Should I buy proper seed potatoes or can I use supermarket spuds instead?

lynzpower

I have bought the ones in 99p stores ( charllotte & british guard) There were at least 8 in the bags.

I have been to a potato and seed fair today and the tubers were 15p each. There was a fantastic selection. I bought maincrop "camelot" as the guy reckoned they were the high yeilding in containers.

schumie

So if i keep some potatoes in my cupboard and they the knobbly bits on can i get a black dustbin bag, cut some drainage holes in the bottom, cover in compost and keep covering it when the shoots get high? How big do the knobbly bits on the potatoes have to be before i bury them?

If so how do i know when to eat them? Sorry sounds a bit silly but my growing experience is very very limited.

gazza975526570

schumie wrote: »

So if i keep some potatoes in my cupboard and they the knobbly bits on can i get a black dustbin bag, cut some drainage holes in the bottom, cover in compost and keep covering it when the shoots get high? How big do the knobbly bits on the potatoes have to be before i bury them?

If so how do i know when to eat them? Sorry sounds a bit silly but my growing experience is very very limited.

You dont keep them in the cupboard - you need to get some light on them beforehand.

There isnt a set length or time before you plant them - once the frost have gone will be fine - indeed lots of people dont bother chitting them at all. Ive done both ways and the difference wasnt noticable for me

Depends what kind of potatoe - ie early, main etc however 12 weeks should be about right. Start having a feel in the pot/bag/soil and see what potatoes you can feel. Thats the best bit!!!

schumie

thats for the hint to get light to the potatoes - thats why they always say keep them in the dark then so they don't get the knobbly bits!

chocsessential

valk_scot wrote: »

Ha..in my younger days I used to work for the Scottish Seed Potato Inspectorate so here's one I feel qualified to answer. Seed potatoes are grown in controlled and tested soil conditions and the crops rigorously inspected in the field to keep the burden of diseases they carry in the tubers down to under certain set levels. Potatoes can carry a lot of diseases..viral and bacterial...and the aim of using seed potatoes is to keep the incidence of these diseases down when growing the ware (eating) crops and thus keep yields up. A ware potato will be carrying a lot of disease by the time it's harvested but that won't matter because it won't be used to grow the commercial crop again the next year.

Regarding the virus and bacteria; are there any health risks for humans or is it more to do with just infecting other plants in the garden? Many thanks.

giantmutantbroccoli

Wow, thanks valk_scot! I didn't realise it was so complicated
Also thanks to everyone who mentioend their experiences with growing supermarket spuds. I don't like the idea of throwing out all that compost, so I'm thinking I'm probably better off just buying some seed potatoes from a decent (cheaper!) garden centre. I've got 2x 60 litre containers to grow them in, plus some bed space, but I don't want to have to worry about what sort of diseases they're leaving in the ground.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which varieties I should try? I live just outside Edinburgh and we're covered in snow at the moment, but with luck it'll be gone soon and I can get started. I'd like a waxy potato, preferably something with a good, strong flavour that's reasonably prolific in a container and (if that's possible) not a slug magnet.

I was looking at varieties online the other day, wondering vaguely how they get their names. Staring out the window thinking "Pentland? Why's it called pentland? That's a daft name for a potato!". Then I realsied I was staring at the Pentlands hills So anyway. I hear they're disease-resistant and good for growing in Scotland, but what do they taste like? Are they floury or waxy?

valk_scot

chocsessential wrote: »

Regarding the virus and bacteria; are there any health risks for humans or is it more to do with just infecting other plants in the garden? Many thanks.

The ones we inspected for don't affect humans, nope. And they mostly don't affect other garden plants unless they're part of the same solanaceae family...this basically means tomatoes. If you plant potatoes carrying blight on them, for example, it can affect your tomatoes. Or if you compost potato foliage or peelings with blight on them then use the compost on the tomatoes, that will spread blight too.

There are ornamental solanaceae plants as well, but I'm an allotment gardener mostly so don't know the exact ornamentals grown in the garden.

valk_scot

giantmutantbroccoli wrote: »

Wow, thanks valk_scot! I didn't realise it was so complicated
Also thanks to everyone who mentioend their experiences with growing supermarket spuds. I don't like the idea of throwing out all that compost, so I'm thinking I'm probably better off just buying some seed potatoes from a decent (cheaper!) garden centre. I've got 2x 60 litre containers to grow them in, plus some bed space, but I don't want to have to worry about what sort of diseases they're leaving in the ground.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which varieties I should try? I live just outside Edinburgh and we're covered in snow at the moment, but with luck it'll be gone soon and I can get started. I'd like a waxy potato, preferably something with a good, strong flavour that's reasonably prolific in a container and (if that's possible) not a slug magnet.

I was looking at varieties online the other day, wondering vaguely how they get their names. Staring out the window thinking "Pentland? Why's it called pentland? That's a daft name for a potato!". Then I realsied I was staring at the Pentlands hills So anyway. I hear they're disease-resistant and good for growing in Scotland, but what do they taste like? Are they floury or waxy?

You're welcome.

There's a lot of Pentland spuds...Pentland Dell, Pentland Squire, Pentland Javelin etc etc etc. They are like a family and the "Family" name is usually something to do with the location of the potato grower who first bred these specific varieties. The eating properties will vary with variety. Google for the name + potato and you should findd the details.

If you're growing in containers, go for first or second earlies, not maincrops. A good waxy second early is Charlotte, very easy to get hold of and good for either eating hot as new potatoes or for salads. Nice attractive looking smooth potato as well. Nadine is another good 2nd early waxy variety.

jeferey

Another tip I heard on Gardener's Question Time (Quite a funny radio program but informative too - available as a podcast for your iPod ) was to chit your potatoes but if you want larger potatoes, take off some of the sprouts and you will get fewer but larger potatoes.
I grow some earlies (Rocket or Pentland Javelin) under glass from end Feb / early March and these are always ready beginning of June. I have 2 x 4ft square glazed windows with aluminium frames that I put in position on one of my raised beds about a month before planting making sure the sides are covered too. Gets the ground nice and warm and those first earlies that you dig up at gorgeous. I am also trying some Kestrel this year.

giantmutantbroccoli

Thanks again for all the help!
Now I know some varieties I like the sound of:
Pentland javelin, Nadine, Charlotte - waxy spuds to grow in containers (going to buy more containers)
Pentland squire or crown - maincrop, general purpose spuds to grow in the ground

I have found a website that sells individual tubers for 20p each so I can do a pic'n'mix and just buy the amount I need. Plus no trying to catch buses with giant bags of spuds
http://www.grovesnurseries.co.uk
I'm gonig to check prices at the local garden centre first though.

Also if like me you didn't know you weren't suppsoed to put potato peelings in the compost and you're now wondering what to do with them, I have a solution!
http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/potato-skin-crisps/
Crisps! I'm going to try this but I'll admit it looks a bit mad. Also lots of recpies for potatoes and some useful info on how the different varieties taste, which is nice.