Sunday, June 14, 2015

potataoes from seed

the potato plants from seed down in the plant room under the lights are still going strong and i would have hardened them off and put them outside some time ago except they have been behaving like vines...contorting themselves in to a mass of plant stems and leaves plus they've been acting like stolons and putting down secondary roots and new sprouts when they come into contact with soil...so untangling the mass in the top photo would be a challenge and there would be damage...still i want to see if they behave like vines in the outdoor world so yesterday i took what turned out to be seventeen of last season's potato fruit seeds out of the freezer and put them in a 2000 ppm. solution of gibberellic acid fro twenty-four hours ( second photo )...this morning i decanted them ( third photo ) carefully picked them up with tweezers ( fourth photo ) and set them in moist soil in a terracotta pot ( fifth photo ) i added a layer of vermiculite to hold the seeds in place ( sixth photo ) and set them out on the deck to germinate...after they get to be about an inch tall i will transplant them to peat pots and when they hit three inches or so out into containers...more on this and their behaviors as things come up.

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