Preserving Sprouting Potato Over Winter

[blueadzuki]

Hi all

I was wondering if someone out there could help me with a little problem I have. I bought a tuber of an ancient potato called La Paz from Sacred Succulents. When it arrived the day before yesterday I was dismayed to see that the tuber* they sent me is already sprouting (I had assumed that at this season I would get a dormant tuber which I could simply put to the side until spring). So now I have to figure out how to keep the thing alive and growing until spring when I can put it out. I can't simply plant it now since over the winter our ground freezes so deep that if I put a potato in below the frost line it would be too deep to make it to the surface (and we are too wet for the straw cover method to work). So its a pot inside I guess. But I don't think what I did the last time I had this situation is a good idea, when I put the pots in the garage, they sprouted so much they exhausted themselves before spring. So a spot on the windowsill?

* Technically, there are two tubers, but they are attached in a way that makes me leery of trying to separate them (it would leave a big scar that would be just begging for rotting before it suberized)

[walt]

Yes, I'd try a pot in a sunny windowsill.  But I've never had that problem.  Good luck.

[richardw]

I winter over a Pepino plants on a sunny windowsill, so a potato should be fine also. You should get new tubers early in spring which you could give them a 6 week chill and have them back out into the garden and get a second crop before the weather cools down again this time next year

[blueadzuki]

Thank you. Am I glad I got the other potato in seed form (it may be slower, but at least seed stores over a few months)

[paquebot]

Break off any sprouts that appear. That will slow it down for awhile until it activates new eyes.

Martin

[RpR]

I could not get the link to work.

Potato Sprout Suppression from Clove Oil
By Nora Olsen, Mary Jo Frazier and Gale Kleinkopf


One of the newcomers to the potato sprout control sector of the industry is clove
oil. The potato industry is already dominated by the highly effective sprout inhibitor,
chlorpropham or CIPC, but availability of effective alternatives is needed. CIPC is a
mitotic inhibitor which means it hinders sprout development by interfering with cell
division. The mode of action of clove oil is completely different from CIPC by physically
damaging the sensitive sprouting tissue (Figure 1). Since only the exposed sprout is
damaged, new sprout development will not be inhibited. If long-term sprout control is
desired, repeated applications will be required. Unlike potatoes treated with CIPC,
judicious monitoring of sprout development is required when relying upon clove oil for
sprout suppression.
Clove oil is distilled directly from the evergreen plant Syzygium aromaticum (L.).
The plant is native to Indonesia but is now grown in several other countries such as
Madagascar and Brazil. The active ingredient of clove oil is eugenol and other eugenolbased
components in the distillate product. The products used in the potato industry are
100% naturally derived clove oil and are approved for organic use. Due to the chemistry
and volatility of clove oil it can be applied with a thermal applicator and distributed
throughout the storage similar to applications of CIPC. University of Idaho evaluated
clove oil (Biox™ formulations) for sprout suppression for four years at the Kimberly
Potato Storage Research Facility. A tremendous amount of data was generated, but the
two most common questions we receive regarding the use of clove oil are (a) how
effective is the sprout control, and (b) does it alter the taste of the potato or processed
product? The first question has a complex answer dependent upon clove oil application
rate, timing and method of application, frequency of applications, cultivar and storage
management.
Applications of clove oil should be made when sprouts are peeping and preferably
no longer than ½ inch in length. Depending upon cultivar, not all eyes on a potato sprout
at the same time so carefully watch the sprouting behavior and time the application
accordingly. One benefit of using clove oil for sprout control in storage is the ability to
capitalize on the inherent dormancy of the cultivar. Applications are not made until the
potato actually begins to sprout which is dependent upon cultivar, storage temperature,
and growing season. For example, Russet Burbank stored at 42°F typically won’t break
dormancy for approximately 175 days compared to 130 days at 48°F.
Research results indicate clove oil rates between 30 to 90 ppm applied when
sprout development occurs, or approximately at three to six week intervals, will provide
adequate sprout control. This rate recommendation will vary with stage of sprout growth,
cultivar and storage facility, and first consult the label of the clove oil product you are
using prior to application. Delay in subsequent applications after initial treatment may
result in greater sprout growth than if no product was applied. By properly and frequently
applying clove oil, short and long-term sprout suppression can be achieved with different
cultivars and storage temperatures (Table 1, Figure 2). Caution: it may be difficult to
attain 100% sprout control and realize some sprout development may occur.