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Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Mubgrub on January 25, 2005, 21:18:59
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Hi all, just got my seed potatoes (hurrah!) and since its my first season I went on to HDRA's website for info on how best to 'Chit' them. However, in two articles, both on the HDRA site there was conflicting info. One said to put them in a light, warm place untill sprouts appear and then move them to a cooler light place and the other that they should be put in a warm,dark place to sprout and then moved to a cooler light place. Which is right? Light or dark to sprout? I'm confused ???
What are everyone's methods?
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Mubgrub, I'm in my second year of spuds (first of 'mass' production) and I'm going to plonk them in egg boxes in my spare room - light and hopefully not too warm.
Last year I chitted around 10 spuds in direct sunlight on the windowsil, and they were fine.
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There has been lots of chitting chat around the boards. My spuds are in our unheated spare room which gets daylight, and occassional evening light. Did the same last year and all was well. I think the idea is keeping them cold, but not frosted, and darkish keeps the bud formation slow and stocky as the spuds are going to be around for a couple of months yet, the longer the chits, the harder they are to plant as you don't want to snap them all off!
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That's it in a nutshell, Emma - except our earliest earlies are in egg trays in the g'house already chitting and the rest have not been delivered yet!
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Ok, thanks a lot guys, now to make some space!
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Do you put all your different types of pots out to chit at the same time ??? I.e do maincrops go out at the same time as earlies ?
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Mine are. Room to do all the different spuds is a big problem and i have to make sure the kids don't come in and play with them and mix them all up! :o
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Back to 'the rules'? In cool dark till sprouts emerge - & different pots will do this at different times - & then into cool light to chit. V simple?
When sprouts are 1/2 -1" & nice & green, out they go - unless the weather is really terrible. = Tim
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Sorry I'm very new to all this but why do you need seed potatoes? The normal ones I buy end up sprouting in the vegetable rack after a while. Could I not plant with those?
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Seed spuds are produced in Scotland where the weather is colder and fewer greenfly are around to spread disease - apparently greenfly bite into one plant and become carriers of any plant virus that is present so that when they move home they infect their next host.
By gorwing in colder climates the spuds are less likely to have viruses/diseases and therefore stand a better chance of being disease free throughout their growing period. (this is part of the certification process).
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I have sometimes grown sprouting s/mkt ones - they work fine - but at the risk of introducing some disease. = Tim
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by light do they mean direct sunlight? I understood before that it was not direct sunlight - put last year's on east facing windowsill. THe sprouts were rather spindly. Do they need more or less light this year? (I'm really confused now!)
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Would north-facing-cold-but-frost-free-garage-windowsill be fine?
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Do not put chitting potatoes in direct sun light.
In a unheated room with DAY light is ok.
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Garages, yes - if there is a reasonable window. East facing w'sills, yes - that's how we always do ours.
And I'm no purist - we use perforated plastic 'mushroom' trays from the s/market & usually stack them 3 high on the sill. = Tim
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Hi Mubgrub
You are not alone with your chitting query, there is so much conflicting info out there that it does get confusing. Hundreds of years ago, when I were a lad ( :D) I tried chitting straight away in light and cool, but only produced tiny chits, so now I keep them dark until they start and then move them to the light. Basically the dark gets the sprouts going quickly, and moving them to the light slows the process and keeps them green (it's all to do with growth hormones and the effect of light). Keeping them cool means less water loss from the tuber and slower growth of the chits.
Try experimenting with old kitchen potatoes in different amounts of light and varying temps and compare the results.
Loz
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They know when they're ready to come in to chit.
And if you haven't got egg boxes, crumpled paper works just as well! = Tim
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Hello - um, what is chitting?! ???
I have grown tatties for the last 3 years: I always by a bag of organic spuds from the shop and leave them in the cupboard to grow roots, then plant them..... has worked pretty well for me. Would love to know of a better way, though!!!
And another question - can you grow potatoes throughout the year? As I was digging over the other week, i found some good spuds still in the ground that I must have missed in the autumn! :o
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That (1st question) is chitting, but it is normally done in daylight, not in the dark, and cool, as this produces shorter shoots, making them easier to plant. Yes to the 2nd question but what you have are potatoes stored overwinter in the ground. Growing them AYR is lot of work and/or money (frost protection during the winter) and you are limited to 1st and 2nd earlies as maincrops only crop in response to falling daylight.
