Old or new??

[pumkinlover]

I've just dug up some  potatoes from  where my crop was last year, and we are going to have them for tea.

Am I right in thinking that the little potatoes that crop up with a small leave and stalk are called volunteers? these  have a single stalk /leaf then one tubour underneath. I do  not think it is those as the tatties are good sized
So are they ones I missed last year, if so why are they so healthy looking when all my carefully lifted and stored tatties were rubbish? The skin does not rub off as in a new potato but it does not look like an old one either?

[pumkinlover]

[goodlife]

Sounds like you have last years 'missed one's'  growing..and yes..sometimes they do look very fresh and new..but that is good as then they should be quite healthy...perharps some volunteers for growing for a crop?
When I dug earlier on my last years spud bed..I too found these perfectly stored potatoes..and they were tasty too
The soil at the time was still cold and they haven't started growing so decided to eat them. Spud is spud...

[Flighty]

Most people miss a few volunteers, which I always consider a welcome bonus if they're usable. It's surprising how they stay okay in the ground, even over two years.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The danger here is blight. Volunteers are one of the two main ways (the other being farmers' outgrade piles) in which the disease overwinters. It's the same thing every year; once the disease appears, people are in a panic over what to do about diseased foliage. At this time of year, they never stop to think that if they eliminated the volunteers, they might not get it in the first place.

[pumkinlover]

I've heard this lots of times but never fully understood it as the volunteers are so healthy looking.
I guess the spores just overwinter on them but do not cause a problem untill the correct temperature and humidity occur. Just seems stange that they look so good.
Anyway out they come!

[Robert_Brenchley]

If a tuber has a little blight it can come through the winter and produce a plant in spring. As the temperature rises it succumbs, and if the conditions are right, infects other plants on the way out. If you're going to plant your own saved tubers, you need to inspect them carefully before doing so.

[pumkinlover]

Thanks for replies.
No I do not save my potatoes, and I try to get all the volunteers up.
We love our tatties and I'd rather spend a few pounds than risk my crop!

[antipodes]

Usually the volunteers are the first ones to be dug up, as I plant something over them. So it is never yet the season for blight when the volunteers are growing... at least on my patch.

However, logically if there is only one tuber, that is not a new potato but the "mother" of the plant that has put out growth. Those are never good to eat as they have been in ground all winter. If there are no little spuds attached, then the volunteer hasn't grown enough to produce taties and you should just chuck it out.

[pigeonseed]

It's very hard to catch all the volunteers, but I suppose the sooner you get them out the better. And if they're fresh, might as well eat them!

I always put volunteers/foliage in the covered, slow compost, or in the bin at home - but I suppose theoretically spores could blow about from the landfill :-(

[Robert_Brenchley]

Once the potato plant is dead, you can safely assume the blight is as well.

[pumkinlover]

Thanks for the replies, just hope we get a good crop soon!