Potatoes

[Blueberry]

Hi guys

This is the first year I have grown potatoes and I have just pulled my first crop up, never thought it would be so exciting!!!

Anyway, what I wanted to know was can I save some of the potatoes I have grown this year to use as seed potatoes next year?

Thanks... Anna

[MINESAPINT]

It is certainly possible and I am sure many people do it and I have myself with a few sets occasionally. However it is not recommended due to the possibility of carrying disease forward particularly blight. Seed potatoes (sets) are grown at fairly high altitudes under strict conditions with any plants not in the best of health removed from the field.

[Turf cutter man]

Bob flowerdew says it is best to buy new. However to save money save seed potatoes from healthy plants for a few years before replacing with fresh seed before yield drops. Save good tubers about egg size, green bits don't matter.

I have followed alot of bobs advice and he is not afraid to try new things.

I tend to both save and buy new stock. But I have plenty of space to grow

[Annpan]

I think that the altitude is 230m, above which you can save your seed... I am at 215m... I am thinking of growing potatoes at the top of a ladder

[Clara]

I think that the altitude is 230m, above which you can save your seed... I am at 215m... I am thinking of growing potatoes at the top of a ladder

Do you know if that changes with temperature/climate? Most of Spain I should think is above that, we are at 1000m.

[Annpan]

Wow... no I don't know Clara, I think I read it in the John Seymour book (though it might have been elsewhere) chances are it is country specific(ish) - more to do with air pressure, perhaps???

But at 1000m I'd imagine that you would be high enough, I don't know where you would find out though.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I think that the altitude is 230m, above which you can save your seed... I am at 215m... I am thinking of growing potatoes at the top of a ladder

Do you know if that changes with temperature/climate? Most of Spain I should think is above that, we are at 1000m.

I have a feeling that seed potato producers are not only fairly high up but also close to the sea. The problem is not so much blight but various viral diseases that are carried by aphids. They tend to be in inland areas, hence the coastal link.

But a 1000 meters up...I'd be tempted to try it, particularly if you could keep a bed "home seed" potatoes a good distance away from any purchased seed plants. After all, farmers saved seed potatoes for generations and managed to grow fair crops in spite of not having "certified" seed.

[Mainer in Exile]

I planted a mini-crop of potatoes this year with ends cut from some store bought potatoes. It was February, unusually warm, and the potatoes had chitted. I cut off the worst end, a bit generously, and planted them out under fleece. It got cold again afterwards, cold enough to freeze some of the leaves. The plants survived and I got enough potatoes for a meal, out of 12 plants on a 1 square meter patch. I harvested them last week - the only losses were due to slugs.

My main crop is certified disease free seed potatoes. I'm planning on saving some of them for seed next year. From what I've read various places on the web and in books, it's fairly safe to use your own for three years, then you should get some fresh seed potatoes.

[Clara]

I think that the altitude is 230m, above which you can save your seed... I am at 215m... I am thinking of growing potatoes at the top of a ladder

Do you know if that changes with temperature/climate? Most of Spain I should think is above that, we are at 1000m.

I have a feeling that seed potato producers are not only fairly high up but also close to the sea. The problem is not so much blight but various viral diseases that are carried by aphids. They tend to be in inland areas, hence the coastal link.

But a 1000 meters up...I'd be tempted to try it, particularly if you could keep a bed "home seed" potatoes a good distance away from any purchased seed plants. After all, farmers saved seed potatoes for generations and managed to grow fair crops in spite of not having "certified" seed.

All the spuds we have planted this year have been regular ones we have bought (I have a friend who always does this), they seem ok at the moment, though of course I have no idea where they came from (other than they will be from somewhere in the province, most of which is fairly high).

1000m here is fairly median, I have a friend who lives at 1800m