Topic: Growing True Potato Seed/Potato Apples/potato tomato thingys!

[Jayb]

I’ve noticed several post recently about potato apples or True potato seed. So I’m wondering if anyone else fancy having a go growing potatoes from seed next year? Might be fun to compare notes, swap seeds and maybe tubers later on. Who knows you might end up with fantastic spuds of your own breeding or equally ones that are not so good!

Last year I saved some potato seed pods which I sowed this spring. I started them in the propagator in a pot, barely covering the seeds, germination was a little spasmodic. As soon as they were big enough I transplanted them individually into modules/roottrainers to grow on. They have made good growth and I planted some into a bed and these have just starting flowering.

I didn’t have space to plant them all out and some remained in rootrainers and have gone on to produce little mini tubers, which I hope to save and plant next year as seed potatoes. I’m hoping the ones I planted out will produce bigger potatoes this year.

I’m hooked and am looking forward to growing some more next year. Hopefully I will have some fresh TPS from this year although it might be a bit iffy as I’ve lost some potatoes to blight, although I do have a small amount of seed left from last year, which I can use  ;D

[mpdjulie]

I am totally up for this, was thinking about trying this myself.  When is the best time to pick the round green apple things?  Yesterday I picked one and cut it open to see inside and it was a solid mass.  Is the whole thing the seed or do you wait longer for the pod to dry out and there are seeds inside it?  Then do you just literally plant these seeds?  I have absolutely no idea when or what to do.
Julie

[aj]

Did this last year. Leave the fruits on the potato for as long as you can, and pop them in the corner of the shed or greenhouse to dry up.

I started my seeds in kitchen roll, and potted the first few that germinated. You have to use a scalpel to get the seeds out, they are smaller than tom seeds and as the flesh is poisonous you do need to take care with your fingers trying to get them out - hence a scalpel.

Then as they grow, pot on and if you can time it right, harden off and get into the ground as the early frost free date comes for your area.

Save the underground tubers that you get, and if they are any good you can use those - or keep saving the TPS each year.

Bit of a faff; got the same amount of tubers as from seed pot in the end, but no financial outlay!

[Tee Gee]

Having done this before in the distant past I will give this one a rain cheque.

Not sure if I should/can plan for the next 5 or six years :'(

[Jayb]

Recently came across this http://daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/2010/04/sowing-potatoes-from-tps.html
some great info and she has a second part re growing them.

Intrestingly TPS can be picked while still green and left to ripen, the pods must be more than 5 weeks old, but by picking them before fully ripe on the plant, there is less chance of them falling off or something else happening to them. Put them some where dry to finish maturing, they may go a bit mushy but apparently not to worry. They can then be whizzed with water in a blender, I've whizzed things like tomatillos and Cape gooseberries, works a treat.

The mush can then be left for several days to ferment, before rinsing and drying. TPS are surrounded by gel which inhibits germination, although they can be collected from ripe fruit, germination may be more erratic because of this. As Aj has said seed can also be taken from dried seed pods/fruits but it is difficult to get the seed out, this is how I did it last year, but would not choose this way again. 

Mini tubers in a rootrainer
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 Recently planted out plants
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Just starting to form flowers
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[pigeonseed]

Not sure if I should/can plan for the next 5 or six years

?? Oh? Any particular reason Tee Gee? ?  :(

[Jeannine]

Try not to lose heart Tee gee, we need your positivism you are too valuable to us all to be downhearted. That bloody manure is getting me really mad now!

Jayb, thank you,  you expalin it all so well. My babies are very well loved here, thank you.

I was trying to figure out a way to put a link to Tom Wagners video but  it is a bit long,this is just as good

XX Jeannine

[Jayb]

Tom Wagner video link  http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2009/11/tom-wagner-on-growing-and-saving-true-potato-seeds-tps/
After reading something of Tom's it looks like it would have been better to have made a late sowing in August to produce mini tubers, for the following year.

[Tee Gee]

Not sure if I should/can plan for the next 5 or six years

?? Oh? Any particular reason Tee Gee? ?

Try not to lose heart Tee gee,

Sorry folks I may have misled you.

Having done it before I have no desire to do it again I'll just leave it to the experts to come up with new varieties!

It was interesting when I did it about 15 years ago the result of which I didn't produce anything better than the parent in fact it might not have been as good as the parent making it a bit of a waste of time.

Now if I had culture trays and facilities to do micro propagation ( as the experts now do) that would be a different matter.

Not losing heart losing memory more like, I often forget what I did five minutes ago let alone five years  :)