Almost missed this time around, last seen here four years back: a few of the Yukon Gold potatoes have fruit this year. These are poisonous little, green tomato-like fruit with seeds that you can grow into…potatoes. You can find out more about ’em in this POTATO FRUIT blog post from 2008, when I first ran into then (it’s the most commented post on Tiny Farm Blog!).
Let’s see how many comments these potato fruit bring forth. I’m still waiting for my first batch of earlies to burst forth. 1st day of spring here.
I’ve had potato fruit on all my potatoes this years: Norland, Chaleur, Ratte, All Blue, Irish Gold, all of them. In my case, I suspect a combination of high soil fertility (I have been quite generous this spring!), cool spring weather and high humidity throughout the season.
I got them for the first time this year on my Russets. :)
So that’s what those are! I kept finding them when I was digging potatoes last week.
BTW, I got 79 pounds of potatoes from 3 ten-foot rows. Is that the expected yield? High? Low? Since I live alone and the cat has no interest in potatoes, I’m gonna be eating a lot of spuds this winter…
I had fruit on a plant I grew in 09… it was a grocery spud that sprouted and my kids and I thought it would be fun to plant it and see what happened…
I wondered what the fruit were.. thanks for educating me.
All my potato varieties have fruited this year, very bizarre!!
I have been growing Maris Peer for 10 years and this year am seeing a lot of the fruits- first time – wondered what they were. It has been a damp and late season for everything this year in Scotland though
Great to know. can potatoes , tomatoes by rubbing thru the plant cause a skin reaction? Collection tomatoes the other day, my skin. Starting getting small welts. It could have been poison ivy, but I don’t think so. Last several years I’ve had this happen, but I didn’t know the plants could bite back!
thanks
What can I do to grow a potato crop from the seeds in this little green ball?