[davmabz]

hi all
have bought some 1st early, aaron pilot, seed potatoes today some of them are quite large, am i right in thinking that its ok to cut them in two?

thanks   

[Ivor Backache]

Yes: but let them chit first so that when you make the cut each half has  strong buds.

[Elcie]

That is a good question as the seed potatoes I saw in Wilkinsons yesterday looked quite large.  Would be a real real real bargain if you can cut them in half.

[Jodie A]

Small hens egg sized seed potatoes are the ideal.  Any large ones cut (albeit a money saving thing from WW2 rationing days) could lead to disease in the plant.

By all means try it, and I wish you well, but don't be too upset if it all goes pear shaped.

It could be a false saving it space is at a premium.

[DD.]

If you do cut them in half, dust the cut with "Flowers of Sulphur" to help the wound callous over.

[Iain@JBA]

A large seed potato will produce larger crops as it has more reserves to draw from.
Small seed potatoes will produce more smaller potatoes which are ideal for me to replant the next year.
If you want to grow bakers then the big seed is the way to go.
The ideal size potato is a 45/55mm tuber.
By this I mean that the tuber will fall through a square hole that is 55mm by 55mm but not through a hole 45mm by 45mm. That is the way we grade for size.

[Ivor Backache]

The penny has just dropped for me. I have ordered the same weight of seed, but whereas last years' were large this years' are smaller. I have to find an extra 6 rows for the same weight of seed. This is the content of the earlies: 2X3kg bags of Pentland Javellin. I haven't sorted the others yet.
72 are 45/55mm including a few which are bigger but the remaining 42 are average 30/40mm.
I will have to grow some of the surplus in bags/buckets whatever I can find. The way forward would be to grow the larger tubers in the trench and grow the small ones in the containers. Does that make sense?
The label says Scottish basic seed potatoes.Grade EC2 Class SE1 size 35X60mm.

[Iain@JBA]

That sounds about right as that is the standard horticultural size to grade them at.
Have you been making your own grader for sizing them all

[Salmo]

Commercial growers plant by weight rather than number. Bigger seed wider spacing. Smaller seed closer spacing.