Solanum tuberosum
Origin: Michigan
Improvement status: Breeding population
Seeds per packet: ~20
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
We're thrilled to be offering these exciting true potato seeds thanks to our friend Ken Asmus of Oikos Tree Crops in southwestern Michigan. Ken tried to retire a few years ago, but the plants apparently kept calling him back! He's still selling seeds and plants, but now he's only selling bulk amounts of seeds, pricing out the smaller customers who just want to try a packet-sized amount. So we're happy he's willing to have us buy a few things from him in bulk so we can offer them at a smaller size to all of you!
'Perennial Perpetual Diversity' potato seeds are intended to help you develop a low-input perennial potato crop adapted to your environment. Here's what Ken says about this fascinating population:
"Selected for hardiness in the ground as well as fruitfulness for true seed production, Perennial Perpetual Diversity makes it possible to generate your own varieties under cultivation, as well as maintain a population as a low-input crop competitive with other plants in non-cultivated areas. There are several options to do this, both from a named varietal selection as well as from a diversity standpoint using many types of seedlings to allow for breaking the bond of blight and varietal susceptibility to disease... Selected over the course of a decade of growing potatoes from true seeds, I found by accident that the heirloom blue potato I was growing had set seeds. From there, I did a grow out of this seedling line which was planted outdoors and unattended to for 5 years. This live-and-let-go philosophy was accidental, as I had to take a break from my farm at the time to help a family member with health problems. I did not have the time to harvest them during this period, which went on for several years. I soon forgot about them too! From there I began another grow-out patch from those seedlings to produce fruits and seeds from. Over time, various diseases wiped out many plants quickly and eventually left only the best plants. The remainder of the original patch has now been spread throughout my farm under various conditions, as well as growing them cultivated as one-year tubers. These are all selections left outside for many years [in southwest Michigan, outside Kalamazoo] and they continue to grow and produce good yields despite the marginal conditions and competition from other plants near their plantings. Some are diploid and some are not. But either way, it is their persistence untended that make them ideal as a perennial tuber crop (similar to Jerusalem artichokes).
The true seed philosophy of the potato can allow you to skip the 'viral overload' and start afresh with a new populations. From here you can find your own population adapted to your location as well. That is the purpose of the Perennial Perpetual Diversity potato. You can create a wild self-replicating plant if it remains healthy over time as well as setting fertile fruits and seeds. Since the potato has historically been male-infertile, now comes a time to change that by having wild potatoes free from the plant breeders who created them in the first place. Welcome Perennial Perpetual Diversity! This of course will allow you to develop your own varieties that can be clonally produced too. That is the nature of the potato and the humans that have carried them across several continents over the last few thousand years. Using the small tubers generated the first year will then allow you to further grow out the potatoes the way they are traditionally done."
GROWING TIPS: From Ken, "Lightly sprinkle seeds on top of the soil or media-mix and lightly spray the surface of the soil. The first seeds will sprout within one week and continue up to three weeks or so. If possible, start plants one month prior to frost before transplanting outside for maximum first-year yield. Can be direct-seeded too, but needs a fine sandy soil for best results. Treat the seeds like tomato seeds and plant out after frost. Once established, try leaving out a portion of the crop to test its winter hardiness. Winter hardy potatoes for me are ones that tend to dry down a little and can freeze without turning to mush. You can also test this by putting them in the freezer. That method works OK, but it is not as reliable as the outside. Keep your eyes open for fruitful potatoes and keep the seeds of those as well as the potatoes themselves to continue the long-term breeding process."
True Seeds and tubers are cold stored. Potato tubers are shipped immediately except during the dead of winter. I avoid shipping tubers during ultra freezing weather and take the packages directly to the post office. Early March shipping is the latest that they can be shipped.
How to Germinate the seeds: True potato seeds are very small. Lightly sprinkle over a moist media mix or fine soil and tamp in. Keep moist for around two weeks. The tiny sprouts will show up slowly and begin to spread outwards after a month or so. It may be necessary to thin if you are doing it in grow bags. I would recommend splitting up the planting much like a plug and move those out to the field or another grow bag. Usually it is a very high germination rate. A portion of the crop can be overwintered outside to test for hardiness in the soil as well as disease resistance.
