will frozen seed potatoes sprout?

[svalli]

We are preparing moving over the Atlantic during the coldest season on Northern Hemisphere. I am not so concern about the true seeds (tomatoes, peppers, veggies, flowrers and TPS), but I was planning to pack some of the Peruvian Purple potatoes I dug up this fall and save them as seed potatoes.

Now I am worried that they will freeze while shipped in the ocean container with out earthly belongings. These potatoes had grown in the garden from potatoes, which stayed in the ground over the winter, so they must have been affected by freezing tmperatures during the Wisconsin winter. Would seed potatoes stay viable if they freeze? Is there anything I could do to protect them? I could pack them in sawdust in plastic container, so they would not dry, but they could still freeze.

[Tom Wagner]

40 foot sea container for house load

Svalli,

I looked up the time for transport from Wisconsin to Finland, and the time on the ocean vessel is usually about 2 weeks. The current temperature in Helsinki in running just above freezing for the highs, but just below freezing for the lows. Given that you are shipping that container now or soon means that the inevitable colder temps will set in.

The potatoes would probably make it now but later is iffy. If the potatoes are packed in sawdust and placed near the center of the 40 foot sea container, they just might make it.

I don't know for sure what the temps are later in the North Atlantic corridor or, for that matter, in the Baltic Sea. If the sea containers are stacked up around yours, the chances are better. Potato tubers kept in in dry environment will tolerate some frost, but not outright freezing.

Good luck to you. Kippis! Porot ovat söpöjä. Aja hiljaa sillalla.
Tom






BTW, the best alternative is to look among your TPS grow outs for Purple Peruvian facsimiles. The TPS you have will likely have a number of potential seedlings for blue fleshed fingerlings.

[svalli]

Thanks Tom,

It seems that we will spend Christmas here and the containers will be packed during the last week of December or beginning of January. We are moving about 300 miles north of Helsinki. The containers will leave from NY, so they may go via rail from Wisconsin to the harbor. Our new hometown Vaasa has a harbor, but the containers may arrive to Helsinki and be transported north via road. So I have to prepared that evrything I pack can freeze. The whole trip will take 4 - 6 weeks. I already checked that jellies made with pectin should not be affected by freezing, so I can pack my hot pepper jelly.

It may be best to enjoy the remaining Peruvian Purples at Christmas dinner. My luggage will be full of clothes and other necessary items needed when waiting the ocean shipment, so I can not fill it with potatoes or carry a 'kartoffelkoffer' to the plane.

Kippis! Porot ovat söpöjä. Aja hiljaa sillalla.

Cheers! Raindeers are cute. Drive slowly on a bridge.

How does 'Alavilla mailla hallan vaara' sound? It is something which we all gardeners are afraid of and it may be heard at the weather forecast (threat of frost at low areas).

Hauskaa Joulua kaikille!
Sari

[Tom Wagner]

Sari,

It does sound like from your description of the transport issues that potato tubers would indeed freeze!

How does 'Alavilla mailla hallan vaara' sound? It is something which we all gardeners are afraid of and it may be heard at the weather forecast (threat of frost at low areas).

Alavilla mailla hallan vaara just doesn't translate well. I get this seemingly nonsensical verbage:


Footnote bat frost peril


Even your Have a Merry Christmas


(Hauskaa Joulua kaikille) comes out this way:


Amusing Christmas kaikille (Probably?)



Hankkia eheä astua harhaan! Have a safe trip!

Tom

[svalli]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

Hankkia eheä astua harhaan!

Get whole step astray???

Those computer translations are funny. Finnish is really difficult language for translation software, because prepositions are put into end of the word and sometimes the spelling changes.

kaikille = to all
kaikki = all
'lle' in the end means 'to' and the double consonant in the word becomes single, when 'lle' or someting else is added to the end.

Amusing Christmas to everyone!

[Tom Wagner]

I think I better go back to potatoes and forget trying to be the Houkka from the Trollkarlens hatt. Tom

[svalli]

The issue about frozen seed potatoes reminded me about a thing I witnessed long time ago. I lived in a condominium, which had a common cooled storage room with lockable units made of wooden shelves and chicken wire doors for each apartment. It was meant for storage of potatoes, root vegetables, jellies etc. I guess it could be called a root cellar. Some people did not use theirs much, but I used to stockpile stuff every fall into mine. One of the neighbors had put about 20 potatoes on her unit on the shelf, without any protection. Temperature in the cooler was kept about 40°F and air was a bit too dry to keep root vegetables like that. The potatoes started to shrivel a bit and next spring sprouted. The sprouts dried off and the potatoes kept drying more during the next months and she did not come to clean her unit. About 2 or 3 years later the tiny potato raisins suddenly bursted to life again. They grew thin white sprouts in the dark cold room. I do not know what made them to sprout, maybe the humidity in the room increased for some reason. Those were some resilient potatoes.