Potatoe

I know that potatoes are planted using seed potatoes but potatoes may not do well for some time, and seed potatoes not planted will rot in storage the same year, does anyone know where to get potato seeds? I know potato plants will go to seed like anything else. The down side I understand is that potato seeds planted one year will not produce potatoes until the second year, but that's better than never having a good staple like this again and the dried seeds could presumably be stored for appropriate planting conditions, a few years post shift. I have not been able to source seeds locally and not knowing our planning scenario, the seed suppliers can't understand why someone would even ask for such a thing.

Offered by Kraige.

Potatoes from seed are a rarity, indeed. The seed team has experimented a bit with them and there seem to be only three varieties available commercially, and these are considered hybrid (won't reliably reproduce themselves). I have grown all three and can tell you that you do get potatoes the first year (potato plants are annuals), but they are very small. When stored and replanted, you get larger potatoes, but they do not seem to bloom and produce seed. They did not survive storage a second time and I have not tried them since. Harvesting seed from the varieties I do have that produce seed is an almost insurmountable challenge. The seed is very small and the seed pods (small, hard green tomato-like things) often drop and are lost before you think they are ready to pick. I have a small sample of the seed I did successfully harvest, but I've not tried to grow it out. If you want to try potatoes from seed, I would suggest that you buy some from either Gurney's or Henry Fields and if you are successful, buy in bulk before the shift!

Offered by Roger.