They generally recommend planting 1 1/2 - 2 oz. size pieces, so it sounds like you're good. I'm not sure what you mean by 'good' sprouts. You want short sprouts, 1/4 inch long or so. Any longer are not good. And they should be green, not all white. If they're already sprouting and you won't be planting for a while, they should be kept cold to prevent them from growing any more.

We raised potatoes for years. Here is a little I know about seed potatoes. Potatoes (tubors) are "clones" unless you use TPS (true potato seed). (very small seeds produced on the top of the plant in small pods) TPS can produce off spring that are different from the parent. There are a couple of ways of propagating new seed potatoes. Tissue culture is one, and there is a newer one that uses hydroponics. There is pre nuclear, nuclear, G1-G6 (generation) As each year goes by for producing seed stock the offspring have a higher probability for getting disease. Also the yield can start to taper off for each successive generation. After G6 we say the seed is "run out" They use stringent testing to check for disease. Good quality eating potatoes can be as good as seed potatoes but are not tested for certification. For example G3 seed grown for table stock might be as good as G3 grown for seed. However table stock is not tested for disease. G3 grown for seed becomes G4 for the following year. If you cut the seed, make sure the cut side "heals" for several hours to a few days (depending on humidity and temp). Tops mancozeb is a common seed treatment used to prevent disease in cut pieces. Also, eating potatoes can be treated to prevent sprouting so they may not work for seed. One disease that is particularly bad for potatoes is late bight. The newer A2 mating is very aggressive. Humidity plays a big part in this disease. Monitoring stations keep track of humidity and after adding numbers up in a special formula spraying notices are sent out to growers. After you start spraying you have to continue through the season to keep it from getting a toe hold in your field. This winter I took some sprout tips and grew some potatoes in small pots. I am going to try to try them this spring for seed. They look disease free and I am curious how well they might produce. Here is a link for some info on potato growing. http://www.panhandle.unl.edu/peyes.htm Alex Pavlista is well known in potato circles.

Yes...please keep us posted. I'm trying TPS for the first time. Mine are still wee babies, but looking good. I'll be interested in how yours are doing. What are you using for fertilizer?

Oh BOY, yes, you can save those ornamentals for next year. My chartreuse vines were quite prolific last year, covering everything in sight, and even trying to cross the street. Where they touched the ground, they put out new roots. They even climbed up my rose bushes. After the vines withered, I discovered some huge tubers, one as big and round as a grapefruit, with purple flesh. I did not try to eat one. I left my taters in the ground, but of course Mobile had a fairly mild winter. I was not sure they would regrow anyway, but indeed they did. This year they did the same thing, and my neighbors pulled them out of my roses while we were gone. They love heat, and they love water. I planted them thinking they'd shade the soil and keep the other plants' roots cooler. But they grew like KUDZU almost. I even planted some for a neighbor, to cover an old stump in her yard. This winter, I will keep some of the vines indoors like a philodendron and see what happens. :)