Tom Wagner's True Potato Seeds

[flutterby]

Well, I left it outside to fend for itself. I have, however, started more TPS under lights and heat indoors. I really want to grow as much outdoors as possible, since I do not have a "grow room" or greenhouse. Here in northern CA, we still have a chance of snow, so then it will break dormancy outside and then grow from there. This year has been unusually warm during winter. Usually it stays in the 40's with snow off and on. Now, barely any rain. Hope we don't have a drought. We just got out of one last year.

[loeb]

225705 Rosalina X hybrid second one is normal.. 8 seeds: 2 sprouted, I wonder if this one will be "special" and if it will be, what can I expect..

[wingnut]

I've had a few start out like this then they develop normally.

[clkeiper]

I have a late planting of potatoes that I bought from the store and tossed in the garden about July 1st 2012. They are beautiful right now and loaded with berries. I do believe they are Yukon Gold potatoes. How do I know if the berries are ripe? do they turn color from green to brown? or is it too late for them to mature for an experiment? The flowers were on them about a month ago, but now the nights are getting frosty. I have never thought about growing the berries out until I read this thread.. Thanks for any help. Carolyn

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

I have never thought about growing the berries out until I read this thread.. Thanks for any help. Carolyn

You grow potatoes from TPS much the same as with tomatoes, but the seed are tiny, and sprouting may be slow or erratic.

[Fusion_power]

Potato berries ripen about 6 weeks after the flowers. They will usually turn a slightly paler green or light yellow color when mature.

DarJones

[clkeiper]

Thank you DarJones. That was what I needed. I have oodles of them on some of the plants. I am hoping that the weather stays nice for a few more weeks and they lighten up or are ready by then. Do the seeds change from white to a darker color or is the seed color not indicative of ripeness? Thanks

[kilroyscarnival]

Are there any specific varieties that can grow better in Florida? And what time of year would I have to start?

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by kilroyscarnival

Are there any specific varieties that can grow better in Florida? And what time of year would I have to start?

Try to read the thread Potatoes for the Tropics. You can also ask Tom directly.

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by GunnarSK

Try to read the thread Potatoes for the Tropics. You can also ask Tom directly.

Thanks! I had done a search but might have used too many keywords. Had not found that conversation.

[wmontanez]

Try a Short season like Yukon Gold, if you can get any other varieties with good resistance to fungus even better. Tom has some short season blues also like Azul Toro that might do well.

[Tom Wagner]

kilroyscarnival

My name was mentioned a few times, therefore, I will chime in.

Growing potatoes in Orlando, Florida?

My knowledge of potatoes in Florida is about forty years out of date. I know varieties like Atlantic would do well there but where are you going to find tubers of that one? It is a potato chip variety and I doubt if you would find those around.

I don't know exactly the the best time to plant potatoes in Orlando, but I would hazard a guess...Jan/Feb planting and April harvest.

Potato varieties that would do best would be mid season to early so that the potatoes would die down naturally as the weather turns hot. So yes, Yukon Gold and Azul Toro would work just fine.

As far as varieties I have to trial in your area....I have quite a few...but you must let me know how big of an area you have to grow potatoes..containers only or do you have a large garden?

Are you in for yield, flavor, color etc?

Most of my on site buying of potatoes was when I was a potato buyer for Frito-Lay was in the Hastings area on the ground there and living in Fort Augustine during the harvest season. Homestead potatoes were bought over the phone.

Most of by breeding work for Florida were with Eastern Seaboard adapted varieties and I could fill pages with information on hundreds of varieties and experimental lines that have done well there over the past fifty years. My vast TPS collections undoubtedly would provide some great options but I don't think the interest is for these.

As I said...I have historical data on your area for variety selection but I think it best to start off simple first.

Reminds me of a poem I wrote...reminisced from poetry you may know of...... Schwartz......

