Hello All
Im looking at my great crop of Pink fir apples (so delighted i follwed all the posts that recomended them becuase they are delicious! :)) and looking at those little small green ones wondering what is done to potatoes to save them and make them into seed potatoes.
Do any of you manage to save potatoes until spring for seeding the next crop? if so how do you do it?
theres only so many potatoes one person can eat!
x sunloving
The saving of seed potato is often strongly disrecommended because of the assistance it affords disease.
However there are those that disagree with this and hold that the reason potatoes are so susceptible is because the seed is produced in such a way that the plants do not come into contact with pathogens and there for are not bred for resistance.
If you're interested in this concept, then this (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2cFDhH0wlIkC&dq=%22return+to+resistance%22&pg=PP1&ots=EmtcBPtK6u&sig=i26Qft_SMoxnMNWkuliQtRWmV_A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result) makes an interesting, if lengthy read.
I Make sure they are really DRY and clean ... I Pick out really sound ones about double the size of a hens egg . These are placed in a paper sack and put in a dry shed .. I use a bread tray placed upside down on 4 bricks to make sure the bottom of the sack is kept off the floor. As long as they dont get damp or frosted they will be fine ...
Great !
Thankyou for the instructions, im going to give it a try.
x sunloving
When the HSL offered heritage potatoes like Lord Roseberry and Aura as tubers I managed to keep them about 10 years before the viruses built up to such a degree that it wasn't worth it anymore! :)
If you grew your sed potatoes indoors, in containers, it would give them a better chance of escaping blight, and regular spraying with soft soap would keep down the aphids which spread disease. I don't know whether anyone's tried it.