You do not need special “seed” potatoes
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Many people keep telling you that you need “proper” seed potatoes, which are quite costly, in order to grow your own good potatoes.
This, however, is, in my experience, not true.
I have used many different potatoes from the supermarkets for planting and the result is very good. In fact the homegrown one from those potato seeds seem better than the originals from the store.
If you have potatoes – bought from store (or not) – that have gotten eyes (they can't see anything with them though) and gone a little soft put them in a shed or else somewhere where they can carry on growing those shoots.
When you have them ready, as ready as you think they need to be, cut them into several pieces, always ensuring at least a set of shoots to each piece, and plant those in the soil, be this a bed or a tub.
I find growing potatoes in containers is much better than growing them in beds. Firstly it allows you to create small plots with different types – if you wish – potatoes and also planted and therefore ready to harvest at different times.
A great idea that I have tried some while back is to use old cardboard boxes in which to grow the potatoes. The boxes will slowly decay and when the potatoes are ready to harvest you just peel the remains of the old box away, stick the bits into the composter and put the potatoes into you vegetable store.
Growing potatoes in containers I found, as said, the best and easiest way to deal with them. Also seems to keep away some of the pests, it would seem.
I put a layer of soil and then a thin layer of bedding from my chickens into the container, add the potato seeds and cover them with a layer of soil. When the shoots and leaves are starting to come through I add some more soil and do this till nearly it will reach the top. Then I stop.
When the potatoes are ready to harvest the entire container, the entire tub, is them full of tubers of various sizes and they are all, normally, better than they were when they came from the store originally. Strange but true.
Even the cheapest store bought ones, such as Sainsbury's Basics potatoes make great ones when grown from their own seeds. Not that they are bad to start with but the new ones seem better, as said, that the original ones.
This is the cheapest way top grow your own potatoes and they normally are a success unless the blight hits. That can and does happen, though less, it would seem, when growing in containers.
So, go and try it. And this is a good way to use up the potatoes that have gone past their best. From old make new.
© 2010
