Talk:Potato/Archive 1

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Cold chips

Potatoes are generally eaten hot, but several basic potato recipes involve cooking the potatoes and then eating them cold - potato salad and potato chips

I would not want to eat cold chips! I think you mean crisps —Preceding unsigned comment added by Markb (talk • contribs) 10:29, 28 November 2003

Potato "chips" is the equivalent of British "crisps" in America. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.70.244.40 (talk • contribs) 18:32, 30 July 2004

Along these lines, when you reheat a potato that has already been cooked, it does not revive like other foods do, it stays woody and rather crystalline, for lack of a better word, both as french fries and as baked potatoes. Is there a name for this phenomenon? Chris 03:38, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

yesterdays chips efect --Wolfmankurd 17:30, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Raleigh

Raleigh was in Venezuela... He may not have imported the potato into England, but he was certainly in South America...Wetman 22:46, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Absolutely right. I do not have the Raleigh info at my fingertips, but he certainly went to South America. I removed the erroneous phrase, but the statement now looks awkward. I will look up the details in the next couple of days if no one gets to it first. WormRunner 23:18, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I've never been able to nail down a written reference to Raleigh (not from a real source anyway). But I did find multiple references to potatoes being raised in Queen Elizabeth's (the first) ornamental garden. TTFN Ralph --N7bsn 16:20, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Harvesting

Is there more info on the harvesting of potatoes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.191.226.185 (talk • contribs) 00:30, 21 July 2004

"Irish Potato"

The potato is unrelated to the sweet potato. In the United States it is sometimes referred to as the "Irish Potato" to distinguish it.

It would be good to state where in the U.S. this usage occurs, as it surely doesn't in California. --Yath 08:10, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I don't believe it is locality-specific so much as an older usage. I have certainly heard the expression used in Oregon, but not by the younger people. I am quite certain, from people I know, that it has been used in California as well. The great Irish Immigration is no longer part of the national consciousness. WormRunner | Talk 01:43, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

In the midwestern US (OH, IN, MI, ...) I've never heard this usage (unless you count the phrase Irish Potato Famine, but that is so named because the famine occurred in Ireland, not because of the type of potato involved), much less seen it in print, so I would say that it is not very common and certainly not geographically universal. --Jonadab 16:46, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Irish-born American, lived all over the USA and I've never heard the common potato referred to as the "Irish potato". I think this is just a joke about the Irish someone slipped in, and should be deleted. oiguvnuh 00:48, 8 March 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure how it could be an ethnic joke; if anything the usage implies that the potato as a crop is of Irish origin, which, while untrue, would not appear to be disparaging to the Irish in any way. More likely it is a localized usage (possibly based on a backformation from Irish Potato Famine) that someone assumed was more general. --User:Jonadab 16:46, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

I've never heard the 'Irish Potato' thing from anyone of any age, and I'm in Portland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.186.144 (talk • contribs) 03:57, 9 September 2004

White potatoes are definitely "Irish Potatoes" (actually more like "Arsh" potatoes) in South Carolina, where sweet potatoes are the norm. 03:05, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC)

I think it shows up in The Joy of Cooking which is a fairly authoritative source about American food. FreplySpang 21:09, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

People in my parents generation (My mother is 88) used the term "Irish Potato" all the time. It is no longer commonly used, at least in Oregon, but it was. I have heard it used (as a child) by my parents, my grandparents, and by family friends. I have not heard it used by one of my contemporaries (I am 54) in the last 30 years anyway, but my mother still uses it. -- WormRunner | Talk 17:54, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I second listing regions that use the term "Irish potato". I've never heard that name, as most people around here (southeastern Illinois) simply call them potatoes, while sweet potatoes are always called sweet potatoes. I haven't heard it used in southwestern Indiana, either (I often visit Terre Haute and Vincennes). What is the state of origin of the author(s) of The Joy of Cooking? --/ɛvɪs/ 10:09, Mar 21, 2005 (UTC)

Weird Grammar

To reduce the ground till it is completely free from root-weeds, may be considered as a desiderutum in potato husbandry; though in many seasons these operations cannot be perfectly executed, without losing the proper time for planting, which never ought to be beyond the first of May, if circumstances do not absolutely interdict it. Three ploughings, with frequent harrowings and rollings, are necessary in most cases before the land is in suitable condition.

