# Cost of seed potato



## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I am planning to try and grow some potatoes for the first time this year but seed potatoes seem to be pretty expensive. I was planning to get them from www.potatogarden.com. I wanted to get Purple Majesty and Yukon Gold, to get ten pounds of each it will be about 65.00 with shipping. The site says to expect ten pounds for each pound of seed potato so that should give me 200 pounds if everything goes ok, that would still be 16.25 per 50# pound. 

Are there any cheaper places to buy seed potato? Maybe I should just buy 20 pounds of one type which would drop cost to 56.65. Has anyone grown Purple Majesty?


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## snowcap (Jul 1, 2011)

at the feed store yesterday the were .69 a pound.
they had yucon gold, red norlands and some russet type.

those prices are high for some thing your just gonna eat.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Our walmart has the red norlands on sale, 5lbs for $6.


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## BobbyB (Apr 6, 2009)

I didnt order any because of that very reason. I found a nursery and a feed store that had what I wanted and paid about a buck and a quarter a pound. 

Dont count on the 10 to 1 either. Everything has to be right and you probably still wont see that.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

Our local feed mill and some grocery stores will carry seed potatoes usually far less than a dollar a pound.
The purple ones might have to be ordered in but we can always find the main white and red types around.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone, I might order the purple and try to find others local


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## Marcia in MT (May 11, 2002)

Around here, seed potatoes are going for .69 to .75 per pound. I've found the independent garden center has the best selection with 12 varieties, while the farm & ranch store has only 4 varieties.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

16.99 to 19.99 per 50# for varying varities around here.dont wait to long...taters,onion sets and seeds are flying off the shelf here in my area.


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

bassmaster17327 said:


> Thanks everyone, I might order the purple and try to find others local


The Purple Majesty are really nice. I did them last year and loved them.


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

The feed store down the road from us has seed potatoes for 59 cents a pound, this includes yukons and purples. I got 10 lbs. yukons this week.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

vigilant20 said:


> The Purple Majesty are really nice. I did them last year and loved them.


 
Thanks, I have never grown potatoes before and I have never eaten any variety besides the standard white and red from the grocery store. I will look around locally this weekend but will probable have to order the purple majesty


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## imthedude (Jun 7, 2011)

10# will turn out a lot of spuds. for our family of 4, i planted - i think - 12# last year. even with a lower than normal yield and smallish potatoes, we still have some left that are going soft.


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## snowcap (Jul 1, 2011)

for the 2 of us we bought 250 pounds of potatoes this winter.
Of course my dog likes a baked potato when he can get it.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

It is only two of use but I eat a potato product with almost every dinner


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## bja105 (Aug 25, 2009)

How do I determine how many feet of row, at what spacing, a pound of potatoes will plant? Some are big, some are small, some get cut up. So far, my technique has been buy seed, plant until seed is gone, then plant something else. I did 15 pounds last year, but want to increase to 50 pounds this year.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

bja105 said:


> How do I determine how many feet of row, at what spacing, a pound of potatoes will plant? Some are big, some are small, some get cut up. So far, my technique has been buy seed, plant until seed is gone, then plant something else. I did 15 pounds last year, but want to increase to 50 pounds this year.


Actually, if your computer can handle pdf downloads, the Potatogarden site quoted previously has one of the better information guides which can answer your questions http://www.potatogarden.com/ Used to be a company called Ronigers, well--known and reliable, but, yes, pricey

geo


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Be sure to save your left over potatoes for planting next spring.

Is there a Freecycle or Craigslist in your area? You may be able to find someone with leftover potatoes from last years garden that are too soft to eat.


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

Just bought red norlands and some kennebecs for .59 cents per lb at a local grocery store. They order certified seed potatoes by the 100 lb bag.


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

Local ( NE GA) feed store ... 50 lb bags of Yukon Gold










for $18 per bag










Will finally get these planted tomorrow .... and perhaps more as we like them and they can out mighty fine


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## PurpleToad (Jan 23, 2011)

I was just out at the local Bomgaars, the seed potatoes there are $.40/lb. They had yukon gold, kennebec, pontiac, and red norland. I was going to order some online but at these prices I am rethinking my plans.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

bassmaster17327 said:


> Thanks, I have never grown potatoes before and I have never eaten any variety besides the standard white and red from the grocery store. I will look around locally this weekend but will probable have to order the purple majesty


Our local produce market had the for 20 or 23 for 50 pounds.


