Today I sorted through some of the potatoes that I stored in the garage from last summer. It was cool and dark, and most of the sprouts don't seem excessive. They were a mix of types, difficult to recognize. I usually don't regrow from my own garden, preferring inspected, certified starts. However, I plant in a different spot each year. I did not notice any scab or rotting diseases. There was no significant fusarium wilt. So I will take a chance. Last year, I also planted some sprouted home grown and grocery potatoes, and those did fine.
Most looked like the small ones on the right. I cut up the big potatoes, a yellow flesh type, and sat them in the sunroom for the wounds to dry out. They can be planted in a week. If the sprout is a little long, I lay it horizontal or remove it to give the shorter ones a better chance.
Cut potato chunks sitting in the sunroom, with the cut edges drying. These are yellow flesh, although not necessarily Yukon Gold. Last year, I had some sprouted yellow potatoes that were from the grocery store, so grew them. These might be descended from those, or from potatoes that grew on their own in the compost pile.
I also bought some actual tomato seeds ("True Potato Seeds", TPS) - real seeds, not cut up tubers. Those are not easy to find. The variety is Clancy hybrid, an AAS winner. It's not possible to predict how they will do, and while I have my doubts, it is always interesting to try new things.
Clancy Potato seedlings. So far germination is about 30%, which is OK. Some might germinate later. It's only been about a week since I planted them, so not too bad.
The marigold photo I forgot to upload yesterday. Four cells are from the Volunteer French Marigold, and 2 cells are from the Volunteer Yellow Cherry Tomato. So these are the "Volunteer's Offspring".
And one of the tomato six packs. All of the tomato varieties have germinated. It's the start of a good gardening year.
Last fall I saved flower heads from chives. Even though they are perennial and last year's plant will return, I wanted to have some more. Plus, growing new ones from seeds seems to result in more vigorous plants. It's easy to separate the seeds. I did the same thing as I did with basil, storing the flower heads upside down in a paper bag, then crushing them in my fingers to release the seeds, and using my fingers to remove most of the chaff. A little chaff doesn't hurt anything. Here are the germinating chive seedlings. Also, about one week to germination.
