes, but smaller, whereas fewer sprouts lead to fewer potatoes, but larger), rather than potato size. But obviously a larger potato is more likely to produce more sprouts, although this can be remedied simply by rubbing off the excess.

[StephenH]

Will cutting seed potatoes in half produce a bigger crop than leaving them whole, or does it just allow more even spacing? Also, when's best to cut - before or after chitting - or doesn't it matter?

[ameno]

Will cutting seed potatoes in half produce a bigger crop than leaving them whole, or does it just allow more even spacing? Also, when's best to cut - before or after chitting - or doesn't it matter?

Cutting them will produce an overall larger crop, yes, as you'll have two plants instead of one.

[nick the grief]

Our allotment shop is small (and closed until March) - I'm one of the people running it , but people mostly want compost, manure, fertilizer and canes. Not so much seeds and plants now. We offer an annual order for members through the kings seeds allotment scheme, but not so many potato options in there.

Our local lotty shop ( well local to where my lotty is) turns over £1000's PA as it serves 3 or 4 sites plus all the locals who have an associate membership (£2-50 a year). They're cheaper than the local garden centres and it helps the lotty site sadly theres only about 7 of us on our site ( although mine is officially plots 49-52) so we'd struggle to do one and not everyone grows veg. 1 plot is down to grass and the guy mows it monthly so the kids can play on it as they live in flat.