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Old September 8, 2010   #31
Tom Wagner
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Thanks, Wendy, for posting those pictures. I must have been busy since I just read the posts over the last four weeks.

I am pleased that you are getting TPS from my lines. One thing I try to do is interest folks in growing potatoes that not only produce some interesting potato tubers but berries galore.

The single seed of SVG is important....since you did not have sufficient pollinators of diploids in the area it is like a tetraploid seed. Treat that one special for next year...you should get larger leaves, larger tubers, etc than the SVG itself.

I have picked berries but thousands yet to go.
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Old September 8, 2010   #32
wmontanez
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I will treat that one SGV TPS seed with lots of care. I have a lot to do in terms of experimenting next season. If I store the TPS seed at 4C in the refrigerator will it last more than 5 years viable? Thanks again for sharing some of your crosses with us! I had to stop myself from sampling more potatoes until I harvest them all. I want enough seed for next year!
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Old September 9, 2010   #33
Medbury Gardens
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Well done Wendy,you've got some good looking spuds there,will be interesting to see how they grow when you replant those tubers again next season.
Sorry i would have complimented you on your crop earlier but my little part of the world has been recently devastated by a earthquake and all thoughts have been directed to friends and family who after 6 days are still being shaken by 360+ aftershocks.
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Old September 9, 2010   #34
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Sorry to hear about the earthquake. It was pretty big 7.1, hope your family and friends are ok. Chile's quake was close to my relatives as well but nobody got hurt just shaken and nerves after the aftershocks.
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Old September 10, 2010   #35
Medbury Gardens
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I see there there was a 6.1in Chile,pleased to hear your family are ok as well.Our earthquake came from a fault line that was not known of previously,tests down a few days after show that it hadn't moved for 15000 years.
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Old September 24, 2010   #36
wmontanez
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More updates...
I still have the Lumper not dying, is as green and alive as it can be, not flowering anymore... and the 225710 still green... mule skinner is wilting now, may be ready in early October.

I got a long potato season since July eating yukons, then i got some blues in August, my own TPS and Tom's taters in Sept running into October it seems. I was really impressed with SVG, I kept digging the little spuds! at the end I had enough to save seed, sample them boiled, fried, and roasted. I must say I enjoyed it better just boiled, not adding much to it.

I sampled Cossima x kern toro and AKT , very good in french fries, tasty with a dash of salt. I am trying to be strong and not eat the others! I sure hope I get enough lumpers to make a true shepherds pie.

I was wondering if I should start some of the TPS I got from Tom's potatoes now, so next season I have some tiny tubers ready to plant in the potato garden by April. Since I have to wait to break dormancy on the TPS seed tubers (F1) so by February if I get the tubers then by April they should pip-up those eyes. Am I getting this plan right?
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Old September 25, 2010   #37
Tom Wagner
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Thanks for the update on the Lumpers and the other potato lines. Sounds like they are growing strong even into the late season.

Growing potatoes from TPS sown now will make fairly small plants that will mature sometime in January for some little mini tubers. The dormancy will break by April so that the little tubers, maybe the size of peas to eggs, can be planted outdoors.

Good luck with that project as it is a learning experience. The seedlings will need 16 hour lighted days to grow well and grow-lights will be required.

Glad you liked the SVG, (Skagit Valley Gold). That one is still one of my favorite creations. I must get away from the computer and go dig 140 hybrids of that one. All colors will be evident and I will be taking pictures along with picking hundreds of berries from those.
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Old September 25, 2010   #38
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Tom:
Here is a report on potato harvest from your sampler.
6 Reiche Tom
4 Lumper Nordic
4 Large Amaj
1 B-RT cross
5 AR
54 Skagit Valley Gold
1 Marcy
2 M -RT cross

Still have some plants to harvest. Cooked the Reiche Tom (in fact, I think I forgot to save 1) and a few of the SVG. Both were excellent, so much better than I expected. The SVG was from 3 plants, 1 having just 4, another with 20 and another just loaded with 30. Some were about the size of a quarter, but most were larger.

I have allowed them to dry. I want to store them. Can I wash them first? And can I keep them in a refrigerator bin, and if not how should I sore them. If I understand it correctly...can I let 1 of each variety sprout when it is time and then plant it. Somehow, all my berries disappeared!

