Topic: Seed Saving Circle 2023

[galina]

A very happy PS to add.  Last winter wasn't quite as cold as the previous years, the coldest being -13C and not for many nights in succession either.  Seems that self seeded lettuces like similar to Flashy Troutback and similar to Flashy Butteroak can indeed survive these conditions. And similar to Flashy Troutback looks stunning right now!  They are beautifully winter hardy.  Outside in the garden.  I took the self seeded Rossia, planted it in the greenhouse over winter, and that has been feeding us for several weeks now already, as I hoped it would.  Just today I also discovered one tiny Red Evolution among the weeds.   I have taken photos of similar to Flashy Troutback and similar to Flashy Butteroak.  Thank you for these delightful seeds again Vetivert, which have just revealed a very useful additional feature, their hardiness.  Hope they will do equally well for the circle members. 

[JanG]

They look amazingly healthy and perky after surviving -13. Great to know.

I’ve planted out both Rossia and Red Evolution from an early February sowing. Looking promising. Pictures later perhaps.

[juliev]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say a massive thank you for this wonderful seed circle. Everything is growing beautifully so far: chillies, peppers, tomatoes, TPS, lettuces, perennial leeks, peas (despite the voles and slugs... ahem). I can't wait to start sowing beans and squashes 

Question about the TPS: they are in cells at the moment, I've thinned to the 2 strongest/cell. Some of them have purple/red on the stem and others don't. I'm curious to see what happens... Can I pot them on and then plant them together? I'm guessing that would reduce the plant vigour and tuber numbers/size but would give me more variety to select from. Any advice on the next steps welcome...

[galina]

Glad your seeds are doing their thing beautifully for you. 

The thing with tps is that in the first year they are not quite the finished product and you don't want to carry on with all of your new types. 

You can expect to get mini tubers, rather than full sized tubers.  But the tuber size does vary, usually between pea and large plum sized.   

Another consideration is yield.  You many have a plant with a single mini tuber and the next may have twenty.  A clear choice which variety to carry on with, all other things being equal.  There are also differences in plant size vs tuber production.  You can have a bonny, large plant with disappointing yield below and equally the opposite.    Blight resistance also varies, make notes to know which are the most resistant plants. 

And you also want to taste test them.  Occasionally you will find a tuber that tastes 'lemony'.  Discard all tubers from that plant and don't carry on with them.  Because that lemony tang means that there is too much of the substance in this particular strain, which makes potatoes very slightly poisonous.  I have forgotten the name. 

What I would stress is that you want to be able to choose between your new potato varieties.  They aren't all equal.  And it is much easier to tell them apart, if you plant them well separated, so you know at harvest time whether that one single mini tuber was all there was, or that the twenty tubers did indeed all come from the same plant. 

Red vs yellowish stems.  You may well have red and yellow or whitish potatoes resulting.  But no guarantees of that fact.  Just make notes which plant (I number my plants for convenience) had red stems.

By the way (and this is way early) when you come to taste your mini tubers, one of each plant, I find it easiest to sit them in in a circle in one of my steamer trays and the first to taste has a toothpick in it, then the others get tasted going clockwise.  Quick notes at the time, as they will all be different.  Steamed gives excellent results and you know which one was which because you start with the toothpick marked potato which is number 1.  Others do it a similar way, but instead of steaming they microwave their mini tubers.  I use the toothpick method, but you can equally put each potato in a small biscuit cutter and have several biscuit cutters in the steamer tray, each with a different variety potato inside. 

I am sure you know that in principle each plant from true seeds is a ready new variety.  Apart from producing full size tubers only in the second year, there is no further change in characteristics or flavour.  What you see is the ready new variety.  Growing from tps is a lot of fun and the new varieties will be virus free.  You will be able to propagate from them for a number of years to come.  With bought seed potatoes you will see deterioration due to virus much quicker. 

[JanG]

I agree with Galina that growing potatoes from seed is an enjoyable exploration and you might well be experimenting for a few years with the small tubers you get this year. I grew potatoes from seed in 2020 (and again this year from Galina’s seed like you) and I’m still taste testing and narrowing down what was produced that year. I had 40+ varieties the first year and have narrowed down to about ten now. Of course what you grow on depends a lot on what space you can give them.

To go to your original question, Juliev, I would narrow down to one per cell at some point. If you’re hoping for inky potatoes as in the images on the Airtable base and earlier on this thread, I would narrow down to the ones with darkest stems and leaves but you might want to go for a range. I think potting on after a while before finally planting them out is definitely a good idea so that you’re planting out reasonably strong plants. You can bury them quite deep if they get a bit leggy and that helps to strengthen them too. I love seeing tiny potatoes developing in the pot before planting out! You might find this thread helpful and interesting when I asked similar questions and got advice on early stages in 2020.
https://www.growingfoodsavingseeds.co.uk/forum/main-forum/potatoes/2039-growing-potatoes-from-true-potato-seeds-tps

But I hope you get lots of fun out of them and that Galina and I haven’t complicated matters too much with our enthusiasm! They’re good survivors with a will to grow, even though they look delicate in the early stages.

[juliev]

Thank you so much Galina and JanG for your advice!
Galina, I remembered reading about the toothpick trick somewhere... turns out it was in one of your posts from the link JanG shared. Haha! I love that forum and I must have read through it several times. It's such a shame it's not that active anymore (and I'm a few years late...).

I'll pot on the seedlings over the next few days, choosing a majority of the darkest stems and just a few greens because I'm curious! (The fact I don't have enough room for the hundreds of seedlings accumulating all over the place is a problem for another day...  )

[JanG]

Thank you so much Galina and JanG for your advice!
Galina, I remembered reading about the toothpick trick somewhere... turns out it was in one of your posts from the link JanG shared. Haha! I love that forum and I must have read through it several times. It's such a shame it's not that active anymore (and I'm a few years late...).

I'll pot on the seedlings over the next few days, choosing a majority of the darkest stems and just a few greens because I'm curious! (The fact I don't have enough room for the hundreds of seedlings accumulating all over the place is a problem for another day...  )

I very much identify with your feeling of flirting with impending chaos over the number of seedlings accumulating - a slightly reckless enjoyment mixed with a pushed away awareness that some culling will have to happen at some point. We can enjoy the profusion for the time being!

And I too regret that GFSS is no longer really active (although it’s possible still to post and you are almost certain to get a response) and that I came a little late, but, as you suggest, it is a mine of useful, interesting, and inspiring content.