Potato Seeds, not Seed Potatoes

I have not, OG.

Yes, I started this year, with true potato seed (TPS) I purchased commercially a few years ago, as well as some I received as part of a 'beginner's train' from a potato breeder's group on FB.  The seeds make for beautiful plants (some that produce seed berries), and small tubers. The small tubers are generally collected the first year and planted as seed potatoes in subsequent years, until the spuds are of decent size for taste trials and continued cloning.

The seeds themselves don't produce plants true to the parent -- only the tubers produce clones of the parent plant. Every seed has the potential to start a new strain of potato, which is why the process is popular with hobby breeders. I am wary of any claims that TPS would immediately and consistently produce sizeable spuds of a particular cultivar -- it just doesn't happen that way.

Interesting information.

I am wondering if the process is similar to growing garlic from the bulblets from the scapes. It can be done but takes a few years. I will be keeping an eye on this topic as I feel one should do a couple of experiments every year just to double check as to what one has read because what actually happens can be extremely different from what one has read. Ohio Gardener if you decide to give it a try, please keep us posted. I wanted to grow potatoes this year but my local nursery said the seed potatoes were late coming out of the potato houses and I got busy with something else. Nothing beats a just dug potato!

It appears breeders are making progress on producing sizeable tubers from seed in a single growing season.  Although the article below is about a different cultivar, there may be hope for the 'Clancy' potato, after all!  

https://www.bejo.com/magazine/bejo-introduces-its-first-true-potato-seed-variety?fbclid=IwAR2oW62n0G_lUi6W0ZxWcLJuD0qJKIbmuNzly1l7dGMv8NUJyOvuqOw4_lg

So far, I've seen 'Clancy' F1 seed included in two reputable 2020 seed catalogs, and there may be more to come.

As Dan suggested, I also encourage folks to try growing potatoes from TPS. It's fun, if not immediately rewarding.  My previous post wasn't intended to discourage experimenting, but to help manage expectations of outcome. In most cases, folks would be disappointed if sowing TPS in the spring with the hope of feeding their family a big bowl of tasty, homegrown mashed potatoes (from those seeds), at Thanksgiving dinner.

OG, if you choose to invest in 'Clancy' seeds, please do keep us posted. I'm curious how they'll do...