[Marston]

Is it wise to use some of last years potato crop for this years seeds

[mumofstig]

You could, as long as you're sure they were disease free, but I wouldn't do it every year.
The old boys on our site only buy seed every other year and it seems to work for them

[Yorkie]

I wouldn't, as not all diseases will be visible.

One of our members is a professional potato grower.  He was given some unusual potatoes by a friend, who had been growing them for several years, reusing tubers each year.

Luckily for him he planted them in tubs away from his professional crops because when they came up it was evident that they were significantly affected by viruses and had to be destroyed.

If grown in the open with all his professional tubers he'd have risked all of them being infected - and thus the biosecurity of his business.

[sunshineband]

A search around on the forum will gve lots of information about the dangers (often invisible) of using supermarket potatoes or home grown ones as seed potatoes for the next season.

Seed potatoes are relatively inexpensive and are guaranteed disease-free.

Not worth the risk imho

[gobs]

This could be a nice day out, even:

'Garlic, onion sets, artichokes and seed potatoes (24 varieties) in stock now including the Unwins seeds and the stunning Franchi Italian seeds for something a little different.'

http://www.sixacres.co.uk/retail.htm

[DD.]

Get across to Brookside Nurseries at Cropston.

With nearly 100 varieties to chose from at only £1.25 a kilo - is it really worth the risk?

[gobs]

I forgot, you were from there.

[DD.]

For my sins, yes. 

[gavinjconway]

Marston as said above the cost of proper certified seed is so cheap at a couple of quid or so for a kilo It's not worth keeping them tubers of yours..

[Marston]

Thanks everyone for your replies.This was not a cost cutting exercise but just trying to get my head around how they produce disease free seed.Presumably they use their own seed to make seed for the following year in sterile conditions ?

[Yorkie]

It's partly where they are grown - far enough north in Scotland where the aphids etc don't transfer viruses.

[DD.]

I was just typing this at the same time:

You'll notice that they're Scotch seed potatoes. Produced under strictly controlled conditions in a climate where they don't have an aphid problem, (or at least far less of one), to spread diseases.

[gobs]

Thanks everyone for your replies.This was not a cost cutting exercise but just trying to get my head around how they produce disease free seed.Presumably they use their own seed to make seed for the following year in sterile conditions ?

Well, quite likely in very different to the average garden conditions. Most seed comes from Scotland, for example. Areas where disease is scarce are used for this.

I typed that up, too.

[Yorkie]

Triple snap!!

[solway cropper]

Seed potatoes are relatively inexpensive and are guaranteed disease-free.

Not so. They are certified as being substantially free of certain pests and diseases but that is no guarantee that you won't import disease to your plot. You stand much less chance of doing so but that's not quite the same as a guarantee.