Saving True Potato Seed- Large Batch Method

If you have a large quantity of potato berries of a single type, there are some differences in scale and methods of processing them to extract the TPS (true potato seed) than you would use for a couple of berries from a hand pollination etc. In this video a method for extracting as much of the TPS from the potato berries as efficiently as possible is detailed. There are a number of different possible ways to accomplish each step in the process, but this is the way we do it right now at Oxbow Farm. First step is to coarsely grind the berries in an old meat grinder. This separates the seeds from most of the berry pulp without damaging the seeds the way it is possible to do using a blender. If you do not have an old meat grinder like that shown in the video, blending the berries is an acceptable alternative, but you will damage more of the true potato seed. Second step is to sieve the ground berry pulp using a metal sieve that has small holes in the 1.5 to 2 mm range. This allows the seeds to drop through, while keeping the vast majority of berry pulp. Thirdly the seeds are rinsed numerous times to separate the seeds from as much of the small fragments of berry pulp that made it through the sieve, and also to remove much of the gel/slime and germination inhibiting compounds that are naturally surrounding the potato seeds. Fourthly, the cleaned seeds are poured into a fine collander to drain as much liquid as possible from them, and then they are transferred into a 10% trisodium phosphate solution. The trisodium phosphate is a cleanser that digests the seed gel/slime and also largely disinfects the seed of any possible pathogenic fungi they might have on the seed's outer surface. The seeds are soaked in the trisodium phosphate solution for 20 minutes and then drained, rinsed and placed on a paper plate to dry. The seeds are dried in the dehydrator set on a very low setting of around 90 degrees F. They should be completely dry within 12 hours. To learn how to make a 10% trisodium phosphate solution, you can watch our fascinating video on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0TVOfqeHnY