The Formation and Development of Adventitious Buds on Potato Sprouts

Potato tubers were pre-sprouted in trays at 10 C for 28 d.The scale leaves at the base of the sprouts were marked andtubers then planted in field soil. Twenty-eight days after plantingan average of three adventitious buds were present per sproutcompared with an average of six below-ground axillary buds.Ten per cent of adventitious buds formed stolons compared withalmost 100 per cent of axillary buds. Similar responses wereseen with tubers pre-sprouted either in the light or dark.