how best to deal with sprouting potatoes?

My husband keeps taking off the sprouts from the potatoes several times each season. He says that they won't waste so much energy sprouting if he keeps taking them off.
I think it doesn't make a difference, he is wasting his time: you might as well leave them to it, and only take off the sprouts when you are going to eat them. Who is right?

 

Do you mean sprouts on the seedies, or on the plants as they are growing?

 

I mean sprouts growing on the potatoes you are storing to eat.

 

Such sprouts are poisonous.

 

Yes we know. We never eat them!
My question is: does it make sense to keep taking them off so the potatoes won't waste energy in growing the sprouts, or will they waste just as much energy growing them again from scratch? Which they do.

 

It's the first year that my stored potatoes have sprouted, i've been taking off the sprouts as in time they will start the go soft

 

Hi Annemieke,you will need to keep taking the sprouts off of the spuds because in the end if you don't as well as the sprouts getting longer the potato will actually start to shrivel up.We find at this time of the year it is the spuds that are classed as earlies that start to sprout as it is getting to the time they want to be going into the ground but as we all know unless you are going to grow them in a poly tunnel so will want them in the ground soon it is far too early to have them sprouting becUse if they go into the ground now the tops are likely to be killed by frost as they are not hardy enough to withstand very cold weather and frosts.

If you want them in the ground in March and your husband keeps taking the sprouts off then it will take a bit of time for new sprouts to grow from the eyes.

You need to have your spuds in a cool frost free place but as I see it if they are in the dark and in a warm place they will continue to sprout as they are eager to get going but spuds being spuds they don't seem to understand about frost killing them as they are from a warm climate originally and their inner workings are just doing their natural thing.

Are you planning on planting them or are you eating them after buying from the shops or growing them yourself?

By the way,I see you are from near Ilminster.Mr Kandys Auntie and her hubby both lived in Isle Abbotts for a number of years after retirement but have both since passed away so are in the churchyard there at rest.

 

We are eating them as I speak, more or less, and will do so long after you see new ones are in the shops! Nothing wrong with eating 'old' potatoes, methinks.
We always grow our own, but buy in potatoes for seed.
We keep them as cool as possible, but find that this year they sprout earlier, due to the warm winter no doubt.

 

I never knew that , I bet not many people do . Going to google it now.

 

Not only the sprouts are poisonous, so are the green bits where potatoes have been in the sun/daylight too much. Often in supermarkets they have gone a bit green I find. The green means they have increased their solanine so you have to cut those bits off, or peel them thickly.

 

The green bit is caused by sunlight activating the Chlorophyll in the tuber, once it's exposed, solanine is produced throughout the tuber, I've given myself solanine poisoning by just cutting off the green bit and eating the rest

 

Really? I've done that lots of times .... My whole life in fact. How does solanine poisoning show?

 

The most extensive treatment of this subject seems to be at http://chem103csu.wikispaces.com/Solanine.
It does seem best to throw away the whole potato if it is more than a tiny tiny bit green!

 

You might not have connected the effect to the cause, as it's usually several hours later when you'm sat on the loo clutching your tummy

 

People are sensitive to different things. My husband is even worse in the potato stakes, and refuses to change his ways. And I'm not aware of him clutching his tummy, ever .....