Where can I find potatoes?

[Michael Price]

I need to find some seed potatoes, I can get some for a gargen but planting acres gets expensive that way. Is there someone I could call who would maybe know where to find bulk seed potatoes? I live in SW michigan. thanks alot

 

[Leland]

find a garden center or even a grocery store they all can order seed taters by the 50 lb bag

 

[Anonymous-0]

Southern Michigan Seed Inc
48580 County Road 352
Decatur
1-800-423-1912

They can point you in the right direction

 

[chuck t]

Please excuse this question, but I don"t know ANYTHING about growing potatoes, other than I planted a few in a garden as a kid. I planted the eyes of a sprouted potato. I have always wondered, how do you plant a big field for a cash crop? Are there seeds with a planter. like a grain? It seems not practical to do what I did for over a few acres.

 

[Spook]

I get mine from the local feed mill. I suppose your local mill could order what you need. Ours stocks several types.

 

[Allan in NE]

Chuck,

The "eye" of the spud is the seed.

That's why they are cut/sliced/sectioned to isolate that eye and thereby eliminate "double/multiple" plants of the drop.

Allan

 

[sammyd]

The eye is not the seed. Potatoes do have seeds but growing them from that seed is not something that is very quick.

'TPS-true potato seed-is harvested from the berries that grow among the foliage of potato plants. An average plant produces dozens of berries, each of which contains hundreds of tiny seeds. Similar in appearance to tomato seed, TPS is usually sown in seedbeds three or four weeks prior to the potato planting season. The plants in the beds produce small tubers, sometimes called tuberlets, which farmers plant in the field much as they would conventional seed tubers

 

[Allan in NE]

I've seen calves born with two heads also.

Don't think he's referring to genetically altered taters.

Allan

 

[Old Iron]

sammyd,... Thanks, I learned a couple of things today!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Planting the tiny seed will produce different types of potatoes.The russet burbank was grown from a seed .If you want kennebec potatoes you have to plant small whole kennebec potatoes or cut pieces.Cutting them opens them up to rot so I plant small whole ones.

 

[sammyd]

You can get some stuff to put on the eyes so they don't rot in the ground.
Or you can plant at the proper time so they grow instead of rot.

We plant ours under mulch instead of burying them in the dirt. Much easier to get at when it's harvest time. And we get some pretty good spuds.

 

[sammyd]

Oh yeah, leaving them to dry up a bit after cutting them up before planting will help as well.
Most of the time we just cut and cover and have no problems though.