From in-vitro to soil to garden

[mensplace]

Anyone here ever grown in-vitro potatoes. I have successfully grown and transplanted to pots several British varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes are much larger, but the standard potatoes are roughly six inches long, still rather fragile, and growing in sterile seed starting mix. Plenty of leaves, but the vine stems seem very pale and translucent still. I'm wondering if if might help to add some potting mix over the long, trailing stems, or to simply give them time to toughen up a bit. Bottom line, when do I add more soil and begin the process of getting them ready for the soil outdoors?... and how best to do so?

[carolyn137]

Just a quick question, but why would you set up tissue culture, which is what in vitro growing is all about, rather than using cut pieces of tubers of standard potatoes? And same for sweet potatoes.

I don't know of any home growers who have gone to the huge expense of setting up a sterile pathogen free tissue culture facility to clone potatoes.

Or am I somehow missing what you're saying?

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Just a quick question, but why would you set up tissue culture, which is what in vitro growing is all about, rather than using cut pieces of tubers of standard potatoes? And same for sweet potatoes.

I don't know of any home growers who have gone to the huge expense of setting up a sterile pathogen free tissue culture facility to clone potatoes.

Or am I somehow missing what you're saying?

Sometimes one has to turn to other sources to obtain varieties that are not as readily available. I wanted specific potatoes that are not generally available. Now that they HAVE been removed from the test tubes and grown successfully for some weeks in soil so that some are up to six inches long and fully leaved, the stems themselves are still rather thin and translucent...certainly not ready for the garden. So, I was wondering if it is best to add a touch of soil along the stems to cover the somewhat, in hopes of fostering root growth and toughening them. They have now been in the partial sun of the "Florida Room" for some weeks.

[carolyn137]

OK, got it, you received them from elsewhere in tissue culture vials. And here I though you might have set up tissue cultures at home.

Having had no experience with potato varieties received that way I'm not one who could give you advice on the question you asked.

[Tom Wagner]

Yes, I have grown potatoes from tissue culture, in-vitro, test tube, meristem culture, or whatever moniker one may use. I, too, have received them to get varieties that otherwise are not available. I don't try to replicate the process, but when I need to get one or more of my varieties of potatoes into the first stage of growing certified seed potatoes, I have paid for labs to take one of my tubers to grow test tube plantlets for the initial part of cleaning up a variety.

I have had variable luck growing out the test tube plants as transplants to the field. Most of the time I barely get a plant strong enough to produce more than a single small tuber or so the size of a peanut or golf ball. The tubers then are planted for the next season. Occasionally the transplants time out faily well to produce a near normal sized vine in the field, but that is rare for me.

I probably should link to a picture or two of meristem tissue from start to finish, and since these forum posts are important to refer to later, I should find those links sometime in the future.

I reqested some varieties from overseas nearly two years ago and the potatoes had to be imported through quarantine purposes until they passed virus inspection. I teamed up with the Potato Introduction Station to request these materials jointly and I could have gotten the first in-vitro samples last summer but asked if the PI Station could grow out the plantlets in their greenhouse and provide me with actual tubers this next month. The tubers will be the size of pecans but they will be ready to plant when they arrive. I rather hate to mess with tissue culture myself even though I done this thousands of times.

Tom Wagner

[mjc]

I'd probably just go ahead and grow them in containers...18 gal 'tote' containers should work well, especially if you start out low in the container and 'hill' the potatoes throughout the season.

I'm probably going to grow out some of my TPS in containers, this year (speaking of which, some are starting to get true leaves now...I should probably pot them up...)

[mensplace]

Mostly, my effort was in the interest of grwoing out starters for Scottish, English, and Irish waxy potatoes. The sweet potatoes are already able to be transplanted to the field when the weather warms. The "Irish" potatoes will be a few more months, but only went into seed starting soil a few weeks ago. Now, about six inches, with good green leaves but still translucent stems. Some more recent ones are still under plastic, but those that are older are ready for more full sun exposure. I certainly don't recommend this as a common practice for everyone, but it was interesting to me and will be well worth the effort if I can successfully carry them to tubers.
For the record, there are kits available that home orchidists use and its not rock science. It just takes careful management. That said, I don't have the time or inclination. I grew other varieties from tubers, but not all are available in anything other than in-vitro. Even those small tubers, I first chitted, then potted and grew a good root system prior to setting them out yesterday. I just love taters, but especially those really waxy varieties. Many advertised as waxy here are nothing in flavor or texture compared to those great British varieties. It was clearly expalined to me by the head of one of the primary potato councils here that to them potatoes are nothing more than a commodity. If people will buy the basic few reds, whites and yellows seen in groceries, THAT is all they have an interest in.

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

Yes, I have grown potatoes from tissue culture, in-vitro, test tube, meristem culture, or whatever moniker one may use. I, too, have received them to get varieties that otherwise are not available. I don't try to replicate the process, but when I need to get one or more of my varieties of potatoes into the first stage of growing certified seed potatoes, I have paid for labs to take one of my tubers to grow test tube plantlets for the initial part of cleaning up a variety.

I have had variable luck growing out the test tube plants as transplants to the field. Most of the time I barely get a plant strong enough to produce more than a single small tuber or so the size of a peanut or golf ball. The tubers then are planted for the next season. Occasionally the transplants time out faily well to produce a near normal sized vine in the field, but that is rare for me.

I probably should link to a picture or two of meristem tissue from start to finish, and since these forum posts are important to refer to later, I should find those links sometime in the future.

I reqested some varieties from overseas nearly two years ago and the potatoes had to be imported through quarantine purposes until they passed virus inspection. I teamed up with the Potato Introduction Station to request these materials jointly and I could have gotten the first in-vitro samples last summer but asked if the PI Station could grow out the plantlets in their greenhouse and provide me with actual tubers this next month. The tubers will be the size of pecans but they will be ready to plant when they arrive. I rather hate to mess with tissue culture myself even though I done this thousands of times.

Tom Wagner