Using a potato as Starting medium ??

I was told today by an old man that his mother used a potato to start cuttings. He said to slit the potato and put the cutting deep into the potato. set the potato in the ground. That the potato keeps moisture to the cutting as it rots.

I had never heard of this
Does this work well, or is where a better way
Pointers??
Thanks Larry

I've heard of baked potatoes being used in this way but I've not tried it myself. They'd have to be cooked or the potato would sprout and take over that spot.

After the growing in a banana experiement (which I'll try again this year), there are better ways of rooting cuttings!

I went back and asked more questions

It was standard practice in our area
To start cuttings under a canning jar (roses, whatever)
He said that his mother could start anything.
She did not use the canning jar
She used a raw potato, split it, put the cutting in
And set the potato in the ground in her sprouting bed.
If the potato sprouted she just cut the sprout off with a paring knife
(Could you cut the eyes out of the potato first)

It’s an another to experiment to try (grin)
Larry

Everyone keeps saying that the commercial potatoes won't sprout anyway... so it wouldn't be a worry would it? Worth a try for me, I'm sprouting challenged.

Interesting Larry, there is no reason why they wouldn't take root in an unbaked potato.

Melissa, never known a commercial potato variety not to sprout yet! Put them in a warm place and they grow away

LOL Baa, Most of mine sprout too, I thought I was just getting bad taters!

I'm going to start some cuttings in taters tomorrow! Maybe this will work for me!

I tried it with a rose cutting once, and it didn't work. Just wanted ya to know. (btw, green thumb here usually doesn't lose - perhaps different methods work better for different people? I propagated a honeysuckle in water last year, and it's in the ground (made it there all winter) and doing fine - that wasn't in my propagation book). Sometimes I think you have to go with what you feel, not by what someone tells you. I know that sounds superstitious to a certain extent, but it seems to work that way alot.

I'm trying new methods now, with my courage up, with rooting powder, etc.... we'll see if they work, as well.

I just got back from visiting my dear Dad and he brought this up! He said that they cut all of the eyes out and put the seed in one eye and started their tomato seeds (in wayyy northern New Mexico on a ranch). Don't have mater seeds here but I might try something else! (and put it in the kid's garden and blame it on her!!)

Karrie- You don't need a potato to start Rose cuttings-you can just sink the cutting in the soil about 5-8 inches deep, leaving a few inches above ground (do this in the fall when prunings are done) and come spring, they will grow.

I will try the potato thing right now though-thanks for sharing

I put rose cuttings in 2" pots of pottting soil under a kids plastic pool with a circular sprinkler that I turned on 3 or 4 times a day for a squirt. I had 100% success.

I'm curious about the success of cuttings in potatoes. How is it going? Just read this thread and found several interesting items to ponder.

No luck for me......