I’ve been staring at a catalog of seed potatoes for months. I feel like I’ve seen every variety of organic seed potatoes, and I’ve fallen in love with them all. Of course, next to chocolate, potatoes are my favorite ingredient. So, I was bound to be fascinated with the idea.
But I live in Southern California. And it is May. Which means warm weather is coming. My only saving grace is that I live in an area with heavy fog in the morning, so maybe my seed potatoes won’t fry before they sprout.
I decided to try.
Here is where we are so far:
Step 1: How to Choose Your Organic Seed Potatoes
I went with micro tubers because we don’t have a ton of room. My first choice was an Adirondack Blue variety. It’s gorgeous — purple through even after cooking. The package came with 10 micro tubers. I planted them on April 19th in grow bags. Fingers crossed!
For my second set of micro tubers, I went with Ciklamen. They have a unique, creamy taste. They mature early and tend to be disease-resistant. They are so tiny, though — hard to believe that these are going to produce enough for us to enjoy. Still, it’s worth the experiment.
Step 2: Where Do You Buy Seed Potatoes?
I chose to buy our organic seed potatoes from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. However, local nurseries can undoubtedly provide you with the seed potatoes directly or help you source them. I chose Baker Creek because I’ve had excellent luck with their organic tomato seeds. And I just planted some organic sweet bell pepper seeds.
Step 3: Should I Chit?
This is my first time growing potatoes, so I’m really winging it. I did chit the potatoes—I waited until there was some eye growth before planting them. But I don’t think you actually have to do it. I chose to do it in hopes that they would mature before the serious heat settles into SoCal. If you want to learn more about chatting potatoes, I highly recommend tuning into Epic Gardening’s YouTube channel.
Step 4: What Equipment Do You Need?
Honestly, this is a pioneer crop. You could dig a hole, toss a couple in, and come up aces. But I have limited space. So, I used grow bags. I planted six micro tubers in each bag. They are rolled down so that as the leaves grow, I can “hill up” and add more soil to allow for more potato growth. I keep the soil moist but not sopping. The bags are in a cold frame, but that’s more about keeping the neighborhood cat out of the grow bags than any concern of frost. It also acts as a greenhouse, which gives a nice boost to seedlings when temps are still routinely high in the mid-60s.
This is where we are. I’m excited to see what happens. When I spotted the little leaves shooting up from the Adirondack Blue grow bag, you would think that I had won the lottery.
Check back to see how the little seed potatoes are progressing! Maybe I’ll even make a video of myself trying to hill up without getting potting mix all over my clothing.
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P.S. The cold frame is an affiliate link for Amazon. If you buy the cold frame using this link, I might get a small commission.