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## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

Paid 35 cents a pound today at Rural King. They had white, red pontiac and yukon gold.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

yukon gold and red norland at tractor supply, 5 pounds for 5.99


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## eruehr (Feb 22, 2007)

I just paid $22 for 50lbs of Yukon Gold size B. the A' are quite a bit cheaper but don't go nearly as far - especially the Yukons since they seem to have fewer eyes than most others.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Cost of seed potatoes should be no concern. If there is a reasonable chance that they are free of potato virus, each purchase should be considered as a once-in-a-lifetime event. I had a line of Kennebec which I bought in 1990 and somehow snookered myself by eating all of the stock several years ago. My Red Norlands date back to mid-1990s. Carola and Yukon Gold were one-time purchases 10-15 years ago. They are all just like any other so-called heirloom vegetables. One buys them once and then takes measures to being able to continue growing them into perpetuity.

Martin


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

There were only 232 acres of Purple Majesty certified seed potatoes in the US in 2012, as compared with the thousands of acres of Frito-Lay varieties and Russett Burbanks--so the OP will be wise to get them where and when he can, then learn some seed saving techniques. http://potatoassociation.org/Industry Outreach/seed.html#SeedProductionandHandling
(see the 2012 Excel file...Total Certified Seed Accepted Acres))

geo


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

What's wrong with just planting store bought potatoes that are making eyes and sprouts? I've done it before.


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## Marcia in MT (May 11, 2002)

francismilker said:


> What's wrong with just planting store bought potatoes that are making eyes and sprouts? I've done it before.


These potatoes are not certified to be free of disease. Potatoes in MT are inspected both in the field and in the storage barn before they can be certified and sold as seed -- and MT's certification standards are stricter than other states'.

This means that no- to almost-no disease will be imported into the farmers' fields; MT has a multi-billion seed potato industry that all are trying to protect. Other states are not as stringent, and there are no regulations for table stock.

So even if it's organic, table stock more than likely carries contamination that you do not want in your garden. Is disease more prevalent than it was a generation ago? I don't really know, but I don't take any chances. Besides, I don't want to be the one contaminating my garden or my neighbors'! So we plant only certified seed, or seed from certified stock that we've saved in a clean garden.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

francismilker said:


> What's wrong with just planting store bought potatoes that are making eyes and sprouts? I've done it before.


Potato farmers spend millions to assure that their crops are free of ALL diseases. Certified need only be free of potato virus while there are certain tolerances for other diseases. 

Martin


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

Saw this a few days ago and have been pondering ...

I save a few seeds ... so why not taters? I don't know.

My grandparents saved seed and kept taters in the root cellar and yet they always bought new taters come Spring - I've thrown out many from the storage but never remember planting stock from saved taters.

Geo provided some interesting info on seed tater production .... but I noticed a lacking of production from the states below the Mason-Dixon.

I suspect that this has inherent issues with later planting/harvesting up North ( seed taters came from Canada this year, South Dakota last year) but ....

If I wanted to save the $36 ( 100 lbs - the most that I have planted yet) or, more importantly, a rare type .... how would one go about saving seed taters for the 8-9 months down South?

I typically plant in March and harvest in late June, early July. That, in my experience, is a long haul for a tater outside of a mason jar..

What do I need to do?


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I think it might be like my garlic experience last year. For years I grew the same garlic- just replanting the saved bulbs. 
Then I bought some bubils over the internet and my neighbor gave me a few of her garlic bulbs to try. Suddenly garlic rust, which I never even known existed, showed up. I suspect it was from the new stuff I tried. I lost all my old garlic varieties.
So I plan to get the best stock to start, find which I like for replanting, then try to limit introducing new varieties to limit the chance of introducing disease. Simply limiting the chance that something might come with new stock.
Maybe that's the good strategy for those who are able to keep diseases away. But if I did have a disease that now infected my place, I suppose that new stock from whatever cheapest source I could find would be my choice as the best to get a crop despite the disease.


