Tater leaves

sirtanon · March 30, 2007

I've been reading through the Potato forum - never really looked at it much before because I've never really been a potato grower, but I figured I'd take some time and familiarize myself with it..

..especially since I had some potato plants come up where we buried some kitchen scraps.

I've noticed in the pictures everyone has been posting about their potatoes, that the leaves don't really seem to get HUGE.. and my question is - Do the leaves on potato plants get that big normally, or do they usually stay pretty small?

The reason I ask is..

As you can see, pretty huge leaves on this one.

**Tom Wagner** · March 31, 2007

Potato leaves differ from one variety to another and it is common to be visually observed by one characteristic or more. Identification of a variety is made by knowing its basic features together with rather weird characteristics peculiar to each variety. There is an art of variety identification.

The ontogeny of a potato growing from start to finish is a good thing to know. When are potatoes leaves full size? Good question, as environment is a major influence. I don't want to get all technical and stuff, so I'll summarize with a note or two on potato leaf morphology.

POTATO LEAVES- The leaf is compound and made up of a petiole, a terminal leaflet, and two to four pairs of primary leaflets with secondary leaflets and sometimes tertiary leaflets along the midrib.

The compound potato leaf

Open or closed potato leaves is just one feature in varietal identification. I could go into variations of potato leaf morphology based on ploidy numbers, diploid or tetraploid, the latter as in most cultivated potato varieties.

Tom

March 30, 2007	#1
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	Tater leaves I've been reading through the Potato forum - never really looked at it much before because I've never really been a potato grower, but I figured I'd take some time and familiarize myself with it.. ..especially since I had some potato plants come up where we buried some kitchen scraps. I've noticed in the pictures everyone has been posting about their potatoes, that the leaves don't really seem to get HUGE.. and my question is - Do the leaves on potato plants get that big normally, or do they usually stay pretty small? The reason I ask is.. As you can see, pretty huge leaves on this one. __________________ I could sail by on the winds of silence, and maybe they won't notice... but this time I think it would be better if I swim..

March 31, 2007	#2
Tom Wagner Crosstalk™ Forum Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: 8407 18th Ave West 7-203 Everett, Washington 98204 Posts: 1,157	Potato leaves differ from one variety to another and it is common to be visually observed by one characteristic or more. Identification of a variety is made by knowing its basic features together with rather weird characteristics peculiar to each variety. There is an art of variety identification. The ontogeny of a potato growing from start to finish is a good thing to know. When are potatoes leaves full size? Good question, as environment is a major influence. I don't want to get all technical and stuff, so I'll summarize with a note or two on potato leaf morphology. POTATO LEAVES- The leaf is compound and made up of a petiole, a terminal leaflet, and two to four pairs of primary leaflets with secondary leaflets and sometimes tertiary leaflets along the midrib. The compound potato leaf Open or closed potato leaves is just one feature in varietal identification. I could go into variations of potato leaf morphology based on ploidy numbers, diploid or tetraploid, the latter as in most cultivated potato varieties. Tom