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Post by DarJones on Feb 8, 2015 20:11:41 GMT -8
My experience is that potatoes are not normally erratic germinators. They either grow within 12 days or take 3 to 4 weeks before any seedlings show up. There are always a few laggards, but I have not seen any significant benefit from the few slowpokes.
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Post by Tom Wagner on Feb 9, 2015 0:03:44 GMT -8
As to TPS seedling emerging much later than the other siblings....i never thought of them having significant trait differences other than germination issues. Potato seeds are notorious for the seed sprouting inhibitors carried in the gel sac around the seed. if it is not removed, sprouting can/may be delayed. Potato seed will refuse to germinate if the temperatures are too cold or too hot...and often I think they go dormant if too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry and wait til more optimum conditions. If there is a genetic inclination to have a slower germination, I tend to breed away from that...the majority of my late germinators get dumped way too often.
Here is where I have to speak out. This site is largely about my work in taters and maters and if i read something that goes against my observation I can't leave it be. POTATOES ARE ERRATIC GERMINATORS! My TPS will germinate in ranges from 48 hours to well over 12 weeks or longer. I try to concentrate a clump of TPS seed in a tight center in the starter tray cubes. I do select for early germinators and I have hoped that up to twenty generations of growing potatoes from true seed that I can concentrate the majority of seedlings to germinate 40 to 60 percent right away. There has to be a genetic standpoint and I am trying to get away from the wild trait of erratic germination like some weed seed can be.
That said...because I have quite a few late germinators in the greenhouse...I will study them as a group and transplant them tomorrow with this trait in mind; I don't know of any reason to do this but to bulk them as a population and test the TPS produced from them in the future. It is likely a wasted venture but WHO KNOWS? I reckon no one knows much at this point. Face it..... most of the time we sow the seed in the greenhouse say in Feb Mar or April. Twelves weeks later would be summer and the greenhouse is too hot for germination. That is why most of us don't see TPS coming up like weeds all the time in the garden...most of our spring/summer climates can have extremes of temps and moisture that interrupt good germination in the garden. Even here in Washington...too wet in the spring...too dry in the summer and the temps are rarely 68-78 day and night. Our weather in May often is 40 65 in the early spring enough to make the seed go dormant again.
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Post by DarJones on Feb 9, 2015 7:38:57 GMT -8
Which is as it should be. I germinate seed only under highly controlled conditions at 70F under lights with bottom heat to raise the soil temp to about 75F using high quality sterile seed start mix with appropriate moisture. This sets up slightly evaporative soil conditions that are most conducive to germination. I don't see the same things that would occur under other conditions of temperature, moisture, and light exposure. So under my conditions I don't see much variation. Vary those conditions just a tiny bit and there is very high potential for erratic germination. Which is why I prefaced my statement with "My experience is".
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Post by Tom Wagner on Feb 10, 2015 0:01:56 GMT -8
Everyone interested in potato diversity should try TPS at least once or twice and share their experiences. This forum should eventually allow folks in the future to read old reports as if they just happened.
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Post by Tom Wagner on Mar 4, 2015 9:12:20 GMT -8
In anticipation of traveling in Europe March 4 through March 27, I sowed a couple of flats of tomatoes...132 hybrids, F-2 or OP lines and about 48 kinds of TPS. I hope they will be ready for transplanting when I come back.
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Post by Angela Morrow on Mar 6, 2015 10:28:34 GMT -8
Sent you and e-mail & then found this blog. Intend to try TPS this year. Planting Zone is 6a. Wonder which of your potatoes you would suggest for here. Also is there more info anywhere on the "general" taste of varieties and their uses.
Thanks
Angela Morrow
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Post by GunnarSK on Mar 16, 2015 15:34:49 GMT -8
I had best germination with TPS from Ibis, a local "white" cultivar. A good thing it produced TPS at all. If that is a costant trait, I'll hopefully have some fruiting plants from these TPS, and they can be used as "fathers" in crosses with potatoes with more interesting colours as my "Mor" potato (a Danish one which was originally grown by my late mother), which has light pink flesh and pronounced pink skin, and "Cherrie", a fingerling from France with dark pink skin.
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Post by Tom Wagner on Mar 17, 2015 1:02:17 GMT -8
Thanks everyone for sharing information about TPS and especially of varieties I know nothing about
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Post by Luisport on Jun 5, 2015 6:42:47 GMT -8
Hi! Thank you for present me your blog. This is really more complex than i thought! I'm just a starter on this potato planting thing. I buy some blue potatos in ebay and plant them. Last week i dig them out and was amazed because i get very decent ones and very tasty. Directly from land to plate! Than i see we can plant them from seeds instead from other potato pieces. I still don't understand much, but i'm tented to plant them now... what do you think? By the way i'm from Portugal. Thank's a lot!
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Post by Tom Wagner on Jun 5, 2015 9:30:21 GMT -8
I am sowing lots of TPS during the next three months. The early sown ones will go outdoors and the late sown ones will mature off in the greenhouse for mini tubers...perfect for planting whole next season. I have transplants hardening off right now to plant within the next few days. Portugal should be able to use TPS in late Spring ...early summer sowings without a hitch. Thanks
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diane
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by diane on Nov 8, 2015 9:53:59 GMT -8
I copied you, Tom - planted potato seedlings in gallon pots as I was going to South Africa for most of the summer.
When I returned in September, the potted Skagit Beets had died off, so I harvested the tubers to plant next year. Boystown still had lots of green leaves, so I left them. Now, in November, I have just brought the pots into my unheated greenhouse. They are still growing, and I haven't tipped them out to check for tubers.
Should I remove any tubers and store them for next year, or just let them keep on growing?
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Post by robertb on Nov 12, 2015 1:19:58 GMT -8
Coming back to what Tom said about hilling up. I planted my seedlings out in th ebottom of (mostly) deep pots, and topped up as they grew. They didn't produce adventitious roots, but seemed to like it as growth accelerated very noticeably over seedlings which hadn't been transplanted.
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Post by Chris Holcombe on Mar 14, 2016 14:30:20 GMT -8
I ordered some chaposa and maris piper seeds from Tom and I can't seem to get them to germinate. I've tried putting them in a 72 cell tray with a heating mat under them and a humidity dome. The soil temp was about 68F. No luck after almost a month. I tried taking the dome off and letting them dry out a little. I tried bottom watering and top watering. I also tried putting a few into a wet paper towel in a plastic bag and letting that sit on my desk where it's 70-72F for a week. Nothing. They swell up but they won't put out a root. I'm thinking I am missing some signal that they were looking for. I took the last remaining 5 seeds and stuck them in the freezer hoping that putting them through a freeze cycle might finally kick them in the butt. I'm stumped. I even had a friend who is a farmer try them and he can't seem to get them to germinate either. I sprout several hundred seeds a year for my garden so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing Any help would be really appreciated!
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Post by wtbeme on Apr 10, 2016 2:25:04 GMT -8
Hey Chris did you ever have any success? Alsoo wondering what website and if this yea's purchase.
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Post by nathanp on Apr 10, 2016 6:39:20 GMT -8
I had a few TPS seeds sprout this week. 5 weeks after planting.
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