Duronal's Potatoes from Seed Experiment '08 and into '09

[Two_Sheds]

You are all lucky to have potatoes, I planted 11 row, only got one out, the rest got blight. They were not long enough in the ground to grow, only marble size. I have lost the lot. They were sprayed but it did'nt make any difference.

Spraying doesn't always work. I personally wouldn't bother, but I know others do.

Unfortunately you live in a blight-prone area ... damp Wales (Devon & Cornwall are bad too).
Perhaps you could try some blight-resistant varieties next year? some on here: The British Potato Variety Database

[Flummery]

I understand that the advantage of growing from seed is that diseased aren't passed on to the next generation. I read that somewhere. I think!

[Snadger]

Spraying doesn't always work. I personally wouldn't bother, but I know others do.

Unfortunately you live in a blight-prone area ... damp Wales (Devon & Cornwall are bad too).
Perhaps you could try some blight-resistant varieties next year..........................

Or move house?

[Snadger]

I understand that the advantage of growing from seed is that diseased aren't passed on to the next generation. I read that somewhere. I think!

Ahh but blight/fungal intolerance could be!

As an aside, I wonder if this is how they strip viruses from worthy old potato varieties grown for the last 50 years or so by Joe Bloggs in his back garden? Sounds feasible!

[BrideXIII]

Quark1 kindly sent me some blue salad seeds, so i am in, I just hope I don't let her down by mucking it up

[Demeter]

How long does it take for the fruit to ripen?
I've had green ones on my windowsill for weeks and they are still green!

[Snadger]

How long does it take for the fruit to ripen?
I've had green ones on my windowsill for weeks and they are still green!

They don't ripen like tomatoes Demeter. They go from dark green to pale green to brown.
I've tried to catch mine at the pale green stage and squish out the seeds (I know they are lethal to eat but they smell quite sweet)
I've then squashed them through a sieve whilst rinsing.

The pulp and seeds that are left, I've placed on kitchen roll and keep changing it until the moisture is finally absorbed.

What I hope to be left with is the seeds plus the dried pulp which I should be able to seperate quite easily!

It's all a learning curve........but quite an enjoyable one!

[Demeter]

Oh how exciting! As per Duronal's original post I was waiting for them to go black. Just been and looked at them - one is pale green, the others less pale but all are soft and feel ripe so I think I might go and have a little squish

Question - we don't have any kitchen roll, if I place the seeds on muslin and put them somewhere warm and dry (on top of the boiler) do you reckon that would work? Or am I better to stick with something disposable in which case it is going to be loo paper....

[Duronal]

That should be fine demeter, i used kitchen roll because that's all i had but i'm sure muslin would work, it may even make it easier to get the dry seeds off the paper/muslin because you'll be able to bend the material behind it. Should anyone not get any seeds this year i have some spare. I've reserved some for phreddy but i've got lots more. And some of last years left too.

What we could do is try to stagger the germination date in order to try and get an early crop and then a later crop. If you could keep temps suitable i think growing from FEB may be possible by starting like early tomatos. They will try to get leggy but by planting them deep i'm sure you could get away with it....

[Demeter]

Woo-hoo! Dunnit now

One of the fruit was a dud, no seeds, but the other two were good. So now I have a small piece of muslin drying on my windowsill with about 50 seeds on it. Do they need to go in the dark or will they be OK in the window (worried I will forget them if I stick them in the boiler cupboard)

I feel like a proper grown up gardener now, saving my own seed and everything

[di]

We'll be giving it a go!!Only problem is I've saved a few fruits,but not got a clue which variety!!Still!!I'll count this year as a "will it work" experiment year & maybe next year my little notebook will stay by my side & I'll become an officially organised gardener!!

[Skotch]

Hi

I had aPicasso seed head - opened it up a couple of weeks ago and the seeds were very small - how big should they be? Smaller than a tomato, about the same, bigger?

Still managed to get them out of the 'tomato' and dried and bagged in readiness

[Snadger]

The seeds ARE smaller than a tomatoes!

It doesn't really matter which potatoe variety you use because you will be creating completely new varieties anyway methinks!

[Duronal]

world domination here we come right?

Did anyone get anywhere with lobbying for a projects section on here? I'm happy to add my support but i'm not sure who to ask!

D

[MaureenHall]

I think a "Projects" section would be great too. Is anybody there? Can you hear us?