Topic: Green seed potatoes

[plotstoeat]

Some of my seed potatoes have turned green while chitting. They were from the larder not a seed merchant. Will this adversely affect the plant?

[goodlife]

No...those are no problem at all...they will grow and produce totally normally.

[plotstoeat]

Thanks Goodlife. They'll be planted tomorrow

[Digeroo]

Chitted potatoes always turn green once they are in the light. Fine to grow but do not eat them green.   

There is a school of thought which suggest the larder potatoes are more likely to spread blight and other diseases so you might not be popular with other plot holders.

[plotstoeat]

Chitted potatoes always turn green once they are in the light. Fine to grow but do not eat them green.   

There is a school of thought which suggest the larder potatoes are more likely to spread blight and other diseases so you might not be popular with other plot holders.

These are going in my home garden Digeroo, so no worries.

[mrrigsby]

Using only certified seed potatoes helps to check the spread of blight, regardless of where they are planted.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Potatoes showing the slightest sign of rot should never be planted. That doesn't just apply to saved potatoes; up to 0.2% of certified seed can have blight.

[galina]

Potatoes showing the slightest sign of rot should never be planted. That doesn't just apply to saved potatoes; up to 0.2% of certified seed can have blight.

I am afraid what Robert said is sadly true.  I have seen some fine specimen of blighted potato tubers on potato days.  You'd think the organisers would have taken them away quickly, but no! 

Certified seed potatoes are potatoes which are low virus diseased, because they were grown in areas where greenfly, which transmit viruses, are not common. Potatoes with virus disease have lower yields than those from certified potatoes.  Nothing to do with blight.  Blight spores are airborne and land on the foliage and get activated under certain conditions (Smith Periods).  Blight can potentially survive in tubers in the ground, but it is the wind borne spores that cause the wide spread problem.

All chitted potatoes  s h o u l d  be green, that's normal.   

[Digeroo]

Our first year on site the blight started in the middle.  So I am convinced that the blight was brought in with the seed potatoes. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

I once had an outbreak start with a single plant in the middle of a bed that completely rotted before anything else showed symptoms. That might have been an infected tuber, but I can't be certain.