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Edited To Add: my pictures hate me today.

Ugh. I sliced my potatoes. I guess our air was a little humid? Because they look molded after barely 2days.

[img]https://oi43.tinypic.com/20rtefr.jpg[/img]

I plucked a couple out that doesn't have what looks like mold on them.

[img]https://oi39.tinypic.com/33vge3t.jpg[/img]

Are these still okay to plant since they're not molded themselves or should I toss them too since they were touching? I've never messed with potatoes before other than when I pulled my grandma's up last year.[/b]

I think they would be okay, because they are not molded through. Try to keep them in a dry area and away from the rest of the moldy ones though, otherwise they may become moldy.

It can't hurt to try growing them...

Crystal's Gardening wrote:I think they would be okay, because they are not molded through. Try to keep them in a dry area and away from the rest of the moldy ones though, otherwise they may become moldy.

It can't hurt to try growing them...

thanks! I went ahead and picked up the molded ones that weren't just soggy feeling. sliced off about 1/4 of an inch and it was clean, white potato. I have them all over a heating pad right now.

That looks like extensive mold growth for two days!
Where are they from? Are they certified seed potatoes or grocery potatoes?

We're they wrapped in those wet looking newspapers?

I would be concerned that this is some sort of potato disease and wouldn't want to use them for seed potatoes. When I use grocery potatoes, I only use unblemished ones and won't use if many are scabby in the same bin or bag.

I actually feed the ugly looking ones (peeled as much as needed) to my family and reserve the perfectly unblemished ones to bury in the ground -- priorities.

(but those look like candidates for the trash which I almost never put any part of vegetables in.... )

wow I would toss them also. Why the heating pad?
I just cut mine and put them by the oven or stove (gas) nice and warm.
For a night then put them in the ground.

They were seed potatoes, Applestar. In a paper sack right there with the other seed packets in the garden section.

The newspapers are wet because it rained today. I did have them sitting on them, but that was just so I could move them if I left my dog outside. The newspapers were dry until today when it rained (before I could get my picture). But the potatoes were just as molded.

When I first got them from the store and sliced them--they were completely healthy and white. They looked like something firm and fresh that I wouldn't have thought twice about eating.

Could the overnight dew have caused the extra mold? Otherwise they got a little sun in the morning, shade in the afternoon. It'll probably be too wet for me to have even a chance of getting them in the ground tomorrow. so if they're bad they should have time to turn again before planting.

For tonight I brought them in, set them in a box and put them on my heating pad for now since they were pretty damp and Crystal mentioned keeping them dry.

GardenGnome wrote:wow I would toss them also. Why the heating pad?
I just cut mine and put them by the oven or stove (gas) nice and warm.
For a night then put them in the ground.

I didn't have any other place warm to put them. we're running A.C. at night here.

I was going to rig up a space heater in a different room to run for a couple hours before bed. I think I'll do that now. should be good dry heat for them.

Wait, so you cut them up and then they got moldy?

OK. I think there's some misunderstanding here.
Regular or "Irish" potatoes will start to grow from their eyes around 55°F. If the soil tmp is much lower than that when planted, they tend to rot.
But they are cool season starters and don't sprout well in heat and usually can be planted starting about 3 wks before last avg frost or, when phenological signs indicate sufficiently warm soil temperature -- forsythias start blooming, Bradford pears are in full bloom, dandelions start blooming, earthworms start making wormsigns....

I find they sprout best when I keep them, whole, in my pantry Then I cut them apart if necessary after the eyes have sprouted. But I leave large egg-sized ones whole.

I'm still learning but if I guessed gettting them wet is bad you want them to scab over so they don't mold when you plant them. And 2nd you don't put them in the sun they turn green and toxic.

Look up chitting potatoes. A shallow box. Single layer of seed potatoes. Warm sunny location. You end up with short stubby green sprouts. Some will tell you, you will get a earlier and larger harvest.


Eric

Right. But "warm sunny" in the week before planting time. I think also maybe the problem was that they were left out overnight? ...noooo but you said you're running ac at night.

Could it be just too hot? I've tried planting leftover seed potatoes after it go hot enough to run the ac but still cool at night, and they sulked in the ground until fall, THEN started to grow, which did nobody any good because of course they froze at first frost.

Hey, we were talking about this in another thread, but maybe they could be grown in the comfort of the ac indoors.....

BTW, so being pre-cut and waiting to callous pieces, the ones in the last picture look OK. I would dust with garden sulfur before planting just to be sure.

GG, green and toxic is only bad if you are eating them. The seed potatoes will be food for the new plant and there won't be any left by harvest time.

applestar wrote:
I would dust with garden sulfur before planting just to be sure.

GG, green and toxic is only bad if you are eating them. The seed potatoes will be food for the new plant and there won't be any left by harvest time.

thanks so much! I'm heading to town today and I'll see what I can find. there was just a couple seed potatoes left when I picked those up before. If there's any left and all else fails, I'll grab a new bag!