Allotments 4 All

hi,

i read that its much better to buy pototoes for planting from suppliers rather than use shop one -  is this really required ?  or just good marketing -  they say the disease in shop bought ones will make it a waste of time to plant them

i want to buy mars piper and i see them in morrisions.

i intend to grow them in old tyres.

thanks
hendrik

It is not clever marketing.  It is true that shop bought spuds are best not used.  For a more guaranteed success of potato crop you are definitely best to use potato sets from reputable suppliers.  Spuds that you buy to eat from your local supermarket are not really supposed to be any good for sowing.  What you have heard is correct.

I have ordered my seed potatoes from http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/ 7.5Kg for £17.92 (including £5.95 carriage, = £3.99/2.5Kg). This is about half the price of some growers.

am not the worlds most experianced grower in the world but last year i was given some red roosters and they grew a treat maybe i was just lucky hey !!!  ;D

I grew both seed potatoes and ones I found "chitting" in the back of the cupboard.

The result was the same.

The normal shop bought ones were Desiree and we are still eating them now!

I think the risk is that you might introduce disease into your soil.  Seed potatoes are certified as disease-free.  Supermarket potatoes aren't as they aren't intended for planting.

if we have any of our own, or shop bought ones sprouting, we plant some in containers

As Ceres says they are certified disease free, we've all used supermarket ones when we knew no better but why take the chance, but in containers like the Scousers is a different matter, I buy mine in our local nursery, a lot cheaoer than sending off for them.  ;D ;D ;D

thanks for all the advice

i intend to use containers (tyres - to be precise) 

but as it is my 1st time i wont take the chance and get them from supplier.

strangely enough -  my bought garlic has not yet showed signs of growth but the morrisons ones have -  will see what happens ....

My seed potatoes cost 14.95 for 25kg,  certified scotchish seed. I buy for fellow allotment holders.

Squashman, can you tell us who your potato supplier is please?

You should conduct an experiment - try growing some from  the supermarket and some from the suppliers  :)

I am going to try growing spuds in tubs next year for the first time, havent decided what yet.  Any advice to a beginner would be appreciated.   

http://www.britishpotatoes.co.uk/

Thank you  :)   Didnt realise they can start going in from January !!   Will need to start planning now!

just read old tyres leak cadmium and thus making pototoes not that good for you to eat.   effectively poisioning the pototoes ....

Hmmmmm............  Best not to use them then !   

I am just gonna use good old plastic tubs with holes in the bottom.

The only difference with shop potatoes and the ones from garden centres etc is the certification.
It is always better to start off with certified seed potatoes and when your crop is ready for lifting keep some for seed the next year.
I have been growing potatoes for over 3o years and only buy certified seed potatoes every third year.
Our allotment pays £10 per 56llb bag of certified seed potatoes which we get from a seed merchant in Burlenton Couper Angus in Scotland.
Shop potatoes will grow just the same.

Think i have replied to this question a few times over the last few years but just to say again when i was a market Gardener we used to plant half certified Scotch Seed Potatoes and half own saved tubers out of the previously planted Scotch Seed. There was never no difference in production.

Things seem to have changed a bit over time .
Shop potatoes that we bought to eat until few years ago didn't have the variety on the bags, so buying them to plant was a bit of a lottery as to what variety they were ..Now folks are a bit more discerning with them and usually know which variety they are buying .
I remember when we could buy from our local seed merchant two sorts of potatoes to grow . One was Scots seed potatoes and the other was once grown Scotch seeds which were cheaper.
I save my own seed from my PFA as I only grow a couple of rows of these I have never had no trouble with these.
Like others I buy my seed potatoes from local society as they are cheap enough and available but if availability or finances didn't allow me to do this, I would have no qualms setting potates which had been bought for the table  as long as they weren't the foreign out of season imported ones..

Think you have hit the nail on the head  Growmore with your comment on   " if finances allow " as i think this will be one of the main things next season...... if people have the finances