Normally this is the sort of thing I'd correct grammar on. However, in this case I can't figure out what the hell it's saying. Would anyone be so kind as to translate this into English? —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{2}}}|{{{2}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{2}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{2}}}|contribs]]) 03:57, 9 September 2004 24.21.186.144

"To grow potatoes you should till the ground to remove weeds; but in many seasons the ground cannot be tilled before the first of May, the ideal time for planting as far as circumstances allow. The ground should be ploughed three times (with frequent harrowings and rollings, whatever those are :)) before the ground is suitable for planting." (Or something! :)) Adam Bishop 04:00, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The formatting made it unclear that the text was from an 1881 reference work. Since it's a quotation, it shouldn't be corrected! I have created a new section heading to clarify that the text is a quotation. Tomgally 16:52:15, 24 Jul 2006 (UTC)

To reduce the ground till it is completely free from root-weeds, may be considered as a desiderutum in potato husbandry; though in many seasons these operations cannot be perfectly executed, without losing the proper time for planting, which never ought to be beyond the first of May, if circumstances do not absolutely interdict it. Three ploughings, with frequent harrowings and rollings, are necessary in most cases before the land is in suitable condition.

translates into something like, "Weeding is nessecary if you are growing potatoes, but sometimes the process takes too long and the potatoes are not planted on time." I think. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.153.216.131 (talk • contribs) 19:56, 23 April 2007

Is it possible to improve the language of the aforementioned jibberish? Even if it is a quote from a cited work, it's barely intelligible. It would be worthwhile to remove the passage and replace it with text not as obnoxiously worded. Kylesobrien 11:24, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Chitting

I'm quite surprised anyone has written about cultivation of potatoes without any mention of Chitting William Avery 19:18, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I added a picture of a potato with sprouts, seed tubers are mentioned only briefly in the article unfortunately. I'd write more but my English isn't the best unfortunately, not my native language. -- Mathias Karlsson 14:06, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Potato Beetle

Why is there a picture of potato beetles on the page? It's a nice picture, but the article doesn't mention them and I think it might be a mistake. Do they eat potatoes, or just leaves? Have I missed something? Am I evil? Yes I am.Ashley Pomeroy 13:49, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Surprisingly, the current revision of the article doesn't mention the potato beetle at all. - Mike Rosoft 13:57, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Synonyms

Why no mention of tatties or spuds? Bovlb 04:25, 2005 Jan 12 (UTC)

or prities...or however you spell it - Admiralsith 14:25, 2007 Jul 01 (GMT)

Misconception

A common misconception is that potatoes are vegetables. Their actual classification has yet to be known —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.94.71.156 (talk • contribs) 01:49, 14 February 2005

That assertion strikes me as unlikely. Have you a citation? —Casey J. Morris 03:25, Jun 26, 2005 (UTC)

"Unlikely" is a very generous term here. "outlandish" seems more fitting WormRunner | Talk 04:57, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Here's a simple table I found that the user above might find useful. The vegetable is simply a plant grown for an edible part really. [1] Laundrypowder 18:58, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Depends which classification scheme you use. Potatoes are garden vegetables in the same way that beets and carrots (roots) and corn (starchy grain) are garden vegetables, although in terms of biology of course potatoes are a tuber, and nutritionally they are starches. They are not a "green leafy" vegetable like spinach, but "garden vegetables" is a more general and loosely/traditionally defined category and is what most people mean when they say "vegetable". Tomatoes are garden vegetables also, although biologists will tell you they are a fruit. --Jonadab, 16:24, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity of the potato in the Andes, demonstrating its homeland, hasn't been handled yet and needs a subsection. Google: "genetic diversity potato Andes" for a start! --Wetman 10:30, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Have tried to touch on it and still have it in keeping with this article as genetic diversity comes from cross polination of the plant and the production of fruits, see potato fruits. Andham2000 12:25, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

Russet Burbank often called Idaho potato

• "His greatest success was the Russet Burbank potato (1871), better known as the Idaho potato."
• "Although grown throughout the Midwest, the russet is also commonly called IDAHO POTATO (whether or not it's grown there)."
• "... Russet Burbank, which is referred to as an Idaho potato because it is grown in that state."

