When is the potato berry ready for harvest ?

[Tomaat]

Hello all,

I have been hand pollinating my salad blue and Highland Burgundy red potatoes. The salad blue has not produce a single berry but the Highland Burgundy Red has produced some 10 plus berries. The biggest berries are around 1.4 cm across and the smallest are around 0.5cm across.
I am planning to use it as the true potato seeds.
When should I harvest them ?
I can't tell if they are ripe or not , please help.

Many thanks in advance.

[Tom Wagner]

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=8146

The biggest berries are around 1.4 cm
When should I harvest them ?
I can't tell if they are ripe or not

Nevi,

Your question above seems related to a thread started a few months ago, so I included that link so that we can all relate back to it.

I try to allow at least 6 weeks post pollination before (picking/harvesting potato berries. 8 weeks is a more optimum time frame. Harvesting and seed extraction are two different things, however. I try to allow the berries to stay attached to the plant as long as possible. Sometimes the berries fall off with the slightest touch, so I try not to handle the berry cluster until I know the maturity level is approaching. Potatoes berries create a slightly fruity aroma when they are close to full maturity, and the color gradually changes from a green to a light yellow-green. If there is a lot of pigmentation on the berries, (dapples, streaks, dots, shoulder colors) such as red and/or purple hues, you may have to wait until the plant dies down or when the berries fall off naturally.

I try to allow a few weeks curing after harvesting the berries for the seed to finish full maturation. When the berry is no longer super firm but gives to pressure, the seed is likely ready for processing.

Tom Wagner

[Tomaat]

Tom,

The biggest berries were from late may (bloom on 25 may). 8 weeks after that means it should be ready around mid july . But we are leaving for holiday for 4 weeks (2nd week of july to the first week of august) and by the time I am back, they might have drop down .
Is it ok if I set a small net or similar design to catch it just in case it drop naturally before I am back as I can't rely on anyone to attend them ?
I will of course set an auto dripping water system for them while we are away.

Many thanks,
Nevi

[Tom Wagner]

I suppose a netting of sorts around the berry cluster would be OK. I am concerned that the netting may snag and pull the fruits (berries) off. Are the fruits pollinated with pollen from a different variety such as Salad Blue, or is it from the same flowers? If you made a special pollination, I would at least tie a colorful twistem loosely below the node leading to the berry cluster. If the only berries produced are from your interference/augmentation, you shouldn't have to worry about mix-ups.

Since you are going to be gone during the final maturation stage, what are the highest temperatures expected during that time? Highs near 100 degrees Fahrenheit would speed the ripening factors. Temps near 80 F. should be no problem. If the berries turn soft, but are still able to be seen, you should have no worry.

Tom

[Tomaat]

Tom,

July suppose to be around 25 C (F ?) but during 2006 it went to 37 C. I can't say for sure what the temperature will be as even now we have been having very high temperature around 24 to 27C for almost 2 weeks continuously. Hopefully this heat will speed up the maturing so I can harvest the biggest one and let it stay indoor for further maturing. The biggest berries will be at least 6 weeks old by the time we leave on the 10th July.

I didn't cross pollinate them with Salad Blue (used different brush), so it should be ok without labels hanging. If by that time they are still unripe, I will custom-make several bag-like net as the berry catcher.

My other worry will be the blight attact ! According to our blight warning webpage, there has been several blight cases in several area in the Netherlands due to such heat wave we got and some afternoon rain which get the air very humid.

If (but I really don't want it to happen) the potato haulms get blight, will it still be ok to harvest the potato berry
for TPS purpose ?
Many thanks for all informations Tom, these berries are the very first ever potato berries I ever seen, very excited .

I will certainly save some seeds of it for you if you would like to experiment with them.

Nevi

[Tom Wagner]

As long as the late blight does not rot out the potato berry you should be OK for the TPS. If the berry turns black in the middle, the seed quality will be greatly diminished. Most of the time, the berry is the last part to be hit by LB. Picking the fruit (berry) before the blight hits full swing and storing the berry in a dry room temperature area will be sufficient to aid in seed maturation. Hope you have some drying winds. Tom

[Tomaat]

Many thanks Tom, will post how they do .

Nevi

[Tomaat]

Here is an update to the size of my potato berries:
the biggest berries are around 2.2cm across and the smallest one is 0.5cm across.
The bigger it grow the lighter the colour change (light green - white).
There are 3 more trusses flowers coming and 2 of them are partially blooming .