You Can Grow Potatoes from Seed

Every few years our Yukon gold potatoes develop seed pods, also known and potato berries, that look like little green cherry tomatoes. Last year we had an abundant crop of potato berries, so I wondered if you can grow potatoes from seed. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched online to see if it’s even possible. Yes, indeed. It’s a thing. So of course I had to try it.

Saving Potato Seeds

We noticed the unusually large amount of potato berries while we were pulling plants to harvest the Yukon Gold tubers, so that’s when we collected the ripe seed pods. Many of them fell off the vines on their own, rather than being pinched off.

Since the berries look like tomatoes, I used the same technique for saving the seed as for saving tomato seeds: Break the pods open, soak them in water a few days until they ferment, then collect the seeds that accumulate at the bottom of the bowl.

I was surprised to see how many hundreds of seeds are in each single potato berry, and how tiny they are — positively minuscule. I worried they would go through the sieve when I strained out the water, but they didn’t.

As I usually do, I spread the seeds on a glass plate to dry. I stored the dried seeds in a labeled pill bottle. In the spring I started them in our heated seed-starting room in our barn.

Starting Potato Seed

I read somewhere that potato seeds have a poor germination rate. Therefore I put lots of tiny seeds in each starter pot and barely covered them with soil. Wouldn’t you know — the germination rate was awesome, leaving me with tangles of tiny potato vines.

One thing I did right was to mix the seeds with a little sand before sowing them. Otherwise the little vines would have been even denser.

One thing I did wrong was to start the seeds too early. I started them in mid February, thinking they’d be slow growing. But they shot up and continued to grow fast.

By the time our last frost date had passed, the seedlings were well beyond the 6-inch vines recommended for transplanting. Next time I won’t start them until mid April for transplanting toward the end of May.

Transplanting Potato Seedlings

We often plant seed potato tubers at or just before the last frost date. Because I didn’t want to lose the tender seedlings to a late freeze, I waited until well past the last frost date.

Most of the websites I found regarding how to grow potatoes from seed recommend transplanting the seedlings twice. I didn’t.

I didn’t even harden them off, which I typically don’t do with seedlings anyway. My philosophy is: Why stress baby plants twice by submitting them to the shock of two moves?

Anyway, from the tangles of seedlings I picked the best looking eight and planted them 18″ apart. As it turns out, spacing them that far apart probably wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to give them plenty of room to grow.

I covered them with soil to the top set of leaves. Then, as with all potatoes, I continued hilling them as they grew.

Results of Growing Potatoes from Seed

The results of growing potatoes from seed were both impressive (because it worked) and unimpressive (because each plant produced only a few small potatoes). But apparently a meager harvest of small spuds is typical for the first year you grow potatoes from seed. The real reward comes in the second year, when you harvest potatoes grown from the first year’s tubers.

Aside from being a two-year project, growing potatoes from seed is not the same as growing them from seed potatoes. Potatoes grown from tubers are clones of the original tubers, resulting in no surprises. But with potato seeds you have no idea exactly what will grow — every plant produces a new variety.

Accordingly, the potatoes I harvested look something like Yukon Gold, but not quite. Some have rough skin, others have smooth skin. Some are round like a golf ball, others are oblong, and a few have completely weird shapes and even appendages.

I’ve saved the most promising tubers from this year to replant next year, just to see what happens. If all goes well, my casual experiment might yield a whole new variety that particularly loves our Tennessee climate and soil. If not, it was fun trying.

Important Things to Know about Potato Seeds

Even though potato berries look like little green tomatoes, don’t eat them. They can be toxic, just like green potato tubers.

Not all potato berries are green. Some varieties mature to red, blue, purple, or almost black.

Growing potatoes from seed is one way to avoid nasty viruses and other diseases. When starting with seed potatoes you should always start from certified disease-free tubers.

Potato seeds have the distinct advantage of being free — if they grow in your garden. Certified seed potatoes are pretty pricey these days.

If you search online for “potato seeds” you will find lots of information on seed potatoes, but little to nothing about potato seeds. Search instead for “true potato seeds.”

Links for the Curious

The Beginner’s Guide to Growing True Potato Seed is a brief and concise overview for the casually curious.

Sowing Potatoes from TPS clearly explains why potatoes you grow from seed won’t be exactly like the plant they came from, and includes tips on sowing the seeds.

What You Should Know about Potato Fruits is a lengthy and detailed description of potato berries; the link at the end leads to an in-depth explanation of how to grow potatoes from seed.