Potato Berries-True Potato Seed

Back in the Spring we bought a small bag of multi colors potato tubers. I stuck three in the ground and three in a pot. Only one in the pot and twp in the ground survived. I think the pot had too much water after some heavy rains and I didn't hill as well as I should have with the ones in ground so I figured it would be a loss. 

Then, the ones in the ground bloomed, and got some potato berries. Now, if you have never seen a potato berry they look like little green tomatoes. I did a little research and found out that they are in the same family as tomatoes even though one puts out fruit above ground (tomatoes) and the other below ground (potatoes). Also, don't eat the berries they are poisonous.

The potato berry is where true potato seed comes from. You can save them much like you do tomato seeds. Squish open, put seeds and pulp in a container (I put a little water), and keep,in the cup a few days. Swirl the content some during that time to help seperate the seeds from the pulp. The viable seeds are supposed to sink to the bottom. Then spoon off the pulp and seeds that float to the top. Drain (preferable with a strainer to catch seeds) and lay seeds out to dry. Some place on a plate while others use papertowels and just tear off what they need when they go to start them.

The berry is in the corner of the picture, but hard to see so I have included a close up below. Right above the label is where he is hiding.

Something to know about true potatoes seeds (TPS) is that they are not true to the parent like tubers are. Some seeds may be but others are different. This meams the potatoes from the plant will be differ gentetically. So they could have a different size, taste, look etc. from the original parent plant. 

Also, if you want to grow potatoes from seed you will need to start them indoors in the winter so that a plant can grow. That plant will then be transplanted outdoors in the Spring. TPS take longer to produce potatoes than tubers, which is why so many people plant tubers instead. 

Here is how many seeds I got from three potato berries. Keep in mind I lost a few in the transfer (I didn't have a strainer small enough to catch them and ended up pouring them onto a paper towel instead).

They are very small seeds. The good thing is that there are quite a few considering the berries are pretty small. 

We plan to try it out this winter. If it goes well I may do a seed giveaway next year if anyone shows interest. If you'd like me to have a seed giveaway let me know in the comments below. 

Anyone else get a potato berry this year? Are you planning on saving the seeds?

Happy Gardening!