-- Pekinensis 17:19, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Although the above is not an untruth, calling Russet Burbanks "Idahos" would be considered a misnomer....as well as an injustice to the rest of the Russet Potato growing industry in the U.S. 64.146.249.18 18:42, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Scientific Classification

I may be being stupid, but it seems like the word "Tracheobionta" links to the flowering plants (Magnoliophyta) page, whereon the word "Tracheobionta" does not feature once. Is this right? --David.Mestel 09:09, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

that is correct —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.171.29 (talk • contribs) 23:48, 4 March 2006

Featured article

Why is this not a featured article? It's really good. 64.231.163.172 23:10, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

Cultural references

Why not add a section of cultural references? —Preceding unsigned comment added by VarunRajendran (talk • contribs) 15:00, 6 December 2005

Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest. I say/hear potatoe [sic] at least 10 times a day. [[User:bandgeek100]] 04:23, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Cultivation

It looks like the cultivation section was just ripped straight off other pages (or else they ripped straight off Wikipedia--always hard to say, but if they did, shame on them, because the cultivation section is really poorly written). It doesn't really talk about industrial cultivation, just how to do it yourself (I don't know the wikipedia policy on such things, and whether or not how to plant a garden potato is encyclopaedic). Except for perhaps the last paragraph, but I can't actually figure out what that's talking about. The whole section I think needs a complete rewrite, with a much larger focus on the general cultivation of potatoes (how much of the world crop is commercial? what are commercial techniques? compared with home garden? a brief review of where it is grown the most?) but I don't know anything about potato cultivation (and have more pressing things to research). I also unlinked "grape", because it sure doesn't make any sense to dig up potatoes with small, soft juicy fruit, three-pronged or not. I don't know what kind of grape the writer was actually referring to, so I can't relink it to anything. FireWorks 06:09, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Mentioning when to plant them (which may vary by country I suppose) would not go amiss. (About now, in Devon I think.) Midgley 12:02, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

I would be curious to know how to cultivate potatos at home. The article mentions it but does not give very exact directions, which would be nice. For example, when is a good season to plant them, what kind of watering do they like, and do they prefer light or shade, and how can you tell when they are ready to harvest? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.118.137.157 (talk • contribs) 22:51, 20 March 2006

I think people looking for information on potatoes are mainly interested in home cultivating. Some info on commercial cultivation is of course also needed. I'd write more on home cultivating but am not fluent in the English language and don't want to mess up the article. I did add a seed tuber picture though, as that is mentioned in the article. -- Mathias Karlsson 14:13, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

But to understand the inportance of potatoes you need to know about commercial farming, not just how but also the extent of it and the varieties grown (and why). If I can find the time I'll try and add something. Meanwhile, "www.potato.org.uk". is a good source of general information. Maccheek 10:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

"express bake" potatoes

has anyone heard of "express bake" potatos that are microwavable? how do they differ from normal potatoes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.35.148.201 (talk • contribs) 03:43, 1 February 2006

Just a russet with shrink wrap on it, this is just a marketing gimmick, it doesn't cook any faster or better than a normal russet in the microwave, so save your cash and just buy plain bagged potatoes. All potatoes are microwavable, just poke em with a fork. -Munky —Preceding unsigned comment added by 2006 68.124.106.90 (talk • contribs) 18:39, 7 November

Freeze-drying in the Andes

For a very long time potatoes have been laid out to freeze in the dry air, broken up and laid out again and so on, until a fairly dry substance results. This is a storable food, historically of importance in survival. References not to hand. Midgley 12:06, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like Smash without the additives to me. Wonder how they dehydrate the potatoes for Smash... Fourohfour 14:12, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

