Whole seed potato or cut??

[patty_b]

Something that I have always wondered about, is it ok to plant small whole seed potatoes or better to buy the larger ones and split them? I just picked up some seed potatoes (Red Potomac, Kennebec, Kathalin)today at a local store. I seem to pick out the smaller but maybe should be going for the bigger ones?? Patty

[rxkeith]

either way works.

i choose the small egg size ones to plant whole myself, but slicing up the larger ones works just as well. i did that with some larger ones last year. you want at least one eye per slice, and let them scab up overnight before planting. some people dust them with a disinfectant, but that is optional.


keith

[pdxwindjammer]

My mom is a master gardener but she is weak with cancer so I planted her raised bed a couple of weeks ago with her yukon golds. I had never grown potatoes before so I did this with her guidance.

She had me cut the larger potatoes, making sure I had at least one eye for each cut piece. If a potato is small, you can plant the entire thing but if it has a few eyes, you can cut it to increase your yield.

This is all according to my dear mom, a master gardener.

[patty_b]

Someone had said with the fingerlings to plant the bigger size to get larger potatoes. ...Don't know if that is the case or not. I know they will grow most any way there is a potato eye...even had potato peelings grow!! But does the seed potato help determine the size of the potatoes that you will be getting or it that all up to the individual plant and the amount of fertilizer it receives??

[tjg911]

i prefer egg sized potatoes, plant them whole no chance of rot due to cutting them. worked fine for the years i grew potatoes.

[Medbury Gardens]

If you buy in the seed potatoes each season for planting the suggestions put forward so far in the thread are fine,but myself who maintains a collection of heirloom varsities i plant the biggest and best spuds from the heaviest producing plants each year.Rima (pictured on the left)for first ten years only grew 1 or 2 tiny small tubers,but the 5 season has seen the size increase dramatically and has really become a good producer.

[PaulF]

Saw an interview with a potato grower who planted the whole potato because the cut potato invited wireworms. We don't have those too much around here but it made sense. He said the cost would be higher, but safer. Me, I still cut the potatoes into chunks. Did it today as a matter of fact.

[mensplace]

I am a bit confused by the concept that planting whole potatoes rather than sections that are sliced into pieces with one or two eyes would lead to bigger potato fruits.

I had thought that the genetics of the individual eye would carry forth whatever gene would leads to larger potatoes.

I can see why planting a whole potato would carry more eyes and, therefore, more plants and fruit, but the size of the individual potatoes that result should still be driven by genetics and nutrition, not by the planting of a whole large potato.

Often, I have seen the bulk of the whole potato simply rot after the plants have formed. Once those individual plants have set forth roots, the original remaining potato would no longer serve a function and lead to rotting and possibly even attracting pests and disease. Chitting the potato to develop large eyes that are rooted or ready to root would seem the better alternative to merely sticking a whole large potato in the ground.

Sufficiently large sections containing heathy, large eyes should contain the genetic material to determine fruit size. I do follow the British practice of leaving the original potatoe in the sun to launch the chlorophine and sugar buildup and the shade and a bit of moisture to develop the eyes, but after that cut them into smaller sections, unless growing specifically for small "new" or spring potatoes as in the deliciously sweet red or white varieties. But, for those large bakers, I select the biggest I can find and then follow the routine above. Years ago, having tried the route of planting the whole, large potatoes, it was not unusual to dig down later into a stinking mush of insect laden rotted mush. Could having the new buds relying upon that original large potato for nutrition even slow the need of the plant to send out roots?

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by mensplace

the size of the individual potatoes that result should still be driven by genetics and nutrition, not by the planting of a whole large potato.

(I have noticed in the early part of the growing season the whole large potatoes that i had planted are more advanced than the smaller ones that grow in an area that had been the previous seasons main crop area,in this area any green,cut or small spuds are dug under then covered for the winter with compost and are grown for our early eaters,within this area there are still some large potatoes and as much as two months into the season its easy to see those larger ones compered to the smaller potatoes.)

Often, I have seen the bulk of the whole potato simply rot after the plants have formed. Once those individual plants have set forth roots, the original remaining potato would no longer serve a function and lead to rotting and possibly even attracting pests and disease.

(If your soil is in good health this is not an issue.)


Could having the new buds relying upon that original large potato for nutrition even slow the need of the plant to send out roots?

Definitely not

[Heath]

Regarding the size of the spud I somewhat concur with Medbury. I've successfully increased the size of sweet potatoes by using seed potatoes from the healthiest plants each year, though I've not used the largest spuds from said plants each year, only the egg sized ones.

This will be my 4th consecutive year of growing sweet potato spuds from the original spuds purchased four years ago. The size of each generation has somewhat increased each year. The flavor has improved each year as well as the color (their color has gone from a typical store bought yellowish orange to a deep, rich pumpkin orange). Which I’m sure has to do with soil quality, nutrients and condition.

I have not deviated from the location in which they have been grown; I’ve simply maintained the soil and fed/watered the plants. I think I’ve capped on the size though, they are your typical or ideal sized tubers. I plant them in a square formation spaced approx. 24 inches apart.

Last year (2009) we planted 8 seeds in May and harvested in October, the yield was around 30 good sized tubers (the size that would normally be bought at a supermarket), then around 30 medium to small (useless) sized tubers. A portion of the medium sized tubers will be used for “seeds” again this year (2010).

I hope they turn out good!

[Heath]

We can all make pie.

[wmontanez]

My 2 cents, I have seen videos from peruvian indians that are potato farmers and they select their biggest and healthier potatoes for seed and the second biggest size for eating and the smallest for chuno (dehidrated potato flour). They have to know something since they have been growing potatoes for centuries now. I will follow Medbury on the new varieties from my TPS seedlings and from Tom potatoes once I harvest them to see if the size increases over time etc.

[TZ-OH6]

Seems to me its like garlic, and a matter of energy rather than genetics. Plant the largest thing possible to get the biggest plant, which will then be able to make larger potatoes....up to their genetic limit. Roots are needed to get nitrogen from the soil, and themselves don't need as much of the nutrients that green tops do so a big seed potato would be able to put out more roots quicker and better take advantage of soil nutrients before the tops have to take over responsibility for overall growth.

[Medbury Gardens]

Certainly that's what ive notice happening within my previous years volunteer patch TZ,another thing ive noticed also,the larger the seed spud the thicker the stems that emerge from the ground.
I believe its not so much that a large seed potato grows larger potatoes but that they tend to grow a larger crop of similar size to what was planted ,but on the end of the scale very small seed spuds only seem to grow small potatoes.

[b54red]

A little trick someone told me about many years ago that you might want to try when cutting your potatoes. After cutting them put them in a paper bag and dump in some plain garden sulfur and shake them, then let them dry for about a day and then plant. It seems to cut down on the number of pieces that rot and it helps acidify the soil a little.