dont be ripped off with your seed potatoes

[gunners71uk]

i been looking around at prices for seed potatoes average 5.95 for 3 kg and can be worse on ebay etc and i was talking to some one on the allotment who reccommended your local allotment shop and you dont need to be a member of an allotment in some cases well i rang up average 5 kg bag four quid if anyone can do better pls let me know.
regards dave

[Boots]

As far as I know (and Nev may know different maybe?) we don't buy seed potatoes here Gunners...

We send our spuds to seed and just replant. Well, that's what I do. I just choose a pile of good sized Mummas, tuck them in a dark corner and let them do their thing, but others have different techniques where they chop em up, sit them in water, poke them with toothpicks, wrap them in burlap or whatever wonderful tricks they use.

I'm not sure if that has something to do with our temps, or what? As I have heard many on here mention buying them over there...

I often keep my eye out for local spuds on sale with green tips in the eyes. They are usually heaps cheap, because folks figure they are no good and don't want them, but they are great 'seed potatoes'. Is that the same thing you are talking about, or are you buying them from a special supplier? I spent several years asking around over here for seed potatoes and getting weird looks from nursery owners before I eventually bumped into someone who grows them commercially and he gave me the same look before explaining he would keep spuds from each crop for replanting.

So can someone set me straight on this??? What are you planting over there when you say 'seed potatoes'?.... Are they Potatoes?

[PurpleDragon]

Now, I read a lot of things saying not to use your own crop leftovers for new planting because it can breed disease. I've been panicking because me last lot of tatties I put in were given me by a neighbour who found them in her cupboard all sprouted and was gonna bin them.

[legendaryone]

Yes Boots they are potatoes They have been specialy treated to be disease free etc.


P.S. Does anyone know why the spell check is not working ? Because i'm sure i have spelt specialy wrong

[2steps]

I either use potatoes saved from my own crop or chit some from what we buy to eat (or end up planting a few extra when I discover spuds with tenticles in the bottom of the spud box )

I have also saved soem potato fruits from this year to experiment with the seeds from those

I have bought seed potatoes before though, from wilkos. They were £2 a bag.

[Stonehead]

The combination of weather and height above sea level makes most of the UK susceptible to blight while virus and eelworm both build up over time, which is why it is recommended you don't save potatoes for seed in following years.

If you do save for seed, you should only do so for a year or perhaps two at a stretch.

I can't remember the excact height above sea level nor find it by Googling, but it's above 200 metres.

[Wombat]

Yes Boots, I have bought seed potatoes as well as planting sprouting left, overs. The advantage of seed potatoes is you can grow spuds not available in the green grocer. I don't know that I've noticed any differences in yeild that were explainable only by the use of seed spuds or vice versa!

Nev

[Boots]

Ok. Got that sorted now. Thankyou!

[gunners71uk]

wow this is cool this topic has took off like a rocket salad lol

[Millymollymandy]

Some other info Boots - seed potatoes are small, so when you put them in the light for chitting they fit nicely in egg boxes!

[Diana]

I'll be buying mine from the local nursery - they sell them loose (so you can chose the number of tubers you want and what size), have a reasonable range and they're only about 90p a kilo (I think that's what they were this year)

[the.fee.fairy]

I've always done the 'grow the sprouting ones at the bottom of the bag' potato planting. I make sure that i use different areas every year though, so that hopefully, i'll be avoiding blight and the other nasties.

[gunners71uk]

thats not a bad deal diana,not sure about using sprouting spuds fairy.
regards dave.