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Thanks John :)
so grow lots in summer and store them... that makes sense!! (effectively what i did but by accident!)
I might try in the light - the roots do get a bit unwieldy if i leave them too long!
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Surely, if they are producing large roots before planting, they are wasting a huge amount of their energy??
And surely, John - chitting doesn't go beyond producing shoots rather than roots?? = Tim
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went to buy spuds yesterday - what's the difference between first earlies and second earlies - and are salads just a type, or are they differnet all together? i ended up with rocket (first earlies) pink fir apple (salad) and good old king edwards (main) - so do i plant them all at the same time?
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Frannie
I was talking to a fellow allotment holder who has a lot of experience re King Edward potatoes. I am also growing these this year.
He suggested putting weak solution of Jeyes fluid 1 tspn to 1 gallon of water and putting some in whole or trench before putting potatoe on top. The reason being apparently slugs love King Edwards, but don't like the jeyes. I don't know whether other people have had this problem and what they do.
Hopefully some other more experienced people may post some ideas/replies.
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frannie - as said elsewhere, when the sprouts are dark green & 1/2 - 1" long, they're ready to go out. No need to rush it.
First & second earlies are just weeks apart in cropping - 1st in early - mid June, 2nd mid - July. Depends on type & conditions. Rocket we planted 17 Mar & started picking 20 Jun. Start feeling for tubers even before the flowers show.
'Salads' are different in being very 'waxy' - they retain their form in stews etc. Pink Fir can still be waxy in February. They start cropping in October.= Tim
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thanks for planting advice tim and lady!does the jeyes soak into the ground and put off the slugs, rather than into the spuds - i dont fancy the thought of that much! and they all go out when they have the right size sprouts - doesnt matter if they are earlies, lates, or whatever?
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My "maiden" posting................... :o
I know you're supposed to put the eye end upwards, but does it really matter that much ?
Mine are all lying flat in boxes................
Also, a couple have green patches on them where they weren't earthed up properly - can I still use them or will I die a long slow and lingering death if I eat any spuds that a green one produces ???
;D
Mike
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Mike - welcome on board. You should place them with most of the eyes facing upwards. And green ones are fine to grow from. They will produce normal spuds, that will only be green if you don't cover them properly when they grow (which I'm sure you won't!)
Now my question - my 1st and 2nds (arrived yesterday) are chitting on the unheated spare room windowsill (east facing). Am I right in thinking I don't chit the maincrops? At the moment they are in egg boxes on the floor of same room next to my shallots (which have been happily sitting there for a couple of weeks). Will they be alright there?
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Re they Jeyes fluid and slugs - Isn't a weak solution of instant coffee supposed to clear off the slugs too? I am going to give that a go, sounds much safer than the jayes.
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Hi Aqui
Everything I've read says you don't have to chit maincrop, but they will benefit from it - so I have ;D
Mike
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Chitting speeds things up, so - the shorter the time in the ground the better? = Tim
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Bought my seed potatoes on Monday ,I have got the eyes facing up .When should I see them sprouting ?
I bought Golden Wonder ( adviced by my nieghbour ) and Catriona ( DD name ) just because of the name !
I now feel like I am starting properly on my allotment . Still 1/4 to clear but I needed to get the beds sorted out .
Mags
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I'm with you moggle -I'd rather have spuds that taste of coffee than ones that taste of Jeyes. FWIW, I'm going to drench the maincrop bed with coffee to try and deter them as I suffered last year, I don't remember the earlies as suffering so much.
Jeremy
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I'm collecting old coffee and the grounds and am going to use them as suggested to keep slugs off the spuds.
Speaking of spuds I don't have a frost free place with a window so I was advised to chit them in the cold frame but they are getting wet with condensation which drips down on them :( If I leave the frame open won't the frost and slugs get in? Sorry for being thick but I really don't know much about chitting spuds. I would have thought though that wet isn't good
Wardy
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Mags - as said before, one normally leaves them in the dark till the sprouts first show - and that varies according to variety - & then into the light. Any variety should be showing within a week or so. No hurry!
wardy - I would have thought a cold frame was still dangerous at this time of year. You mean you have no window? Any house window would be warmer than a frame? Don't worry about chitting - it's not vital. Just wait until sprouts evidence themselves - wherever they are - and then get them in. Or sooner if you must & conditions are right!! = Tim
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Thanks Tim
My wash house is a cold, windowless place but I could leave the light on! I have no window ledges in my house tt! I used to put all my seedlings on a trolley in front of the window but my excitable little terrier put paid to that! Compost and plants everywhere! So I'm using my guest bedrooms (I run a guesthouse) to grow all my seedlings in, so I could put my taters to chit in there and turn the heat down. I move the seedlings about from bedroom to bedroom as the guests come and go. I really must get myself a shed and greenhouse as it's such a performance but it will be worth it I hope ;D
Wardy
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Now I understand!!
