halving your potato seed

[hollychap]

was looking on fleabay earlier at some potato seed tubers and the seller said in his description about cutting the seed tubers in half or evan quarters ? anyone do this i have always planted one whole tuber per sowing

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have never done it but know it can be done successfully. I even have a mate who use's peelings.

Potty

[hollychap]

i was wondering if there's a reduction in yields or will the yields be the same as an whole tuber ? i can feel a trial approaching

[Potstubsdustbins]

As I said I have never done it personally so couldn't help with that one.

Colin

[zazen999]

In the States they sow one eye per plant. It's only us that sow the whole tuber each time.

[VirginVegGrower]

My grandad always chopped his potato seed in half. Never ever planted whole, but then he did have fair size tubers to start with as I recall.

[arpoet]

We had a thread on here about this a couple of years ago. I seem to think that tattieman wrote about it.
I have pulled tatties from the compost heap that can have only come from peelings.
Roger

[Bigmallly]

So long as each piece has an eye (sprout), they should grow.

[zazen999]

A few years back, I popped shoots from peelings in root trainers and in the time it took to get plants, they already started growing spuds.

[Aberdeenplotter]

reducing the number of viable eyes and cutting away half the spud does that will result in less tubers but it should result in the tubers formed being much bigger. Reducing the number of eyes is how the exhibitors get size on their spuds

[Paulottie]

I will often cut largest seed in half to make up rows or if the available seed is too large.

A hens-bantams egg is the optimum size range. Each plant should have 3 chits. I will rub off any more than that at planting. This gives the best yield per acre and weight of seed (both received and applied wisdom.) the exception might be PFA types that tend to have loads of shoots... give them more space for huge haulm

That said....if you want to have a competition/bit of fun/there is a war on... you can get a plant from just one eye on a peeling as mentioned. However it would be best to start your plant on the surface of soil (maybe in a pot) and earth up slowly. Your plant has little in the way of food reserves to get a shoot to the surface if buried.