Posted on 09/08/2017 5:40:24 PM PDT by greeneyes
Wherever you are today, I hope you are safe and enjoying sunny skies. No way I’d be heading toward Florida - you guys are braver than I am.
Thanks. Good to hear from you.
You are quite welcome. For a while, I know she checked out postings on FR, but I don’t think she does that any more.
Reminds me of college days. I drove 180 miles every day round trip to finish my degree. In the spring, the “perfume” from the various fields was very fragrant. LOL
That is just so awesome! Now I have a problem. I planted some rose gold potatoes earlier this year, but they didn’t do much, and with the lack of water, I just figured they died.
When we started getting some regular rain, I noticed that area had some yellow blooms, and the plants looked like tomatoes. Yesterday, I wandered around to the other side of the patch, and lo and behold - green fruits - looks like tomatoes.
Some are exactly like the cherry tomatoes that grow in a bunch some are pear shaped, and others are shaped like small beefsteak. I haven’t planted tomatoes there for at least 4 years.
Of course, last year I had volunteer tomato plants that came up among the lilies, and they were like the grape cherry tomatoes, that I have never planted anywhere on the property.
Hubby said best not to eat them, because they might actually be the potato fruit/seed pod.
Yes, potatoes WILL ‘set fruit’ if they think they’re going to die. They ARE an annual plant, so if they’re stressed, they’ll do that; set fruit or go to seed quick so they can perpetuate themselves.
Mother Nature knows what She’s doing! Gardening is ALL ABOUT THE SEX and reproduction and the perpetuation of YOUR particular sub-species, Baby!
(And some people think plants are dumb!) ;)
Potatoes are in the Solanaceae family of plants, so that’s why the above-ground fruit looks like a tomato.
‘S. tuberosum’ is potato, ‘S. lycopersicum’ is tomato and, ‘S. melongena’ is eggplant...which I never grow; they’re tasteless SPONGES, fer Pete’s Sake!
Whee! My Master Gardener classes are FINALLY paying off! ;)
Yep we knew they would set fruit, but the plants look more like tomatoes, and the fruit looks like delicious tomatoes.
We are afraid to eat them, cause we don’t know for sure what they are. If they had sprung up anywhere else, we’d probably have just eaten them without a thought. But since I planted potatoes there in late spring, we are not certain what is what, and so we are just leaving them be.
Don’t eat them, but if any look ripe, I’d save a few seeds. True potato seeds keep for years, just like tomato seeds do, and can be a back-up for your “SHTF” seed stash.
If things ever get bad enough that you lose your seed potatoes and can’t get any more, those seeds will let you rebuild. The first year, the spuds will be tiny. Save them to replant the next year. After the second fall you’ll have a better idea what size spuds your new varieties will produce, and you’ll be able to select for things like size, flavor, and disease resistance.
I don’t suggest true potato seeds for the normal garden, but they can be a backup to your backups.
(Unless you’re a plant breeder, in which case they’re just plain fun!)
Thanks. I guess saving them and experimenting with some is the only way I’ll ever know for sure whether they are potatoes or tomatoes. LOL
We’re safe and sound in Pensacola Beach.
Lot of the folks who were here when we arrived had evacuated from southern Florida. Most of them have headed back home.
Weather here was blustery on Sunday and Monday.
Yesterday was clear, but still very windy. We went down to Fort Pickens across the bay from the naval base. Sat on the sound-side beach and watched the Blue Angels practice.
Today the weather was perfect. We went to the naval base, sat in the bleachers at the museum and watched the Blue Angels practice, then spent the next few hours touring the aviation museum.
I cut back the tomato plants which had fallen over during a recent storm. Harvested the two ripening fruits. Cleaned up debris from the planter and sowed seeds of radish, arugula, lettuce, mustard and carrots.
Thanks for the update. Glad you are having decent weather, and are safe.
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