First of all, i'd like to say how Wonderful it is to learn so much more than i ever came across anywhere else...jus listenin an reading your Scientific posts presented in a fairly down to earth manner....Mr. Tom Wagner. I am truly in awe of your life's work of 54 years, an so grateful you take the time an effort to Moderate an answer questions here....TY
As my potato-planting season approaches...several questions or things that i jus dont know for sure yet...make their annual creep back into my thoughts....interested in All opinions...here goes...
#1...i always wonder....which scenario is advisable for highest yield. Average last frost date here is April 15. Zone 7b or 8a
Scenario A = get seed potatos in-ground around 2nd or 3rd week in March, get an early start on them before June soil heats up. This scenario quite often leads to having foilage damage from a early April light frost...but the plants recover an do well, i'd say. Hilling does minimize exposure, but i have always understood that its not advisable to cover all foilage.
Scenario B = wait till the first week of April, be mostly immune to frost damage by the time shoots come up...continue as above, but have a later harvest, an a greater chance of having to hand-pick Colorado potato larvae off.
The crux of this question is this ...does the energy demanded from the seed to restore /regenerate foilage after a frost...curtail in the long run...yield... in a significant amount ?
#2...some long-time growers in my area have told me that if i tried to save and re-plant smaller tubers (as in tubers that didnt mature simply due to the fact that it was diggin up time)...that these tubers would NOT produce plants that in turn would develop a consistent crop of mostly normal-size potatoes. In other words, all i'd get the second time around would be small potatoes, ...even if i planted ..say...a egg-size whole potato. What are the Facts...regarding this ?
#3 Lets say i wanted to grow a particular CV of potato and retain some of it for future re-planting, across the foreseeable Seasons to come, and...assuming good rotations and cultural practices, disease is not a current issue. What would be the Best practices to adhere to, regarding tuber selection for saving, and Most importantly....storage conditions if i wanted to keep it a viable and healthy seed potato for the next 9 months ?
Appreciative of all opinions an experiences on these Matters...)))