this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2025
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arnt potatoes propagated by thier tubers. and through flowers/pollination. things like apples, prunus genus needs bees.
Potatoes do both. Potato seeds are produced from fertilizing potato flowers, and can then grow into new plants.
But they also spread asexually via tubers, which is way more convenient for farming.
Tubers are used because the type we eat are tetraploids. Tetraploids (aka 4 copies of every chromosome) produce very little seeds. Generally less than 1/10th what a diploid version will. In potatoes it can be a low as 1/10,000th.
Using tubers transmits all sorts of nasty diseases from one crop to the next. Seeds do too but not as much.
Diploids are not used commercially because they produce smaller tubers and longer vines.