seed potatoes in B+Q now

[Rosendula]

Just thought I'd let you know that B+Q have their seed potatoes in - £3.48 for 2.5kg, or you can buy 2 for £5.

[Mr_Moon]

is that a lot of seeds....

[Rosendula]

Hi Mr Moon,
in a 2.5kg bag there's between about 22 and 32 depending on the size of them.

[hippy chick]

roughly how many tatties would that grow?

[Annpan]

last year, I got 1 potato for every seed I planted, this year I got about 6 potatoes for every seed potato.... I guess it depends on what kind of year it is but I would go for around the 6 per seed for planning purposes.

[TheLancsLass]

yeah we got around 5-6 totties per seed last year too.

[MuddyWitch]

Looks like I may have to go & buy more seed potatoes...

My doppy mutt just ate the ones I'd set to chitting in the consevatory!

MW

[Neil Freeman]

Iv'e been reading a few articles on potato chitting but none of them mention cutting the seed potatoes into smaller pieces to produce more plants, has anyone got any advice.
Cheers Neil

[Neil Freeman]

Iv'e been reading a few articles on potato chitting but none of them mention cutting the seed potatoes into smaller pieces to produce more plants, has anyone got any advice.
Cheers Neil

[pumpy]

Hi Neil, i've had perfectly healthy-looking plants growing from peices of peel on the compost heap, which i have subsequently planted. They have produced a decent crop, but the tubars tend to suffer from blight. I guess that if you cut/halve your seeds,then they will be open to desease...... but it's only a guess. I presume that, as the seeds are O.K'd by the marketing board, then they are not meant to be "tampered" with, but i s'pose its worth trying a few for comparison.

[Rosendula]

Hi Neil,
Pumpy's right. It leaves them open to disease. That said, a lot of people do it, so it's up to you if you want to take the risk. On a similar note, I read somewhere that if you score the bottom of the seed with a knife it helps the seed rot down as the plant grows, allowing more of the energy to go to the plant and the new potatoes. I also read that you shouldn't do this. So last year I did it with half of my plants. One, that I had scored, suffered black leg (or is it black rot?). Apart from that, there was absolutely no difference between the plants.