"TIME BURNS-LEARNING ENDURES"

The fire of the candle of time burns but a lifetime
Leaving not a trace of its light, warmth, or shadow.
Did not Lincoln read by the fire before his prime?
That burning fire sparked kindled prose that would later show.
But for the lifelong learner who shares that learned time
Will extend past his lifetime a beaming enlightened glow
Of knowledge, casting an everlasting shadow off a stood still time.
Tom Wagner


Key words...Time learn fire burn etc.

"Time is the school in which we learn. Time is the fire in which we all burn"
Delmore Schwartz

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

kilroyscarnival
My name was mentioned a few times, therefore, I will chime in.

Thanks, Tom! Makes me think of: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice...

So yes, Yukon Gold and Azul Toro would work just fine.

Noted. A home grown Yukon Gold, would it be much different from a supermarket gold? Smaller, more flavorful?

As far as varieties I have to trial in your area....I have quite a few...but you must let me know how big of an area you have to grow potatoes..containers only or do you have a large garden?

Not a large garden, just some small beds and containers in a rental back yard. And I was planning to give potatoes a try in a container like a garbage can unless that's unwise. Before I discovered this thread and the info about TPS, I happened on a few how-tos on the web. I am a newbie gardener on almost all fronts. So far I have some tomatoes from starter plants, and a bunch of five-week seedlings of various types, some zukes and cukes, lettuces in boxes, carrots, couple of sweet and Anaheim peppers.

Are you in for yield, flavor, color etc?

I think mostly flavor and first-time growing experimentation. My parameters with gardening seem to be to grow things I love to eat frequently (snap peas fit), things that are either subpar, expensive, or hard to get at the supermarket (such as really ripe tomatoes or true baby carrots), or just different varieties. Bought a bag of mixed fingerlings, pretty sure one is Russian banana, and the other is pink-fleshed. Pretty, but flavor not very prominent. I do hope to grow sweet potatoes later in the year, as I understand they can grow well even in Florida summers.

Reminds me of a poem I wrote...reminisced from poetry you may know of...... Schwartz......

"TIME BURNS-LEARNING ENDURES"

The fire of the candle of time burns but a lifetime
Leaving not a trace of its light, warmth, or shadow.
Did not Lincoln read by the fire before his prime?
That burning fire sparked kindled prose that would later show.
But for the lifelong learner who shares that learned time
Will extend past his lifetime a beaming enlightened glow
Of knowledge, casting an everlasting shadow off a stood still time.
Tom Wagner

Nice! Yes, indeed, I see the echoes of the Schwartz poem. Also a bit of another (at least in themes) which is one of my favorites, also interweaving knowledge and experience contrasting with natural gifts and consequences:

Save postage stamps or photographs,
But save your soul! Only the past is immortal.

(the middle bit from this)

Hmm, I was kind of hoping there would be a variety-pack of TPS for 'dummies' who just want to try.

[Tom Wagner]

Kilroyscarnival,

Fortunately, saying his (Betelguese) name three times can also be used to get rid of him and could be said to get rid of me as well.

Whether or not....growing Yukon Golds at home would taste any better than store bought...gotta ask the readership here...How about it?

I know I can get better flavor with an ample organic fertilizer and mineral augmentation that surpasses anything the commercial growers have.

Since this topic thread is about TPS, my suggestion is to try a few of my mini tubers grown from TPS seedlings...several colors of proven flavor and performance from selected pedigrees. Container growing allows a bit more flexibility in planting times.

The poetry of Delmore Schwartz reads a bit too much like a tortured man to me and far too New York City oriented for this 5th generation Kansas farm boy to follow well. However, if one takes the time to re-read his poetry, it does provoke mental imagery.

Major writing is to say what has been seen, so that it need never be said again. Delmore Schwartz

[Tom Wagner]

True Potato Seed ...TPS... can vary greatly in size and plumpness. TPS saved over a forty year span with the LENAPE variety has always been among the largest TPS among the tuberosum clones. Here is a picture of seed extracted today.



Larger seed means more food for the seedlings and as a result...larger cotyledons and seedling size at early stages. Lenape makes for a great seed parent when crosses are made...the hybrid vigor plus the extra seed size creates a remarkable improvement over smaller TPS clones.