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Post by reed on Jul 4, 2017 6:12:54 GMT -5
My TPS are from Joseph Lofthouse, the variety he calls Bountiful. I think they are a mix up and that he has worked to eliminate sterility issues. I'm sure the hot dry weather is why most flowers have aborted. I am pretty confident that if I save and plant tubers from them early next year I will get lots more seeds. Also pretty confident I could have increased seed production this year, like I said with better mulching and more frequent watering and kind of wish I had but I want to select for things that are more naturally tolerant of our summers. The berries from the White Superior are apparently some kind of happy accident as all information on them indicated they are completely sterile. The vines are completely dead and we have eaten all of them save the ones that made the berries. I am leaving them in the ground for now and going to try to save those tubers for planting next spring. All the White Superior bloomed profusely but only the one plant made berries. They were also the only variety blooming at the time. I just hope the seeds turn out to be viable. I did break down and violate my non-interference policy and added more mulch and watered the TPS plants that have berries in an effort to keep the vines alive a little longer but it is obvious they do not like temps over 90 with dry winds. Here is what the WS berries look like now, do they look like they are ready to process?  |
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Post by mjc on Jul 4, 2017 9:45:34 GMT -5
The top one definitely does. I've always compared them to the 'standard' green tomatillo, for 'readiness'.
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Post by philagardener on Jul 4, 2017 15:41:56 GMT -5
Yes, I'd also let the greener one sit around a bit to mature more before you process it for seed.
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Post by farmermike on Jul 4, 2017 18:50:00 GMT -5
What varieties are each of you growing? Or if you are growing TPS, what varieties was the TPS from? My tuber grown plants are mostly the commonly available commercial varieties: Yukon Gold, Red Norland, "red, white, & blue mix" from Home Depot, that I have been maintaining from tubers for several years. I probably shouldn't expect much seed production from those -- although the no ID blue from the HD mix seems to be pretty drought tolerant. I also have Terra Rosa and Purple Viking, but neither are very vigorous or productive -- though they each have some interesting qualities. My TPS grown plants are: Joseph's Bountiful, and Fenton Blue, Pinto, Russet, and Offspring of Papa Cacho (from jondear ). I'm not totally sure what to expect from these, but they are certainly growing well. I ought to at least get some tubers to plant next year, and at least one of the TPS plants is just beginning to form flower buds. My kids pulled all the labels out of the pots at one point, so I lost track of which is what. At least they left the plants alone.  |
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Post by reed on Jul 5, 2017 7:41:52 GMT -5
I went ahead and processed the yellow berry, seeds look pretty good and there are quite a lot of them. I think when they are ready I will germ test and plant any that sprout. Maybe if I mulch heavy and water I can get a second crop that blooms after the weather starts getting cooler. If no more blooms maybe at least some seconded generation tubers for next year.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jul 5, 2017 13:43:50 GMT -5
Here is what the WS berries look like now, do they look like they are ready to process? I usually wait months, or until the berries start rotting, or turn yellowish, or soften... |
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Post by diane on Jul 5, 2017 15:04:39 GMT -5
There is a lot of information about growing potatoes from TPS on the tatermater board. Apparently the seeds have a dormancy period, which will make your plans for two crops a year a bit more difficult. Here is one quote: tatermater.proboards.com/thread/882/true-potato-seed-germination-experimentMar 4, 2013 Magic secret to break dormancy on potato seed. Pluck a bag full of ripe berries and toss them into the veggie crisper of your refrigerator for 2 months. Clean the seed out of the berries. Let them dry for 6 weeks. Plant them. I got 85% germination in 8 days. DarJones |
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Post by reed on Jul 5, 2017 19:02:59 GMT -5
Interesting, very interesting. Glad to learn that, otherwise I might have given up if a germ test failed. I'll probably give it a try anyway.