In the Andes (at heights above 4000 m,) the tubers of two potato species are naturally freeze dried. These are the species Solanum juzepczukii and Solanum curtilobum, both contain a mix of toxic glycoalkaloids (not only solanine) and taste bitter if consumed freshly. They are still cultivated because they are fairly resistant to frost, the reason they can be grown at higher altitudes. The freshly harvested tubers are spread out at night and get frozen by the night temperatures, the next day they are thawed again by the sun of the day, and then people walk on them with bare feet to extract the water. This process is repeated several times until a hard naturally freeze dried tuber is left. The product is called chuño in Peruvian Spanish (but the word is of Quechua origin.) Chuño can be kept for many years if stored under dry conditions.PeterSchmiediche 12:23, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Limited/no nutrition when not cooked?

I have previously read that potatoes have no nutritional value when raw because the starch chains are too long for human digestive enzymes or something like that. The article refers to this when it says in the cooking section: "The only requirement involves cooking — to break down the starch and make them edible," but then the "nutrition information" sidebar says that "Raw Potato" has 70 kcal of energy. So if there is a nutritional chemist who could perhaps develop that a little, put in some information about why potatoes need to be cooked, that would be cool. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xenotrope (talk • contribs) 05:08, 23 February 2006

Origin

Some scientists say that the sixty percent of the potatoes of the world came from Chiloe, Chile. This subject though is the topic of a major fight between Chilean and Peruvian scientists. (raligo, es wikipedia user) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.104.34.75 (talk • contribs) 23:52, 28 March 2006

Chilean potatoes are adapted to long day conditions, Peruvian ones to short day conditions. There is sufficient evidence that the Andean short day potato was the one that first arrived in Southern Spain in about 1565, from where it spread to the rest of Europe, adapting to European long day conditions in a period of about two hundred years. In order to botanically distinguish potatoes adapted to long days from those thriving under short day conditions, Solanum tuberosum has been split into two subspecies by contemporary taxonomists, Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum (adapted to long days) and Solanum tuberosum ssp. andigena (adapted to short days.) Apart from their different photoperiodic reaction, these two subspecies are also distinct morphologically, you have to be an experienced taxonomist though to spot those differences. Russian taxonomists have, in fact, created two different species in the early part of the 20th century, Solanum tuberosum and Solanum andigenum, to mark the same distinction. There is general agreement between modern day botanists that the potato originated in the Andes and that the process of adaptation to long days has happened once before as the potato moved from the Andes to the south of the continent. This was before the Europeans arrived in South America. Chile still has a large amount of valuable potato germplasm adapted to long days. User:PeterSchmiediche 05:07, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I think you should add this into the article - just repeat what you have said here Nzattitude 17:53, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Masses don't add up

The infobox in Potato#Food_value doesn't add up. It shows that every 100g of raw potato contains: 82g water, 2g proteins, 19g carbohydrates, 0.26g potassium, 0.1g lipids, and various other things in smaller amounts. The water plus carbs alone add up to 101g, and since presumably there is no part of the mass of the potato that counts as both water and carbohydrates, this seems odd. --Delirium 06:44, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Uses

no-one listed potatoe batteries!!! --Wolfmankurd 17:31, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

There is a mention near the bottom, but my quibble with it is that it mentions it 'generates a current of roughly 0.8 volts'. I know I'm being a bit anal but currents are measured in Amps while Potential Difference is measured in Volts. Could somebody sort that at all by changin 'current' to 'Potential Difference' or 'Voltage', please? Voltage is probably better as lay terminology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.67.87.143 (talk • contribs) 14:32, 31 May 2007

While making this clarification, it should also be noted that the potato itself does not generate any electricity. It only acts as the electrolyte, allowing the copper-zinc electrodes to transfer electrons.

--Ektoric 19:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Children's game

The supposed childrens game if telling the difference between a potato and an apple does not work, and is incorrectly cited.

