A realy silly question - sorry

[gawdambugs]

Hi, all.... I havent had any luck finding seed potatoes.... someone told me to keep a potato that I have bought and make it seed... the silly question is - "Does the seed come from the eyes on the potato and what do I do with it"?

[fruit&vegvirgin]

no such thing as a silly question!! better experts than me will tell you that its not really a good idea to use shop spuds for planting (possibility of disease). potato plants grow from the shoots that develop out of the little eyes, so when you buy 'seed potatoes' you are buying little potatoes that you leave to develop lots of shoots and then you plant the potato + the shoots.

[cotton54321]

have you tried sarching suppliers on the net? Lots of people are getting rid at the minute as its coming to the end of potato planting (I think??) for the minute.
Good luck with the potatoes - and as for the silly question - you should have seen some I have asked!!

Mel x

[nick the grief]

Hi GDB, try you local Garden Centre thay may have some left they want to shift, mine has.

[blackkitty]

I confess, I often grow shop bought potatoes, usually because I forget one or two in the bottom of the bag and they start chitting. I've always got a reasonable return. I grow them in pots though so that if I get problems its easy to empty them out and start again. Having said that, I've never had to do so. You can sometimes get a reasonable crop by planting potato peelings, a fun thing to do with children.

[eskymo]

i've got surplus Pentland Javlin potatoes that are ready to plant. I'm quite happy to put some in the post for you if you PM me your address. I was going to bung them in the ground this week or chuck them out if I couldn't find the room, so you're welcome to them.

[Alice]

Hello Gawdambugs, I have to confess I am growing shop bought spuds but of Scottish origin which are pretty well didease free. growing in buckets and bins so not at risk of contaminating vegetable garden anyway. I chitted the potatoes (Charlotte and Rooster) on the kitchen windowsill then planted 4" deep in buckets and bins. As soon as there is 4" greenery showing add more compost. Keep doing this til you can add no more. Search this site under spuds in buckets for good info. Will try to post a piccy of my spuds tomorrow. Delighted with them. It's down to how good the crop will be.

[bramble]

I,d say go for it, but in buckets or some kind of containers just in case of desease. Good luck.

[SueA]

I think the thing about only using seed potatoes is just put about by seed potato suppliers, but having said that I agree with Bramble that it would be best to try shop-bought spuds in containers just in case. The potato which you plant provides the food for & develops stalks which the new potatoes grow off, thats why you have to cover up the stalks (haulms) & leaves as the plants grow.

[TPeers]

I was taught that the reason not to plant shop bought spuds, was that they may have been dusted with growth inhibitors to enhance their shelf life. This was a good few years ago and all the regulations have changed since then, so I have no idea if this is still true , but if you washed the spuds and chitted them before planting, in buckets etc to avoid any posible soil contamination etc...

[gawdambugs]

Thanks for the great advice guys - am going to give it a go -why not eh? Will keep you posted on how it goes

[eskymo]

potatoes in the post and on their way gawdambugs...

oops - going in the post first thing on Thursday morning as I ended up being totally ruched off my feet the other day and missed the post today due to the PO closing half day today as it's a Wednesday. They'll be with you by the w/e hopefully!