So far, the potato tubers you sent me have been doing well, Julia! I have a patch in full sun, and a patch in mostly shade. They seem to be doing equally well. So far, the temperatures haven’t gone above about 85°F, so we’ll see if one does better than the other after daytime temperatures start hovering between 95-100°F.
I think some of the potato plants are from true seeds, too; it’s hard to be sure, because I stuck them in the same space. I probably should have separated them in order to have a better test, but I put them out in February, and I needed to keep them under a plastic tunnel, and I only had one framework ready for it.
Either way, I think I have strong evidence that planting potatoes in February with a plastic tunnel on top of them works in my climate. If they are ready to harvest in, say, July, then I could immediately flip the bed over to brassicas and fava beans that I want to have growing through the winter, which would be a great use of space.
I think I saw something that looked like tiny flowerbuds forming on one of the potato plants, which was very exciting. Hopefully I’ll get flowers, then fruit, then true seeds!
I harvested some potatoes and had them for dinner. I just love these colors and had to share. Pink, purple and golden is what yall should see in your harvest this year from the GTS seeds! And the first photo of golden short changes that potato, it is the color of bug and grass fed egg yolks like the second photo.
I managed to get 2 healthy looking potato plants! Both of them are from my planting in 72 cell seed trays back in late February/early March.
None of the seeds I direct sowed came up.
I am thrilled with my results. I dare not disturb the roots. I will just have to hope they are tasty and good looking. I’ll just let them continue bearing fruit so I can get as many seeds as possible.
I consider myself lucky to have received any potato seed that happens to have the “right stuff” for my environment.
One potato is fruiting well. The other is flowering but not fruiting. I hope there is some cross pollinating going between these two.
I am thrilled with my results. Hopefully I can plenty of seeds to share back with the community.
In the first photo I see a handful of potato leaves under a tomato plant, is that possible?
The second photo looks to me like mostly potato leaves underneath with unripe tomatoes hanging over them. I like that purple leaf lower left.
Are you also growing any potatoes from tubers here?
You haven’t grown tomatillos before? Are you thinking they came from the potato seed packet?
Thanks for sharing!
In the first photo I see a handful of potato leaves under a tomato plant, is that possible?
The second photo looks to me like mostly potato leaves underneath with unripe tomatoes hanging over them. I like that purple leaf lower left.
Are you also growing any potatoes from tubers here?
You haven’t grown tomatillos before? Are you thinking they came from the potato seed packet?
Thanks for sharing!
It’s definitely possible potato is under the plant with fruit on it.
I am not currently growing potatoes from tubers.
I have never grown tomato until now lol. I recently started a tomato bed but I didn’t open those seeds until recently.
I have never grown or tasted tomatillos before. It if manages to produce, should be interesting.
I planted the ground cherry packet and true potato seed packet at same time, same place. I suspect the plant with fruit on it (tomato?) and the tomatillo came from either of those packets. It’s cool though, 4 new experiences for the price of 2.
I think it must have been the lighting that caused the lack of growth early on. People grow short to mid season potatoes from spuds beginning about a week or two before our last frost around the 20th of March. I’ll either do lighting or grow them later next year, in time with people planting spuds. Our temperatures are kind of all over the place during late winter and early spring with some weeks in the mid-80s and then the next week 60s with night temps in the 40s or so. I don’t have any photos since there was not much to look at.
I definitely realize that about Florida. I think this will be the last effort I put into them because even if I do get some to make it, they would have to have a very long dormancy to make it all the way to next spring if I do from spuds, and I think it is very unlikely they will produce seed successfully with our high temps during flowering.
Thanks for the info on the lighting. I had not seen that.
I planted my potatoes late, seedlings had been in flats longer than I would have liked, nor did I get around to up-potting them so they were tightly spaced for the better part of a month there. But they did really well with the transplant with minimal shock and are looking quite perky and putting on growth now.
Maybe 1/5 or 1/4 of the plants had tiny potatoes already growing, and I have read that is not desireable but I am hoping its not an issue. I may be naive but I assume that is a non issue since the plants will keep growing roots.
I sowed the seed in flats around mid march when I sowed the other nightshades. The germination rate was a dream, although I did not count how many seeds I put in, but it was very high. I used bottom heat which I later read is to be avoided since potatoes like to germinate in cooler soil. But they came up fine regardless, perhaps it was not too hot since the flats are fairly tall at 3 inches of soil plus half an inch of wood.
I have 49 seedlings in this raised bed. I am limited on space that gophers won’t eat root crops at the moment, so I dedicated a brand new raised bed to these babies
I love seeing the different shaped leaves and colors in the mix. I have a feeling they will grow quickly based on what I’ve seen so far.
I love the idea of our potato see adapting to our growing habits and climate!
I look forward to updating you all with how they do the rest of the season! Exciting!
my tps are going slow but going, the ones that I got from holly that are now 2 years old are starting to get flowers though and they’re growing extremely well. I do think that i’ll regularly grow both seed and clones each year
I am going to call it. Complete failure for me on true potato seeds. Earlier I had thought a tomato and tomatillo was a potato plant due to my inexperience.
Whoever accidentally gave me those tomato and tomatillo seed did me a huge favor. Both are producing and are my first ever tomato and tomatillo plants!
GTS seeds got mixed up with others I had, but I think I can recognize one that I noticed as a seedling. There are some that have little purple in them, but this one is the most purple. It’s also among fastest growers.
After I removed a nearby tomato plant, I began to notice these 2 potato plants. There’s still hope I think. They look miserable but so far have refused to die.
