11/08/06 Greenhouse test, part two

Last year 30 potato seed lots underwent winter grow out in geothermal heated greenhouses at Hagerman. This year says University of Idaho's Phil Nolte growers have put 300 seed lots into the greenhouses. Nolte was surprised by the grower response to last year's experiment. After all, the cost of greenhouse grow out is more expensive than using an outdoor field in Southern California. NOLTE "Let's go to the worse case scenario with the outdoor planning. Let's say it was 80 dollars to plant the seed lot. Suddenly this person is spending another 160 dollars per lot and if he had ten lots it would be another 16 hundred to do these grow outs." Each seed lot contains 400 uncut, one and a half to two ounce single drop tubers. The Idaho Crop Improvement Association will later certify the lots. Growers could have results by mid-January, a month faster than the grow outs done in Southern California. Nolte says if there's a problem growers can notify customers right away. NOLTE "You want them to know as early as possible so that they can look at alternatives. And if its seed that you yourself are going to produce for another year you want to know as early as possible so you can go looking for alternatives." Faster grow out, controlled conditions, better emergence, closer to home, all are advantages to the greenhouse program. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott