I’m curious too. I’ve had potatoes start from scraps I’ve buried to pit compost, so potatoes can grow like that. I don’t know whether you could get a reasonable crop that way.
CrankyCycle
You certainly could. The risk is that they’re not certified disease free. My understanding is that, should you introduce some of these diseases into your garden, they’re very hard to get rid of. So you’re taking a chance.
I grew a main crop of potatoes from seed potatoes last year, and then a smaller second crop. They seem to have lasted pretty well over the winter, so I should be able to use them as seed potatoes this year. They haven’t been exposed to anything that’s not already in my garden, so I think it’s okay to keep a line of potatoes that you started from more expensive seed potatoes. I also do this with garlic.
speppers69
Yes…you can. But sometimes potatoes are treated to prevent eyes from developing. But if you have ones that are eye-ing out…go for it.
I’m planting a few of my yellow potatoes that were from the store. Also keep in mind that bagged potatoes aren’t always what you might think are in the bag. Like your “gold potatoes”. They may not all be Yukon Gold. They can be any one of a whole variety of “gold” or “yellow” potatoes. Same with reds, etc. If you want a guarantee that you are going to be growing “Yukon Gold” then you need to buy seed potatoes. Even in the same bag…you might have different varieties.
bknyguy15
Wherever you get an eye, you can plant . Some potatoes will get more than 2 eyes, so you can just use that as a guide . I know they say things about disease, but I’ve never had an issue planting store bought potatoes .
Difficult_Rope7898
I threw a bag of rotting potatoes into the compost pile one year and got a bumper crop of accidental potatoes, so I would say yes.
BoozeIsTherapyRight
Yes, they will grow. However… there is a reason that seed potatoes exist.
I’ve had non-problematic results when growing from supermarket potatoes — multiple times. Excellent results, actually. Whether from the fanciest supermarket in town, or “$10 bag for $1.99” russets that come from Aldi or my local middle eastern market.
Tbf…I live in a place where potatoes are *definitely* not grown commercially, and never have been (not only due to the climate, but also the soil), and can’t be grown at the same time of year that other nighshades are, so I’m not very worried about disease (they *do* get leaf spot, but they’re out of the ground before my tomatoes & such go in-ground, and the latter don’t suffer from such during the main season in my area)
But yeah, storebought is my only option — seed potatoes aren’t ever available at the right time of year for me, so grocery store stuff is what I have to work with.
Two or three eyes per chunk is plenty. And you don’t need to “chit” them at all before planting (at least in my experience/climate)…just cut ’em up, remove any bad spots, stick ’em in the ground, and water ’em.
synodos
Just to add to the cautions from other commenters–
1. the variety “yukon gold” is known for having low disease resistance– and in general potato varieties sold for EATING are bred for high yields and longer shelf life, whereas potato varieties sold for PLANTING are bred for disease resistance.
2. “baby” potatoes are often the potatoes that never got big, and a lot of times they never got big specifically BECAUSE the parent plant was diseased and tuber growth was stunted.
Sip_py
Are you in Western NY? (Wegmans)
Then you might consider Row 7’s Upstate Abundance Potatoes since they’re bread to fight diseases in Western NY
this hasn’t been mentioned yet. if you live in an area with potato farming, there is the concern that planting store bought potatoes will introduce disease. Also planting store bought potatoes is actually illegal in some jurisdictions.
15 Comments
I’m curious too. I’ve had potatoes start from scraps I’ve buried to pit compost, so potatoes can grow like that. I don’t know whether you could get a reasonable crop that way.
You certainly could. The risk is that they’re not certified disease free. My understanding is that, should you introduce some of these diseases into your garden, they’re very hard to get rid of. So you’re taking a chance.
I grew a main crop of potatoes from seed potatoes last year, and then a smaller second crop. They seem to have lasted pretty well over the winter, so I should be able to use them as seed potatoes this year. They haven’t been exposed to anything that’s not already in my garden, so I think it’s okay to keep a line of potatoes that you started from more expensive seed potatoes. I also do this with garlic.
Yes…you can. But sometimes potatoes are treated to prevent eyes from developing. But if you have ones that are eye-ing out…go for it.
I’m planting a few of my yellow potatoes that were from the store. Also keep in mind that bagged potatoes aren’t always what you might think are in the bag. Like your “gold potatoes”. They may not all be Yukon Gold. They can be any one of a whole variety of “gold” or “yellow” potatoes. Same with reds, etc. If you want a guarantee that you are going to be growing “Yukon Gold” then you need to buy seed potatoes. Even in the same bag…you might have different varieties.
Wherever you get an eye, you can plant . Some potatoes will get more than 2 eyes, so you can just use that as a guide . I know they say things about disease, but I’ve never had an issue planting store bought potatoes .
I threw a bag of rotting potatoes into the compost pile one year and got a bumper crop of accidental potatoes, so I would say yes.
Yes, they will grow. However… there is a reason that seed potatoes exist.
Here’s why you should not plant supermarket potatoes. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xK-c-E0kVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xK-c-E0kVo)
Make sure u don’t have worms or nematodes or they will compost the whole potato once cut hahaha
Yes you can, this is from 2 random potato that started developing eyes on my counter.
https://preview.redd.it/autmi644bkhg1.jpeg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a601a149973da0a2d18728d6eb6900e6c6737ed
I’ve had non-problematic results when growing from supermarket potatoes — multiple times. Excellent results, actually. Whether from the fanciest supermarket in town, or “$10 bag for $1.99” russets that come from Aldi or my local middle eastern market.
Tbf…I live in a place where potatoes are *definitely* not grown commercially, and never have been (not only due to the climate, but also the soil), and can’t be grown at the same time of year that other nighshades are, so I’m not very worried about disease (they *do* get leaf spot, but they’re out of the ground before my tomatoes & such go in-ground, and the latter don’t suffer from such during the main season in my area)
But yeah, storebought is my only option — seed potatoes aren’t ever available at the right time of year for me, so grocery store stuff is what I have to work with.
Two or three eyes per chunk is plenty. And you don’t need to “chit” them at all before planting (at least in my experience/climate)…just cut ’em up, remove any bad spots, stick ’em in the ground, and water ’em.
Just to add to the cautions from other commenters–
1. the variety “yukon gold” is known for having low disease resistance– and in general potato varieties sold for EATING are bred for high yields and longer shelf life, whereas potato varieties sold for PLANTING are bred for disease resistance.
2. “baby” potatoes are often the potatoes that never got big, and a lot of times they never got big specifically BECAUSE the parent plant was diseased and tuber growth was stunted.
Are you in Western NY? (Wegmans)
Then you might consider Row 7’s Upstate Abundance Potatoes since they’re bread to fight diseases in Western NY
Upstate Abundance Seed Potatoes https://share.google/iufKjE3M13kqsT2Zl
this hasn’t been mentioned yet. if you live in an area with potato farming, there is the concern that planting store bought potatoes will introduce disease. Also planting store bought potatoes is actually illegal in some jurisdictions.
uiext25882.pdf https://share.google/VLlBT80xPXI3vIGPF
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If you really want to try, buy organic potatoes and give them a few weeks to sprout first, then plant the sprouted eyes.
In thoery