I have always bought seed potato. This year I'll have enough leftover potatoes to cut eyes and plant them. Of course, by the time it is time to plant potatoesj they will be pretty sprouted. Should I cut off these sprouts before planting, let the sprouts hang above soil level, or bury the sprouts in a hill to the tip? Last year I had only a few leftover potatoes but they had sprouts about a 18 inches long.

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), March 01, 2001

Answers

I break em off now,, then by planting time, they will be long enough. I have planted some with 2 foot long sprout, but since Im not well organized,, dont know if they made a difference

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 01, 2001.

I leave short sprouts, up to 3 or so inches, some times the roots have started to grow out at the base of the sprout, so I try not to break them and cut really long sprouts off leaveing a few nodes to hopefully branch out, sometimes the cut ends just shrivel up. I don't cut sections out of small-ish medium size and smaller I plant them whole because our spring time is often wet/cold and even sulfured pieces rot. I aways eat the big ones first. Oh, and I plant deep to cover completely over several days.

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), March 01, 2001.

We save the small potatoes from the best hills for seed, and always plant them whole. We plant them sprouts and all and try to bury the entire sprout. When they start to sprout in the root cellar, the sprouts will be much shorter if the potato is exposed to stronger light as the sprout doesn't have to work as hard to get to the light. We often break off the really long spindly sprouts as they would break off when planted anyway.

Jim

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), March 01, 2001.

Hi Tiffani. How's the fruit press coming?

A previous answer talked about allowing potatoes to green a bit. This is a process called chitting and it gets the potatoes off to a faster start supposedly. It also helps keep the sprouts small because they aren't searching for light. I've left seed potatoes in a bright but very cool location all winter and they were perfect for planting the next spring.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), March 01, 2001.

So - where are you? DO NOT cut, break, or otherwise remove the sprouts, unless they are over the length at which you plan to plant the potatoes. Just make sure the sprouts will not break the soil during the time when you might expect a frost, and even that is not a killer! You will have more and better potatoes if you gently plant the potatoes and all their sprouts. From the potato country of Maine, I remain, Yr Obdt Svt,

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), March 01, 2001.