Shaun aRe wrote:
>
> While this is on my mind, may I pick yours for a little information
> regarding growing potatoes?
>
> We were told (rather my wife was while studying horticulture) not to
waste
> our time and money buying commercial 'seed potatoes' (we're only
talking
> small grows here, allotment grows etc. if this makes a difference),
rather
> to just buy the kind we liked at a s/market, and plant those when
they went
> to seed. He gave her his reasons, and since then, experimenting has
backed
> up that reasoning.
>
> Various types of commercial seed potatoes, planted at different times
and
> different locations, when compared to store bought ones in the same
> situations, yielded comparatively poorly, suffered much more from
disease,
> and were attacked rather heavily by pests. The crops were also poorer
in
> flavour (with the crops from the store bought having vastly more
flavour
> than the originals too).
>
> Could you, if you please, elucidate as to why this is/maybe, and
also, with
> the above (at least seemingly) being the case, why do people still
buy
> expensive seed potatoes?

You're likely a cheap ******* and other folks are not...

Seed potatoes are treated with fungicides, insecticides, and hormones
to accelerate initial growth... as are most all veggie seed. Do not
eat or feed wildlife leftover veggie seed. Seed potatoes are not more
costly... and those from the stupidmarket are generally hybrids that
won't reproduce.

Small home gardens are not to save money, almost always costs more than
store bought... it's a hobby... I just added 15 yds of topsoil @ $400,
I'm already operating at a loss and I didn't even plant yet, first
gotta start up my $800 rototiller - it will never pay for itself. I've
been gardening all my life and have yet to save my first penny, have no
expectations I ever will.

Sheldon