Snookie x Blue Belle tps

[jayb]

I sowed just a few seeds of this cross in mid August, possibly too late in the year but the idea is for a few mini tubers ready for planting next season. These were sown at the same time as http://www.growingfoodsavingseeds.co...inky-squid-tps also PFA x Inky Squid and Hot Dog x Violetta.

Although the plants are still very small, I've been a bit slow to pot them on, but when I did yesterday it was encouraging to see the very first hint of tubers from one of the plants. It looks promising I may get some little tubers from at least this one.

[Galina]

From seed to first tubers in 8 weeks, that is very fast indeed. An early variety is good for blight beating potential. Hope it comes up to expectation once you grow it 'in the field'.

Sowing tps in August seems late (but what do I know!). Can you grow tps indoors/polytunnel when it is not so light? I thought tps needed strong sunlight at least around germination. Would you start now and expect germination? Maybe August (the last really light month) makes for a perfect start. I always thought tps needed a longer growing season than seed potatoes. Maybe not?

[jayb]

It does seem early, particularly considering Snookie is so late and Blue Belle is a maincrop. But I guess this is a little snap shot of what usually happens underground out of sight.

I've never sown any mid August either, but my thoughts were if the plant can get enough momentum going while conditions are able to promote growth there should be a fair chance to get some mini tubes from some of the plants, They are in the greenhouse at the moment and I can cover them with fleece if need be. If it does get very cold later on I'll probably bring them in to the house so they have a chance to absorb the last of the plants energy.

Tps would likely germinate given enough warmth, though I think from here on it would be difficult to maintain decent growth even in a choice location, without supplement lighting.

Your right, tps do need a slightly longer growing season but they are well capable of producing a crop within the season. I know I've seen people saying it'll take a few years before you get a crop but, that's not my experience. These really are an experiment to see if a late sowing will produce mini tubers, I'm not expecting much.

[jayb]

Galina, your post gave me a nudge, I'd also put Hot Dog x Red Emmalie to chit on paper back in August, but had no germination. To be honest I'd forgotten about them, but when I checked yesterday several had sprouted! I've potted them up... perhaps a new thread to follow their progress.

[Galina]

The paper was still damp enough? - how wonderful. And to get such late sprouters is just amazing. There is a lesson too. You mentioned that they have germination inhibitors around the seed and need to be fermented to get most of them off. Seems like either this is not so easy to achieve, or germination itself can take a long time. The lesson must be not to give up on them too soon.

Well if they are tiny seedlings at the mo, you will become an expert at making them go through the low light months. Good luck little seedlings.

[jayb]

Sealed inside a plastic bag it was just damp enough although some iffy looking black mould was starting to grow on one part of the paper, probably from me handling it.

The berry wasn't very ripe and had a touch of blight on the stalk which was spreading down. It was try and process the seed or chuck it, I have got some more berries from this cross, but they're not very soft yet. The gel around the seeds makes them really slippery and slimey, so fairly easy to tell if it's been removed. I perhaps didn't ferment them long enough, or the berry wasn't quite ripe, or they still had enough inhibitor to prevent them germinating. Many varieties give better germination the following year from being harvested, to be honest I didn't really expect them to grow as they were so fresh. Plus tps can be that little bit quirky, just because they can!

[jayb]

Update, the mini tubers I harvested are not really what I'm looking for (middle row left) I doubt I'll be growing any of these on, I'm planning on sowing some more tps from this cross this spring.