Seed Potatoes for Sale- Are they Having a laugh?

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Few years ago I thought it's just a gag, but nowadays every DIY store and other such stores seem to stock small packs of seed potatoes.
I'm seriously confused, Do people really don't know they can take any regular potatoe they like from any store and plant it in ground? :D

3.99 for 1.5kg of pipers at homebase...


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Seed potatoes are free of disease, plus some shop bought ones do not grow.
So everyone tells me at the allotment! The last 2 years I've planted sprouting shop bought spuds down at the allotment and they've been fine - this year is my first packet of seed spuds. I expect greatness :)
 
seed potatoes are generally free of disease. Eating potatoes aren't. The idea is that you buy small, disease-free potatoes to grow in your garden, and you have a fair chance of getting a good, disease-free crop.

If you plant diseased eating potatoes, you are starting at a disadvantage.

The small, disease-free seed potatoes are grown in cold, windy Scotland. That's why they're small. But it's also why the insects that carry the disease can't thrive to spread it and infect the growing plants.
 
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seed potatoes are generally free of disease. Eating potatoes aren't. The idea is that you buy small, disease-free potatoes to grow in your garden, and you have a fair chance of getting a good, disease-free crop.

If you plant diseased eating potatoes, you are starting at a disadvantage.

The small, disease-free seed potatoes are grown in cold, windy Scotland. That's why they're small. But it's also why the insects that carry the disease can't thrive to spread it and infect the growing plants.


What a load of bull, what diseases exactly? :D The few there are are pretty much contaminated to the single potatoes, if you see funny looking ones you buy in shop- Just don't plant them if you are scared of that stuff which ''might'' happen, again- If few catches the ''disease'' big deal...
Btw I have grown potatoes in past myself (not in some pots, but on an actual field over few acres..)
 
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There a lot of potato diseases that can corrupt a crop, but they should have been weeded out before they are shipped to the shops, so I'm inclined to agree that it's a bit of a con. Put you're potaotes in a dark room, and they'll chit enough to get planted, but you want small ones to start with, so that you don't take up too much space in the potat patch. But I don't know how much pestecide has been sprayed on the shop bought potatoes, as opposed to the seed ones.
 
To be fair, it's not always apparent if the spud you put in the ground has a disease, and it can ruin a whole crop.
I don't think it's down to selling us seeded spuds as a marketing ploy, it's not the most expensive thing to buy anyway is it? £4 of seeded spuds can equal a couple of large sacks of spuds or more - a fair return imo.

I've been lucky with my spuds, the only thing that's got them is late blight which tends to get to everyone in the allotment within a week or two (tomatoes too) but digging them up quick means I still got a good amount.
 
I think it's false economy growing your own potatoes nowadays when you can wait for xmas/easter season where they sell them for 10p a kilo, I usually stock up at that time and keep them in cold place and they last for months... Till the next good offer in shops come up, than I stock up again :D
 
I think most people grow spuds and other veggies for fun and taste? And it gets you outside in the sunshine. I don't think it's false economy on some veggies, and I include spuds on that. You're doing well as no shop bought ones have ever lasted beyond a week or two for us but my fresh ones kept in soil will keep for months.

There's something rather nice when I sit down to my dinner with spuds, corn on the cobs & tender runner beans all grown by my fair hand and costing pennies. Or eating fresh peas, raspberries and strawberries right off the plant - yummy! :)
 
I think most people grow spuds and other veggies for fun and taste? And it gets you outside in the sunshine. I don't think it's false economy on some veggies, and I include spuds on that. You're doing well as no shop bought ones have ever lasted beyond a week or two for us but my fresh ones kept in soil will keep for months.

There's something rather nice when I sit down to my dinner with spuds, corn on the cobs & tender runner beans all grown by my fair hand and costing pennies. Or eating fresh peas, raspberries and strawberries right off the plant - yummy! :)
yup, best feeling ever :)
My small garden is full of fruit bushes,fruit trees and got strawberries planted all over, in summer I don't even need to go to shop as I can just eat that stuff everyday, but potatoes....not worth it in my opinion if you can get them for cheap.
 
Why would you want to plant a potato to grow a potato? That makes no sense.

Surely its better to plant a seed and get a potato?
 
Why would you want to plant a potato to grow a potato? That makes no sense.

Surely its better to plant a seed and get a potato?

I knew you are a bit off, but didn't know exactly by how much ;) now I know...
 
I never understand why they sell little "new potatoes".

Why don't they wait until they're bigger and get more for them?
 
I never understand why they sell little "new potatoes".

Why don't they wait until they're bigger and get more for them?

They just taste so much nicer, + they can charge higher price for them hence making the same money or even more..
 
Surely its better to plant a seed and get a potato?

Not sure whether to take you seriously or not Woody, but in some ways, you've made a good point. If you get potaotes from other potatoes, where did the first potatoe come from. Are there any proper potatoes seeds out there. And how do you grow seedless grapes if there are no seeds in them.
 
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