Do Yukon Potato Plants Flower Before Bearing?
Potatoes are a simple-to-grow crop that provides gardeners with large yields with proper planting and care. "Yukon Gold" is a variety of potato that was introduced into the market in 1981 by Canadian producers. The potato lives up to its name with its yellow flesh that remains yellow even after boiling, baking, mashing or frying. Like other varieties of potatoes, some "Yukon Gold" plants can flower before developing tubers underground.
"Yukon Gold" Flowers
"Yukon Gold" potatoes bear flowers that are violet to light violet in color. The small, delicate blooms appear on the end of an erect stem and have yellow anthers. The potatoes do not require cross-pollination; the blooms do not produce nectar, so they do not attract bees and other insects. However, when "Yukon Gold" potato plants begin flowering, this can signal that tubers are forming underground. The plant's foliage is olive-green and slightly shiny. There are usually about three purple-colored stems per plant.
Fruit vs. Tuber Production
Because not all "Yukon Gold" potato plants produce flowers, flowering is a not a good indicator on how well the tubers develop or the quality of tubers. A lack of flowers also does not mean that it is not producing tubers at all. When the plants do flower, those flowers can produce small, green fruit similar in appearance of small tomatoes, which house the seeds. The fruit usually hold up to 300 seeds.
The seeds and fruit produced after flowering are poisonous and should not be eaten. You can try planting the seeds, but the University of Illinois Extension notes that growing a full potato plant from the actual seeds can be difficult, and that the seeds are more of an interest for plant breeders. To grow "Yukon Gold" potatoes in your garden, buy certified seed potatoes. Seed potatoes generally are planted 8 to 10 inches apart and 6 inches deep. The tubers are high-set, so if they are not planted deep enough the tuber may protrude out of the ground before harvest.
The tubers of "Yukon Gold" differ from other potatoes because of their yellow flesh and yellowish-white tuber skin with eyes encircled with light pink. It is the potatoes' pink eyes that make "Yukon Gold" distinguishable from other varieties of yellow potatoes. The tubers are slightly oblong in shape and flattened with medium yield production, and they store well. The yellow potatoes sold at grocery stores are usually the "Yukon Gold" variety.
- The New Sunset Western Garden Book; Kathleen Norris Brenzel, Editor
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Yukon Gold Characteristics
- National Gardening Association: How Potatoes Grow
- University of Illinois Watch Your Garden Grow: Potato
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Yukon Gold: Management Profile
Based in Indiana, Molly Allman holds a B.A. in professional writing. She works as both a writer and author and enjoys writing articles on many different topics. She specializes in topics concerning health, crafts, family and lifestyles. Her fiction writing appears in "Bewildering Stories," "The Other Herald" and "Spectacular Speculations."