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Post by nathanp on Jul 6, 2017 5:40:06 GMT -5
You should still get some germination, but it does increase after the seed gets 1-2 years old. Even on one year old seed, I typically get 50-60% germination with no treatments. You can also use TSP when processing the seed, to strip away some of the germination inhibitors. And gibberelic acid is the standard treatment for seed which has low germination. I've never bothered with that. I just tend to plan what I germinate to expect ~60% will germinate.
I freeze all my TPS once it is dry. That can keep TPS seed fresh for up to 50 years.
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Post by farmermike on Jul 13, 2017 15:56:06 GMT -5
Finally, a potato flower!  This is on a no ID blue/purple commercial variety that I planted pretty late in the spring and kept pretty well watered. There's only flower (all other buds on the inflorescence aborted), so I'm not sure if it's likely to become fertilized and produce a berry, but this still feels like some success. It's nearest neighbor has buds forming too. Okay, I guess the lesson is that I can't "dry farm" my potatoes if I want berries. And maybe I need to plant them in spring (May), instead of fall (Oct-Nov) or winter (Feb-Mar), as I often do. I do like to grow potatoes during our rainy season, because I can often get a crop without any additional watering (and then they don't displace any summer crops), but I'm willing to start doing a little of both in order to get some true seeds. This may present a unique breeding challenge in order to find potatoes that can both grow well and produce tubers during our cool, wet winters (without irrigation), but also thrive during our hot, dry spring and summer (with irrigation). Should be interesting to investigate. |
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Post by steev on Jul 13, 2017 19:54:55 GMT -5
Given the challenge of our Mediterranean climate, I think it would be very difficult; could be why the Andean gods made so many different potatoes. If you succeed in breeding such a year-round spud, you might name it "My Precious" (one spud to rule them all) or "Shmoo".
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Post by reed on Jul 13, 2017 20:10:16 GMT -5
Several of my TPS plants continue to bloom but have set no more berries. The berry on my white flowered plant dropped off and I can't find it. The one on the purple flower plant is still there and larger than the ones I got earlier from the commercial variety White Superior. One of those is still green and solid the other one that turned yellow is still fermenting in the bottom of a shot glass. It does not appear to be molding or rotting like tomatoes do but when stirred the seeds seem to be basically free of any attachments.
Like I said, I can't see any sign of mold or anything but it sure does stink! I'm gonna go ahead and strain out the seeds and dry them soon. Looks like a pretty good amount in a single berry.
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Post by reed on Jul 23, 2017 9:20:11 GMT -5
I'v dried down the seeds from the first White Superior berry, got around 70 of them. They are light colored but all sank in water and they look good. Gonna germ test a few to see what happens. The second White Superior berry is still on the window sill, noticed this morning it has dented a little and looks like maybe a little mold so I'm gonna go ahead and process it. I dug the tubers from the plant that made seed about a week ago and am going to replant them. If they have time to bloom again that would be great but if not at least maybe I will have fresher tubers to go into storage for next spring.
The one berry left on the purple flowered tps plant is still hanging on the mostly dead vine. It is turning a combination of yellowish with purpleish spots. Dot't know if the spots are it's color or if it is starting to rot or something. I have a colander sitting under it in case it drops off when I'm not looking. I think it should be about ready to process as well.
Still more flowing going on especially on the ones with white flowers but no more berries. A couple of the white flowered plants are very large and erect, approaching 3' tall and holding up to the heat surprisingly well, interesting.
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Post by billw on Jul 23, 2017 14:39:53 GMT -5
Many berries turn partly or wholly purple as they ripen. It isn't usually worth germ testing TPS right away. The seed has dormancy and usually needs a year for germination to come up to a reasonable level. You'll get some germ, but it will often be very low when the seed is fresh.
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Post by raymondo on Jul 25, 2017 4:02:41 GMT -5
Many berries turn partly or wholly purple as they ripen. It isn't usually worth germ testing TPS right away. The seed has dormancy and usually needs a year for germination to come up to a reasonable level. You'll get some germ, but it will often be very low when the seed is fresh. That's interesting. It explains previous disappointments when germinating TPS. How long do you think TPS remain viable for? |
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