multiplying planting stock

I'd like to use some of my 'Skye blue' (possibly original Shetland black) potatoes in my GAMCOD-not GAMCOD bed next year. I don't really have enough though. What's the best way people find of multiplying their seed potatoes for planting?

Generally I don't even cut the potatoes, I just use slightly smaller whole potatoes, so I'm not sure whether there are likely to be rot issues if I try cutting the potatoes in pieces. Since the potatoes I've kept are smaller, then they might end up rather too small if I do cut them - could they be grown on like tomatoes and planted out perhaps, would they catch up?

Hey Nancy

You can grow potatoes from ‘slips’ or small pieces of living stem cutting, like tomato suckers. You can plant the potatoes in soil indoors, like in a flat or pot, then as the green sprouts come up and begin to send out roots, gently break those away from the mother seed and either pot those up or plant directly (like you would a bareroot tomato or sweet potato) the mother tuber will continue to grow and make new shoots. You’ll end up with much more and higher quality planting stock than if you tried to cut the potatoes up in small pieces with just one eye or something. Good luck!

I have only grown potatoes once.

Every eye is a potential plant.

So in 2020 I took the last of my grocery store potatoes and planted every eye.

They all grew pretty plants and I did get a harvest.

Evan Morgan wrote:You can grow potatoes from ‘slips’ or small pieces of living stem cutting, like tomato suckers.

Thanks Evan - that sound perfect! So instead of putting the potatoes on to chit, I'll basically just plant them. I may need to find a slightly warmer spot than the window sill though. I'm definitely going to give that a go.