When to pick off potato fruits.

[Shortie]

Shortie's getting confuggled...

I've been a Googling and have found that you are supposed to finely chop the fruit and soak in water. Over 24 hours the seeds will sink and the bits to throw will float. They then need to be dried.

But another article I read suggested that the seeds will produce small tubers for planting the next year - so do the seeds produce 'seed potatoes' or just smaller crop per plant of normal potatoes?

Also I've read that the seeds are only known to carry spindle tuber virus across, not other diseases..

Here's where I've been reading:

More on disease and agricultural use Potatoes: Top of the plant for tip-top seed

WikiPedia Article: Potato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Duronal]

I think that's the fermentation method of collecting the seeds. To be honest it's a simlar way to collecting tomato seeds...same family so it makes sense. It's not what i did but hey i'm sure it'll work too!

If anyone's intrested potato seed is normally reffered to as TPS (true potato seed) if you google it you'll have plenty to read.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/demo/?rev...-breeding.html

http://www.stumbleupon.com/demo/?rev...7/june/ns3.cfm

[Duronal]

this is quite interesting too.

http://www.sharebooks.ca/eBooks/SpudsManual.pdf

[Lemon]

I had no idea what 'potato fruits' were!! I then went out to inspect my "Charlottes". One of the plants has green tomato-like fruits hanging from where the flowers once were!!

From what I've read from above, you can split them & they are full of seed that you dry and grow potatoes plants from the following year? I always thought spuds were from tubers!?!?!?

Is it worth leaving these on plant to ripen before picking off to save the seeds? Do other people do this for next years potato plants?

[Demeter]

hi Lemon
(welcome to the vine by the way)

Potato is grown from tubers because that way you know what you are going to get. Potatoes grown from seeds will not resemble the parent plant, so it's pot luck saving seed. Growing from seed is going to be an interesting experiment I think (still not sure whether I will have a go, I have got fruit on my maris Peer), and you *might* get something amazing, but you're definitely taking a bit of a chance if you don't also plant some tubers from a known variety as a fall back!

[Flummery]

Seed potatoes, or the tubers we buy to plant, produce a clone of the original plant. No variation. True seed, the seeds in the little fruit at the top, as Demeter says, produce a huge variety. Most people don't grow their spuds this way. You usually want an early salad spud, a maincrop roaster, etc. With tubers you can guarantee what you'll get. However, there's a bit of experimental fun (that they haven't yet taxed!) to be had by growing from true seed so a few of us are going to try. Demeter already has!

[Shortie]

That's my chances shot to pieces

When I popped to the lottie after work last night I went wafffling away to Mr Shortie dragging him up to the potatoes to show him the fruit explaining how I wanted to experiment next year with them etc... Nothing, nada, zilch. Where there were loads 2 weeks ago when I last looked, they've vanished. I searched the ground around the potatoes but they weren't there either

Hey ho, next year I'll be super quick off the mark, and will watch everyone's updates with interest

[Duronal]

Doh that's bad luck, i managed to find 2 fruits this year that had blown off in the wind, have a good old hunt around at the bottom of the plants and you may find something.

Best of Luck

D

P.S if i get any spare seeds you'd be welcome to some.

[Rachiered]

Ooh, I might have a go too. I was wondering what those little cherry tomato type things were. Thanks guys.
If I take them off and dry them at a later date, when do you think they'll need planting. Should I do them as extra-earlies, and then plant the tubers from them at the usual time? Or just plant the seed at the normal time and hope for the best?
I'm new at this gardening stuff, so any advice is much appreciated.

[ChayD]

A possible tip?

One thing I read on t'internets a while back was if you wanted to avoid cross-pollination of a tobacco crop (incidentally, also a potato relative) and retain the same variety seeds, was you can tie a paper bag around the flower heads before they open. Insects couldn't get in, but the plant would self pollinate through the wind moving things around. I did grow tobacco a few times, but never tried this, so can't vouch.

[Ananke]

I saved some TPS from some Maris Piper two years ago and sowed them last year. I neglected the plants a fair bit and ended up with two survivors, from those I saved some small tubers and stored them in the vegetable drawer of the fridge until spring when they started showing signs of chitting.

This year I planted up the tubers in large containers and they are looking fantastic above the soil, I can't wait to see whats going on below

[Kane]

Good grief I didn't know you could do this - going to be a great experiment

[Sylvan]

Were any of you successful?

[zazen999]

I have some baby tubers from last year's Amorosa potato seeds in my greenhouse; I have harvested some as the haulms died back and half are red and half are white [the parent is red]; so I'll wait to harvest the rest and then will share them out between myself and my 2 lottie neighbours to grow next year. Unfortunately, these particular seeds are from one neighbour and both of their plants got blight as they put them outside but mine being in the greenhouse haven't got it yet.

[Sylvan]

How did you treat your seeds when you first harvested the pods Andrea?