Here is a video about using stems. They are using a similar method to what we are discussing, but with clean, disease free potato material.

[URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdQLYtfbWZw[/URL]


The goal is cleaner seed tubers to sell because it would be fewer generations between tissue culture and sale to customers

I topped some plants last week to clone.

4 plants I topped @5 weeks.
2 didn't set any roots but stayed alive and green.
The anemic looking one had a goiter that is sprouting leaves.
The biggest one made roots and sent out another shoot.
I would say the bigger the better if you are topping plants.
Shoe-box size box no drainage potting soil mix kept wet.

Nice to see some other people got some useful info from this post. Longer season potatoes do better with this method. I do it to multiply plants when I only have 1 seed potato.

My volunteer sprouts experiment yielded....disappointing results. Maybe ten pounds of potatoes came from a 20 foot row that was filled with large vigorous plants this summer. Well, there is always next year!

[QUOTE=bboomer;759961]My volunteer sprouts experiment yielded....disappointing results. Maybe ten pounds of potatoes came from a 20 foot row that was filled with large vigorous plants this summer. Well, there is always next year![/QUOTE]


What potato varieties were you trying this with?


Wendy is correct when she claims this works much better with long season potatoes. If you try this with early to mid season potatoes, they tend to start to senesce much to early to produce much. It has something to do with disruption of normal potato hormones when the plant is disconnected from the seed tuber. Disconnecting the stems usually starts the process of senescence in all but long season potatoes (150+ days), and in more determinate varieties, much too early.

The volunteer sprouts were Kennebeck, a late maturing potato.

I really like the experiment with Skagit Valley Gold potatoes. I would also like to try growing these potatoes (just as an experiment for my own use), but I have not found a source of TPS Skagit Valley Gold anywhere. Tom Wagner no longer sells TPS and I couldn't find anyone else. Are these TPS seeds available somewhere? I can't think of another way to get to this variety of potatoes.
¨ Vladimír

[QUOTE=MrBig46;760262]I really like the experiment with Skagit Valley Gold potatoes. I would also like to try growing these potatoes (just as an experiment for my own use), but I have not found a source of TPS Skagit Valley Gold anywhere. Tom Wagner no longer sells TPS and I couldn't find anyone else. Are these TPS seeds available somewhere? I can't think of another way to get to this variety of potatoes.
¨ Vladimír[/QUOTE]


Cultivariable is now selling true seeds internationally, not just in the US.


[URL]https://www.cultivariable.com/product/potato/true-potato-seeds/potato-skagit-valley-gold-100-seeds-tps/[/URL]

NathanP, Can you still get Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona from Kenosha?

[QUOTE=NathanP;760281]Cultivariable is now selling true seeds internationally, not just in the US.


[URL]https://www.cultivariable.com/product/potato/true-potato-seeds/potato-skagit-valley-gold-100-seeds-tps/[/URL][/QUOTE]

I read that it is forbidden to send potato seeds to the Czech Republic - phytosanitary measures. I don't want to break this ban, so I'm giving up an experiment. Damage.:(
Vladimír

[QUOTE=MrBig46;760302]I read that it is forbidden to send potato seeds to the Czech Republic - phytosanitary measures. I don't want to break this ban, so I'm giving up an experiment. Damage.:(
Vladimír[/QUOTE]


This is fairly common, to prevent accidental imporation of potato viruses. Most countries now have similar laws, including the US and Canada.

[QUOTE=Fusion_power;760299]NathanP, Can you still get Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona from Kenosha?[/QUOTE]


Just sent you a PM