Fingerling potatoes

[piegirl]

My neighborhood grocery had a 'black friday' special on Melissa's Fingerling Medley - .99 for 1 1/2 lb bag. I bought several and roasted a pan full tonight. Oh my gosh - they are fantastic. My question - can I save a few of these to plant next spring. The medley included Ruby Crescent, Russian Banana, French fingerling and Purple Peruvin. No purples are in either bag but the R. banana and French are outstanding. How would I store these until - crisper drawer in a brown bag? If they survive, would you cut them in pieces like regular potatoes. piegirl

[kath]

Unless they've been sprayed with a product to prevent sprouting, you should be able to grow plants from them. I have saved smallish potatoes for planting whole the following year and had good luck with the 'crisper drawer technique', but I used baggies with a sheet of paper towel inside. I didn't seal the baggie, so they got some air, but you need to keep the humidity in a bit so they don't shrivel up. I checked from time to time to make sure they were ok and to adjust the humidity up or down, and when it was close to planting time, I would take any that hadn't sprouted out and kept them at room temp. to presprout.

About the cutting, it depends on the size of the tater. I'm not that experienced with growing fingerlings, but I think the "at least two eyes per piece" still applies.

I am not an expert, so this is just my experience. It's great that you found some winners to look forward to trying! Hope they do well for you.

[PaulF]

On our monthly trip to Costco in Omaha last week they had a large box of "mixed variety" fingerling potatoes. They really looked good but we did not buy them. No idea what they were. I thought about buying a sackful just to save and grow out next spring. I chickened out. Let us know how you do.

Saw a PBS program where an heirloom potato grower said to put the whole tuber in the ground because if you slice up the potato it invites disease and pests.

[kath]

Originally Posted by PaulF

Saw a PBS program where an heirloom potato grower said to put the whole tuber in the ground because if you slice up the potato it invites disease and pests.

Some people coat the pieces with sulfur or wood ash; some just let the pieces scab over by letting them dry a couple days after cutting.

[piegirl]

Thank you - I will put back a few. Since they are already sprouting, I don't think they were treated. The bag doesn't say organic but the taste is way over the top, too good not to be? Piegirl

[kath]

If the sprouts are large enough to break off before storing, you might want to do just that or else they might get too long before you need to plant. They could turn into a gnarly tangled mess in your bag which you wouldn't want to happen right before planting because you wouldn't want to loose any of the sprouts through breakage at that point.

I tried planting whole tubers vs. pieces one year and had a larger harvest/hill with the uncut ones. I try to buy seed potato that is about the size of an egg to plant whole, but if I can only find large ones, I will cut them.

[wmontanez]

Piegirl,

I have planted stored bought potatoes I had yukon and blue that I harvest this year were organic store bought. I saved some unique tubers for next year that are sprouting but I have them in my basement where humidity is high but in the dark in a potato sack so they can breathe. I am not too concerned of shriveling potatoes as long as they have some sprouts by April I pretend to plant those.

If you are lucky the fingerling might produce berries and the TPS seed could be started from then on to produce new potatoes. I've seen the russian banana and french fingerling in a small bag in my local wholefoods. I always look because I want some La Ratte that its supposed to be amazing, I am keeping a watchfull eye.

Good luck! Let's us know how it goes

[David Marek]

If you are curious, since they are sprouting, you could try keeping them in a bright area and sticking the sprouts as cuttings. (Google diffused light storage or rapid multiplication) Usually used for high quality seed stock... but it could be a fun experiment.

[piegirl]

Took my fingerlings out of the crisper and they are just perfect - little sprouts although the purples didn't have any, I planted them anyway. Another questions - will these fingerlings mature earlier than regular potatoes? I assume they die back, etc. I also saved 5 smaller yukons from late last fall. I knew I had a few hills left but the ground was so hard - anyway after several freezes, etc., I dug and around - had the little stash of yukons. They will be planted tomorrow. piegirl

[wmontanez]

Piegirl,

I don't know what you refer to as a regular potato (Baking potato Russet?)

In your original post you mention that you had a medley fingerling that include Ruby Crescent, Russian Banana, French fingerling and Purple Peruvian. I looked at the Ronninger's Catalog and they have a description with range of dates. http://www.potatogarden.com/mm5/merc...y_Code=NSPFing

Russian Banana- The superstar of the fingerlings and the easiest to grow. Developed in the Baltic Region of Europe/Asia and heralded as excellent for salads, it is a favorite among chefs and gourmet markets. Yellow, banana-shaped, waxy-type tubers with firm texture that have wonderful flavor baked, boiled and steamed. Mid-season

French fingerling - A gourmet quality fingerling with satin red skin and yellow flesh with an interior ring of red when cut across. Produces good-quality, medium sized tubers which are a great addition to any plate. It is said that this fingerling arrived in this country during the 1800's in a horse’s feedbag. Mid-Season

Purple Peruvian- Purple through and through, small to medium tubers with many eyes. A true Peruvian variety that produces well in this northern hemisphere. A great conversation piece and a sure fired market potato. Mealiest of the fingerlings, delicious when fried and awesome when roasted. Late variety


early: 60-80 days
mid season:80-100 days
late: 100-130 days

For Yukon starts flowering about 1.5-2 months after planting and ~90 days after starts to die. It is one of the early potatoes in the Ronninger's Catalog.

Good luck!