Potatoes are too starchy, and not sweet enough to be mistaken for apples - even without the sense of smell.

The game is played with apples and onions, not potatoes. Onions are sweet, and with your eyes closed and holding your nose, the similarity in taste is striking. Not so with potatoes.

I have removed the offending sentence.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Octothorn (talk • contribs) 13:18, 18 June 2006

Whenever I have seen it done, with friends, twice on different TV programs and once in a magazine it has always been potato and apple.

I guess if we take another look at old superstitions they make no sense and can be vastly improved iif you go at them with logic. Tainted Deity 19:42, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Colorado potato beetle

Hey people, something needs to be said about this bug in the article, it is a major pest afterall. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 18:35, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Etymology

The articles says that the word potato is from the Spanish word batata. Was the word taken from the Arabic word for potato, which is also batata? --Inahet 07:11, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

It seems more likely to me that the Arabs got the word from the Spanish. But what do I know? I thought the potato plant was an annual. Come to think of it some plants could be a thousand years old since the tubers are replanted year after year. Happy and heathy eating! Steve Dufour 04:08, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you, you too.

You got a point there, but I also think that not only the word but the product itself was perhaps introduced to the Arabs by the Spaniards. I think the answer lies in the date in which it came to the Arabs.

I thought the potato plant was an annual.

Well, everyone learns that at some point. I didn't know that either until last year. I was also surprised to learn that the potato plant has poisonous fruits! --Inahet 05:49, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

The Spanish word for potatoe is patata. Not batata as mentioend above —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.110.1.113 (talk) 17:08, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Andean potatoes

Are the potatoes grown in the Andes all the same species? Or several different species? Thanks. Steve Dufour 03:48, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

No, the potatoes grown in the Andes are not all the same species. The major species is Solanum tuberosum ssp. andigena (a tetraploid with 48 chromosomes,) then there are four diploid species (with 24 chromosomes) by the names of Solanum stenotomum, Solanum phureja, Solanum goniocalyx and Solanum ajanhuiri. There are two triploid species (with 36 chromosomes) Solanum chaucha and Solanum juzepczukii, and finally there is one pentaploid cultivated species (with 60 chromosomes) called Solanum curtilobum. PeterSchmiediche 12:22, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Allergy

Has anyone ever met a person who is allergic to potatoes? The reason why I ask is because I am severely allergic to them and when I tell people they are shocked and say they've never heard of someone who has that allergy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.94.230.223 (talk • contribs) 08:05, 13 July 2006

Poisonous.

I've noticed that somebody added , I have no idea why Potato is one of the Poisonous Plants. Could somebody explain on this? In my opinion, Potato is not a poisonous plants because Potato is root vegetable like Carrot. *~Daniel~* ☎ 03:04, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

So, the category that I mentioned is not existed, so I reverted it. *~Daniel~* ☎ 07:03, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

The potato fruit is poisionus and also the plant. Only the tubers are not. When it was first introduced in the UK people ate the leaves of the plant and got ill. - I have no reference for this though.

Also when the potatoes go green they are poisionus but you have to eat about 2 sacks of them for it to be deadly. The potato is in the same family as deadly nightshade. If I could think of references for these it could be worth adding them, as it stands - short of saying UKTV history I could not reference them so can't put it in. User:Andham2000

Are potatoes poisonous? No. Potatoes are the number one vegetable in the world and are good for you. Potatoes and other members of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) such as tomatoes and eggplants do contain specialty chemicals know as steroidal glycoalkaloids. These compounds are bitter and guidelines establish upper limits for the occurrence of these compounds in new potato varieties. The compounds are abundant in the leaves, not a problem in tomato fruit, but do accumulate in potato tubers. Bruised or sunburned – greening potatoes can have more of these compounds. This is why you peel away green skin and sprouting eyes before cooking and eating.

