Q: Cutting sprouted russet potatoes in half for planting?

nickel plate · March 26, 2018

They've been in the dark basement for about a month+ and the eyes are generously sprouting. I have a dozen about 4+ inches long organic russet type potatoes so my question is how to go about cutting them down the middle perpendicular to the overall length as to produce two equal active pieces or just plant them whole and be done with it.
This is my third year of raising potatoes in the central valley of California but in the past it's always been smaller seed potatoes, no cutting necessary and decent yet small sized harvests.
Also planting three dozen red seed varieties that will be dropped in at the same time.

rxkeith · March 26, 2018

when i cut potatoes before planting, i am not concerned about making the pieces the same size. thats too ocd for me. rather, my cuts are determined by where the eyes are sprouting. you want at least one eye per piece. why have two equal size pieces where you have five eyes sprouting on one, but only one eye on the other piece. i'll try to even it up a bit, and have at least two eyes on each piece. on a large potato, i may cut it into three or more pieces, and each piece will be a different shape or size. golf ball to egg size potatoes i will usually leave whole.

keith

PhilaGardener · March 27, 2018

+1. Cut and leave the pieces in the light for several days to heal over before you plant. That will reduce rotting. The light also will green up your shoots and stop them from elongating out of control. Best wishes for a great harvest!

March 26, 2018	#1
nickel plate Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: California Posts: 24	Q: Cutting sprouted russet potatoes in half for planting? They've been in the dark basement for about a month+ and the eyes are generously sprouting. I have a dozen about 4+ inches long organic russet type potatoes so my question is how to go about cutting them down the middle perpendicular to the overall length as to produce two equal active pieces or just plant them whole and be done with it. This is my third year of raising potatoes in the central valley of California but in the past it's always been smaller seed potatoes, no cutting necessary and decent yet small sized harvests. Also planting three dozen red seed varieties that will be dropped in at the same time.

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March 26, 2018	#2
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	when i cut potatoes before planting, i am not concerned about making the pieces the same size. thats too ocd for me. rather, my cuts are determined by where the eyes are sprouting. you want at least one eye per piece. why have two equal size pieces where you have five eyes sprouting on one, but only one eye on the other piece. i'll try to even it up a bit, and have at least two eyes on each piece. on a large potato, i may cut it into three or more pieces, and each piece will be a different shape or size. golf ball to egg size potatoes i will usually leave whole. keith

March 27, 2018	#3
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	+1. Cut and leave the pieces in the light for several days to heal over before you plant. That will reduce rotting. The light also will green up your shoots and stop them from elongating out of control. Best wishes for a great harvest!