Your seedlings are far more important, so go in the other direction. = Tim
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Mags - as said before, one normally leaves them in the dark till the sprouts first show - and that varies according to variety - & then into the light. Any variety should be showing within a week or so. No hurry!
Interesting -my book makes no mention of keeping them in the dark, cool, light and dry are the keywords. Worked for me last year so I'm doing it again. Must have a look -the Arran pilot were sprouting when I got them.
Jeremy
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Wardy, I only had a few spuds last year, and I chitted them indoors, on my windowsill in egg boxes, which fit nicely on the sill. The room is my living room, and it central heated, but there is not a radiator on that side of the room, and the curtains don't get opened much at this time of year :-\ It was probably warmer than the suggested 10 degrees C in the 'microclimate' between the window and curtain, but not the 25 odd degrees that I heat my living room too :) They sprouted fine, and grew fine and were lovely. Possibly better for the spuds to be too warm, than too damp and rot away?
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db- in the end it really doesn't matter that much?
I tend to go by what the seed merchants put on their packs. And that's a starting point??
And Moggle - of course they will sprout in 'less than 80F' - our warmest room is 65F - but I would rather have an unsprouted tuber than one 'forced' in unnatural conditions. = Tim
Later - sorry to upfront the experts on this, but I must come back to it - to say that we must not make a meal of the 'rules'. They're only there to give you something to read in bed. Remember that every tuber you leave in the ground at harvest will, infuriatingly, come through amongst your onions next year, & most of those that find their way onto the compost heap will produce fruit in abundance. And, as said before, even those left in a damp sack & showing 6" white sprouts will, with care, give you a return with unnoticeable shortcomings.
Just hear what is said & do the next best thing - according to your wishes or ability??
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Sensible advice Tim, especially when the 'experts' differ :) As Mr. Flowerdew is wont to say -'plants want to grow'
Jeremy
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Wow spuds are getting a lot of air time. You can tell everyone is getting impatient and excited and spuds do seem to be such an important part of an allotment and the allotmenteers diet.
I am certainly not as organised and prepared as others it seems. I dig my trenches in wonky lines, put the spuds in chits up, cover them, and leave them to their business, earthing them up as they reach over 6 or so inches. Last year I think they were all in by mid April time, and we had masses of wonderful spuds, altho some were quite slugged up. This year have lots more spuds, 9 varieties in all, and will be using Hughs method of slug control buying cheap instant coffee, making it up, and watering the ground a few times in late spring and through the summer.
Spuds seem to know what they are doing once they are in, I only have to look at the 'volunteers' that are already growing on my plot, some are slithers of spuds that were forked by me last year!
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Hi EJ :) I'm doing that coffee thing to keep the slugs off. I'm saving the grounds as well to repel them from the spuds. I set up a plastic box as a slug trap but had no beer (don't drink myself ;D) nor slug bait so I put dried yeast in mixed with a bit of water and it worked! The trap's full of the little sods.
Everyone using the coffee thing will have to say how they're getting on
Wardy
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This is really just a try-on for 'Paint' posting.
But also, to say that Colleen was brought in at stage 1 on 30 Jan, & is now at stage 2. Moral? Don't rush it!
Wrong way around, of course!
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One reason for 'not rushing' - which I've only just come across - is that potato growth only starts at a soil temperature of 55F. And that they are chitted at 70F. This is just one reference.
www.ronnigers.com/HTML%20Pages/planting.html -
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I've been chitting my spuds for about two weeks and the Arran Pilot hardly have any shoots on at all. Is this normal. They are in my washhouse which has no light so during the day I leave the door open and the light on.
Will they be all right?
Wardy
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Some are slower than others, they will be fine. You don't have to chit them at all, you are only giving mother nature a helping hand. My Pink Fur apples are yet to start sprouting, but my Anyas look gruesome, like little squids! :o
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Yes - & see my pictures. And Pink Fir are a late starter - & finisher.
No need for light till they show their first pale sprouts.