We have all bought a bag of potatoes, and before you can use them, they start sprouting. We are often asked, “Can I grow potatoes from grocery store-bought potatoes?” The simple answer is yes, but there are a few things to consider: the disease that the potatoes might carry and the sprout inhibitor that the potatoes were treated with.
Store-bought potatoes are not certified seed potatoes, which means they can introduce harmful potato diseases into your soil, which will be difficult, or even near impossible, to get rid of once they arrive. Some diseases that affect potatoes also infect other plants in the Solanaceae family, such as tomato, pepper, and eggplant.
Potato diseases that can stay in the soil for many years are;
- Common scabA soil-borne disease caused by bacteria in the Streptomyces genus that can survive in the soil for many years
- AlternariaAlso known as early blight, this fungal pathogen can cause lesions on potato leaves that look like concentric rings
- Late blightAlso known as potato blight, this disease is caused by oomycete fungi that can overwinter in infected tubers left in the ground
- Root-knot nematodesThese nematodes can hibernate in uncultivated soils as eggs for many years
Store-bought potatoes are also treated with sprout inhibitors. Even if they do sprout, the quality of plants grown from treated tubers is usually not good because the sprout inhibitor causes problems with mitosis in the sprouts, which have already absorbed the chemical even if you wash them.
Seed potatoes have NEVER been treated with a sprout inhibitor and are certified disease-free.
If you can’t get your hands on seed potatoes or your budget only allows you to plant store-bought potatoes, we suggest planting them in containers. After you harvest the potatoes, put the soil in the bin. DO NOT MIX it with your compost to prevent disease from spreading in your garden.
We prefer getting our seed potatoes from Livingseeds
Happy Gardening Friends
Tash & Family
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