I know nothing about growing food, but am trying to learn. I have some potatoes sprouting beautifully in a dark corner of my house, and to my dismay I have discovered evidence of mice. Funny enough they did not even nibble the potatoes, just left their usual calling card. In your opinion, can these potatoes still be used for planting or would they carry germs now? Sorry if this is a totally stupid question. I visit this forum every day. Especially enjoy "old git". Thank you.

-- citygirl (citygirl@idirect.ca), May 06, 1999

Answers

Cut the sprouting potatoes into sections, each section should have one viable "eye", or spot where the sprout comes out. Plant about 3 inches deep. Watch carefully for potato beetles. Pick them off and drop them in a can filled with kerosene. Do not worry about the mice! I'm an old West Tennessee farm boy who has grown almost everything! E-mail me for more details.

-- Tennessean (holladayl@aol.com), May 06, 1999.

Ok, I've got the potatoes planted....and they're coming up with green leaves.

Now, when do I dig them up & how do I know they're ready??

Thanks in advance

-- texan (bullseye@ranch.com), May 06, 1999.

Citygirl:

You can try and it might work. You would be better-off planting certified seed potato(e)s. Any germs present probably won't affect you but may destroy your crop. Texan: Depends on the variety and what you want to do with them. I grow mostly Yukon gold and German/Russian finger. I let the vines die back and the skins harden.

Z1

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 06, 1999.

Re: harvesting potatoes- when the vines die back is usually a good time to di g them up. check after flowering and pull a few "new" potatoes for yummy eating.

Re; mouse- germs- no problem. But- it's best to use certified seed potatoes or save your own. Grocery store stuff is iffy. there's much potatoe disease out there- late blight is a major problem so you want to get good clean stock. Don't plant diseased rotting potatoes- green ones are o.k. to plant however. Also- you'll want to plant ones that will grow well for your region. Here for instance, I plant early and mid-season varieties that are scab resistant.

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), May 06, 1999.

I agree completely with Anita, to some extent. What she says is true. But, the biggest problem with non-certified potato(e)s is virus infection. It is bad.

Z1X4Y7

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 06, 1999.

City Girl,

Do yourself a favor and visit the local agricultural extension agent. You'll find scads of FREE pamphlets about growing stuff, and what stuff, for your area, how to store it, keep the bugs away... We've found their information to be very valuable (worth much more than you pay for it) and just the planting charts alone are worth a trip down there.

Godspeed.

-- Kay (jkbrooks@bellsouth.net), May 06, 1999.

CG - if you scroll down to the "Food" archive and use your edit-find button to locate "potato," I believe you'll find out more about potatoes than you ever wanted to know!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 06, 1999.

Thank you all so much! I am not in a position to leave the city, but I work for the local municipal governnment and am doing my best to spread the word and have local agencies prepare to help. Maybe we won't need them, but they should have a plan.

-- citygirl (citygirl@idirect.ca), May 06, 1999.

watch out for mouse droppings they can contain the hanta virus which can be deadly. Breathig the dust is the path of infection I believe.

-- will (sibola@hotmail.com), May 08, 1999.