Anyway, it has been a great experience. I thought my granddaughters would get the biggest kick out of it, but actually it has been the adults in my family.

Thanks again, Tom.
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Old September 25, 2010   #39
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Nice to know about the flavors of the ones you liked. That Reiche Tom was one of those ia music to my ears. I have more of those if you did, in fact, eat them all.

Washing potatoes is not good for storing them for a long time. Don't do it.

Even if the potatoes sprout, as long as there is any life left in them by planting time you are OK. Just plant the whole potato, sprout and all.

I will do a special report on the Reiche Tom later on. With photos, flavor evaluations, and how the next generation of seedlings from it will be a featured item on my listings of available seeds/tubers for next year.
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Old October 10, 2010   #40
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I just got done digging all my spuds. Not a good year at all. I probably averaged about a pound of small tubers per plant from the little seed tubers Tom sent me. The reasons are numerous. I only have a couple of low clay areas where I can dig out spuds so this year was new ground heavily ammended with woody compost. It was too wet early on and then too dry later so the plants didn't get very big, and most of the tubers were quite small. Flea beetles also did a job on them. But the plants for the most part didn't get hit with the Colorado potato beetles that hit the patch of TPS plants a few feet away.

I figured that staying in the ground was as good for storage as my warm basement so they have stayed in ground for a couple of months after the plants died down. Several of them are starting to sprout and I even had one volunteer SVG poking up. A couple of big Lumpics rotted in the ground but most everything else looks OK.

Reiche Tom, which was one of the bigger tubers Tom sent me, grew large, stayed alive longer and produced more heavily than others. Juanita Norte also did very well. Most of the four different Sarpos were productive for the small size of the plants. I may get to taste some of these, but I'm not confident of my winter storage so I'll save most of them for seed. I did get to eat some boiled Skagit Valley Gold grown in a trash bag of potting mix and compare it to Peanut fingerling. SVG was much better!

Seed production was terrible. I got several berries early on from Amey, which had somewhat open anther cones (like a pepper flower) and flowered before everything else. I crossed a zillion SVG x Thumb Nose and a few berries set, but none of my other crosses took.
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Old October 10, 2010   #41
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I dug also the last 3 plants, Mule Skinner blues gave me 2 pounds of fingerlings, 2225710 gave 1 1/2lb and Lumpers were small about 1lb. I think my soil was not amended well enough will do better next spring.

But overall I did pretty good, the total amount is 15lbs from the 1lb sampler-14 varieties and 6 of the plants gave me TPS. I am pretty excited! What do you think? Is that amount reasonable? I saved the best potatoes from the crop as "seed" for next year, IF I can stop from doing taste samplings.

I also noticed my SVG seeds are sprouting already. Today I started a tray of the 6 TPS from Tom's Taters along with Mystery from Medbury Garden (Richard). I want to get small tubers for April planting and will start some TPS in April form late May planting.

I am a potato convert and my potato patch is growing out of control
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Old January 10, 2011   #42
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Seed storage?

I checked my tuber seeds every weekend and SVG had sprouts early but now also AKT and even one Amey started to sprout along with Sharpo Finger. I have them in the basement that stays cool ~50F and humidity is at least 50%. I had them inside a burlap sack to try to get some diffused light. I am a little concerned because I have at least 2 1/2 months before I can plant them outdoors. Now on other hand that might benefits folks in warmer weather that want to continuously grow potatoes since they are breaking dormancy first.
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Old January 21, 2011   #43
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I checked on my cold storage at home and also noticed the SVG sprouting, so I put them under lights to try and get some sprouts to use as cuttings. Some of them are starting to shrivel, so I am wondering if I should half- bury them in moist potting mix.

The other varieties in this spot (at home) look really good. I have not checked my main batch in my brother's root cellar, which I think might be warmer.

The rodents beat me to many of the other varieties from the sampler before I could dig them.
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Old January 21, 2011   #44
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David,

What temperature you have at home? I had mine in the basement and maybe was a little warm ~50F. Also some SVG started to shrivel. I might do take a sprout to try to root it as you are doing. I moved the rest of the seeds to a secondary room unheated that stays at 40F.

What varieties did you loose? I think I mixed up 2 at harvest time: 225710 and Blue Rockies. One is round and one is fingerling but I have a doubt now which is which.
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Old January 21, 2011   #45
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Thats a bugger about the rodents beating you to some of your harvest David
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