I purchased several pounds of organic seed potatoes. They are presently in an open box, getting misted daily, pending shoot development.
In the meantime, I started a few plants from store-bought potatoes to experiment with growing.
I read an old Seed Potato Catalogue, which included general cultivation instructions. It suggested that the common practise of tossing a single seed potato into a hole in the ground was a BAD idea, and that far more potatoes could be harvested by either cutting the potato into sections and planting those, or even propigating from stem cuttings!
I’ve been keeping this potato to the side for a while.
I was impressed by the number of shoots coming
out of a single eye
I gently pulled the longest sprout away from the eye
and planted it in some potting soil.
These sprouts were from a cut potato eye which
I planted a couple of months ago. I had planted
the piece in with some ferns that I had indoors
and needed to transplant them into a different
container. I noticed that some of the shoots had
roots, so thought I’d try planting those too, to see
if they’d grow tubers too!!
One of the pieces with the baby tubers. The flesh
from the cut piece has totally gone, leaving only
the stalk stub, roots, and tubers behind.
Another stalk with baby tubers.
And another.