Eating about 10 pounds of green potatoes could kill you but you would never finish the job because your mouth would be burning.Phytoman 20:26, 21 December 2006 (UTC)PhytomanPhytoman 20:26, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

GA Re-Review and In-line citations

Note: This article has a very small number of in-line citations for an article of its size and currently would not pass criteria 2b.
Members of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles are in the process of doing a re-review of current Good Article listings to ensure compliance with the standards of the Good Article Criteria. (Discussion of the changes and re-review can be found here). A significant change to the GA criteria is the mandatory use of some sort of in-line citation (In accordance to WP:CITE) to be used in order for an article to pass the verification and reference criteria. It is recommended that the article's editors take a look at the inclusion of in-line citations as well as how the article stacks up against the rest of the Good Article criteria. GA reviewers will give you at least a week's time from the date of this notice to work on the in-line citations before doing a full re-review and deciding if the article still merits being considered a Good Article or would need to be de-listed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us on the Good Article project talk page or you may contact me personally. On behalf of the Good Articles Project, I want to thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into working on this article and improving the overall quality of the Wikipedia project. --- The Bethling^(Talk) 23:30, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Reasons for GA Delisting

This article's GA status has been revoked because it fails criterion 2. b. of 'What is a Good Article?', which states;

(b) the citation of its sources using inline citations is required (this criterion is disputed by editors on Physics and Mathematics pages who have proposed a subject-specific guideline on citation, as well as some other editors — see talk page).

LuciferMorgan 01:06, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Starch

The article says:

Storage facilities need to be carefully designed to keep the potatoes alive and slow the natural process of decomposition, which involves the breakdown of starch. It is crucial that the storage area is dark, well ventilated and ideally maintained at a temperature of about 4 degrees Celsius. Potatoes must not be kept in a refrigerator. Cold temperatures convert potatoes' starch into sugar, which alters their taste.

Which, since refrigerators work at 4 degrees celsius, cannot possibly be true - either 4 degrees prevents starch breakdown or encourages it, not both.

The best information i've been able to find on this is from the International Starch Institute's memorandum on The Production of High Quality Potato Starch. It sounds like fridge temperatures are good, but if it gets towards freezing, that's bad.

-- Tom Anderson —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.40.81.166 (talk • contribs) 16:51, 9 November 2006

According to the 1990 British Crop Protection Council Handbook on potatoes (ISBN 0-948404-34-5) the ideal temperature for ware potatoes is 7°C. Tubers for processing in crisps should be kept at 8-10°C to prevent the formation of reducing sugars (which burn and cause the crisps to be too dark). Tubers for chipping or french fry production should be kept at 7-8°C. If there is a risk of bacterial soft rots the temperatures should be reduced to 4°C. If sugars have formed it may be possible to recondition tubers by raising the temperature to 20°C for 2-3 weeks. This works well with some varieties but not others. On first entry into store it is important to cure potatoes, to seal any wounds and harden (suberise) the skin. This normally involves keeping them at 15°C for 2 weeks. However, this may need to be varied depending on disease presence, damage or if the weather was wet at lifting.

As an aside, most potatoes that are expected to be stored for any length of time will be sprayed with a formulation of maelic hydrazide as a sprout suppresant before harvest (it also slows down the sprouting of volunteers in the following crop making them easier less of a problem).

Maccheek 08:47, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

History

I came to this page hoping to see some history of the potato -- origins, how it spread to Europe and Asia, etc. The page seems to be lacking any consistent section on this -- compare to the Tomato page, for example.

I recently heard a story which prompted my curiosity. It says that the potato was first promoted in France by placing a large pile of potatoes in a public square in Paris and posting a guard with a bayonet, thus encouraging people to "steal" a potato to take home and cultivate. Can anybody confirm or deny this, or at least say whether it's a common legend?

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.186.100.114 (talk • contribs) 20:22, 18 November 2006

For what it's worth, the French article on potatoes mentions this story, along with a few more details. Daniel Schepler 15:37, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Fruits or vegetables

Are potatos fruits or vegetables????????????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.113.195.145 (talk • contribs) 03:39, 21 November 2006

Botanically they are tubers not fruits so they count as root vegetables Maccheek 10:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)