[puravida]

What happens if you plant spuds from the supermarket?
I know the official answer is they're not going to perform, not designed for planting etc etc.

I'm forever throwing shop-bought spuds away once they start to sprout but never tried to grow anything from them as everything you read says it won't work.

But has anyone chucked a few in the ground to see what happens?? Just curious really!

[SnooziSuzi]

Yes,  I've grown shop bought spuds sucessfully so go for it!

[WG.]

It works.

But I don't recommend it.  http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=12696

Do you plant other stuff from supermarket?  Marrowfat peas, dried beans, melon seeds, shallots ??  

[sweet nasturtium]

Lots of blight problems last year seed spuds tend to be grown at relatively high altitude where there are less disease problems.

Is this true?
If so, I'm moving uphill.

[mashauk]

What about (as I'm typing this I'm feeling very silly) one of your own grown spuds, that has been kept in a dark bag in a dark cupboard, but has sprouted. can you re-plant that?

[WG.]

Massive seed potato farms all along the Morayshire / Aberdeenshire coast (at or near sea level).  Same in Angus, Fife and East Lothian.

High latitudes I could believe.

[sweet nasturtium]

:oops:  :oops: Ah, I see! :oops:  :oops:  

I'm really not concentrating tonight!

[gobs]

Funnily enough you get a similarly cold environment on a higher altitude or latitude.  

[sweet nasturtium]

That would depend on whether you're wearing a kilt or trousers.

[Ice]

Nothing worse than a cold blast up the trossachs.

[Trillium]

What about (as I'm typing this I'm feeling very silly) one of your own grown spuds, that has been kept in a dark bag in a dark cupboard, but has sprouted. can you re-plant that?

We do that all the time and very successfully. But, about every 4-5 years, we buy fresh seed potatoes just to make sure we don't keep encouraging scabbing which is our main problem here (thankfully we don't get blight here!) If they didn't rot in storage, then you should be free of planting blighted ones.

Sorry Wiggy, but it IS altitude - most seed potatoes are grown well above sea level where most pests can't survive both the colder temps and thinner air.

[Rob the rake]

Nothing worse than a cold blast up the trossachs.

The old ones are always the best, Ice . Haven't heard that one for years, is it a Billy Connolly joke?

[WG.]

but it IS altitude

Not in Scotland

Scotland's climate is ideal for the production of potatoes.  Cool and wet seasons mean that yields can be high, whilst keeping aphid populations down. Aphids are an important pest which can transmit potato viruses.

In 2006 ... 18,800 hectares for maincrop ware and 10,800 hectares for seed.  

That's well over a third of the total area growing potatoes & £50million of seed per annum.  I can't think of a major potato-growing area more than a couple hundred feet above sea level.  My uncle grew 300 acres of seed virtually at sea level every year (10 miles from King Edward).  I can also check with my mate who is Deputy Chief Executive at http://www.saos.co.uk

As gobs says, perhaps our weather makes up for the lack of altitude.  I keep tellin' ya that we are as far North as Sitka in Alaska.  

Also found this : http://varieties.potato.org.uk/classification.php : Most seed potatoes sold to amateur gardeners would be Elite or SE grade so you will see that disease levels permitted are very low.

[richyrich7]

I know the official answer is they're not going to perform, not designed for planting etc etc.

's cr@p, disease is your problem, I grow from saved spuds every year and never had a problem, last year was the exception but it was for everyone, my personal advice would be to go for certified seed pot's this year and if you get a long fine with them then try a few saved next year. That/s what I'm doing.

[puravida]

Very interesting - thanks everyone.
So providing I wear a kilt when I plant them, I should be okay?