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

LMAO, ya had to bring up garlic!

That is my latest problem .... 37 varieties in the ground and I'm still wondering how it happened - Thanks Martin!!!!










Trying to figure out what I need to do in order to keep a tater from June to March for planting ... seems odd down here.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

a'ightthen said:


> If I wanted to save the $36 ( 100 lbs - the most that I have planted yet) or, more importantly, a rare type .... how would one go about saving seed taters for the 8-9 months down South?


Standard instructions apply for all areas, store in cool and dark location. If you could provide cold storage at a constant 45ÂºF, that would work. How cost-effective it would be might be another matter. You could plant late varieties and leave them in the ground for as long as possible and then store them in a pit or clamp. However, I'd be more nervous about that in the South than up here since late blight is often typical down there. 

Martin


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

That's pretty much my position .... one needs the others.

I'm fully content with paying $36 to plant a seed tater each foot, reaping the harvest and starting over.










The rare stuff .... I'll battle to retain.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

a'ightthen said:


> That's pretty much my position .... one needs the others.
> 
> I'm fully content with paying $36 to plant a seed tater each foot, reaping the harvest and starting over.
> 
> ...


What is planted in that picture, bout 500 chits?


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## a'ightthen (Mar 17, 2012)

Darn close Rick ... ~140' rows.

Point being that there ain't no shame to be had for buying seed taters ... some folks live in areas that may not be conducive to carry over seed from one year to the next.

It is part of the system that allows some to benefit from their location .... they may sell me taters .... but may buy my okra 

It is diversity and keeps the world spinning!


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

a'ightthen said:


> Saw this a few days ago and have been pondering ...
> 
> I save a few seeds ... so why not taters? I don't know.
> 
> ...


One of the benefits of buying certified seed potatoes is that you also get the benefit if their storage techniques.......... The certified grower can plant a short season like a Yukon Gold later than usual and hold them in the ground a little longer. They also use cool down and curing methods that ensure the potatoes go into a proper and timely dormancy. They also store them in bunker bins under no light and use air circulation and controlled humidity at nearly 90 percent. They also hold seed potatoes at a lower temperature (38 degrees...since they won't be eaten, the conversion from starch to sugar at that temperature won't matter)

If you can mimic those conditions on a smaller scale, then you might at least store some of your lesser known varieties through the time period you have in your area. A dedicated fridge may be in order. Then you can study some of the cool down and curing technique the professional growers use.

geo


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## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

I placed an order this morning with Irish Eyes for three varieties of seed potatoes which I cannot get around here. 

I think what I ordered was-
2 lbs. Purple Peruvian organic $12.00
2 lbs. Russet Norkotah certified organic $8.00
2 lbs. German Butterball certified organic $8.00
plus
Albion Strawberries $14.50

Then shipping via UPS Ground (cheapest option offered) was another $18.07 (ouch, ouch, ouch!!!).

That is far more than we have ever paid for seed potatoes before, but we have been wanting to try out some different varieties and we have declared this to be our "Year of the Garden", so it seemed like as good a time as any.

Before I placed the order I called Irish Eyes to ask about the advisability of saving seed potatoes after harvest. The girl who answered was not very knowledgeable about either the companies offerings or growing them. She put me on hold while she asked someone else, then came back and mumbled something about growing their seed potatoes in petri dishes. She said that we could try holding over potatoes from our harvest, but not to try to go beyond the third generation.

I guess we will try it and see what happens. If we employ the best growing practices, store the seed potatoes in our root cellar, and rotate planting sites every year, maybe that will help extend the period over which we can keep using our own stock.

If we fail, well, potatoes are grown commercially around here, and they are cheap to buy. They won't be our own good, organically grown specialty varieties, but they will hold us over until we can buy more to plant. Assuming that TEOTWAWKI doesn't happen in the meantime, lol. If that happens and our potato stock goes bad we'll have to build ourselves a "lab" and learn the petri dish method!


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