What's Up With Potatos ?

[luckitri]

They don't grow buds out of their eyes anymore.

Just a few months ago they did.

What is being done to them now that they don't sprout?

Anyone know?

[RawkStar]

Mine still do. Maybe you just have a bad batch? :confused:

[juliebove]

Mine sprout. Dunno about yours.

[luckitri]

I was talking with a health person and he was doing alot of talking and he mentioned how they are not sprouting now and I realized he was right but did not get a chance to ask him what is being done to them so I thought I would ask here. Cuz I have had some on the counter for my family and it is pretty hot here still so they should have sprouted and they did not.

I bought them on sale of course. Just like my nectarines that rotted instead of ripening. Maybe that is it. I heard they dip apples in some chemical to keep them from ripening or rotting so that they can keep them in warehouses to market all year long.

[spicyfull]

??? It's been a while since I have bought any but if they are alive they have to sprout or rot............

[GlimR]

I buy them for my DH...never use them fast enough...they always sprout~

[exurb]

OK, HERE'S THE DEAL!!

And a tutorial in modern large scale potato farming.

Potatoes grow under the ground as tubers. For them to store in the winter, they need the upper vine to die off, then they are left in the ground for a further couple weeks or so before digging, as the time after the plant is dead is when the skins start to harden and cure to the point that they will store. (picture the difference between a fresh "new potato" where you could almost wash the skin right off).

OK, so in the old days (or organic in the new days), one just simply waited for the tops to die off then let some time go by, then dug them up. Sometimes all the potatoes don't die at exactly the same time, so if you're digging them up by hand, plant by plant, you could pick and choose what to dig, or wait longer for them all to die and cure.

Enter our friends Monsanto. Why not spray your whole crop with Round-up TM;) , then they will ALL die at the same time, you will know the day, then you can conveniently dig them all up on your own schedule. So roundup works by being absorbed by the leaves and working its way down to the roots. So you get the added benefit of no sprouting.

I also understand that there are further treatments available to prevent sprouting.

I say grow yer own. They can even be grown effectively in pots! More respect to those organic farmers fer sure! BTW my dear hubby grows a really nice collection of organic heirloom potatoes, man I've got to tell you the difference in taste (and color;) ) is night and day.

Anyone seen the Simpsons episode where they're eating genetically modified vegetables? Marge "Kids, they're perfectly safe, they're from the vegetable division of Union Carbide" :cool:

[luckitri]

Thank you exurb! OMG that is frightening about the Roundup!

We tried growing them in big wooden planters we had but I think the Arizona weather is not conducive to growing potatos. They never got big or right texture.

[unbent]

I grew up on a farm from the age of 4 until I went in the Navy at 17. We grew our own potatoes as well as other great stuff and we always had enough extra potatoes stored in the basement to last until the next year. We didn't eat store bought potatoes for years. Then one year we sold/gave away more than we should have and my mom had to buy some from the store. I could not believe the difference, not only in taste but texture. It almost made me sick. I miss home grown produce. :(

Andy