Spuds - when to chit

[Magnolia]

I bought 1st earlies and 2nd earlies today.  I've put the 1st in a tray to chit in the garage - the 2nds are still in their bag (in garage).  When would you suggest I start chiting them - are they ok to be left in their net bag?  Some of the 2nds have tarted chitting already.
Cheers,
Jane.

[Magnolia]

[tim]

I put ALL of mine to chit in full light as soon as they come - usually late December.

They know when they are ready for planting.

[Magnolia]

Right I'll get on to that tomorrow then.  Many thanks for replying. x

[Tin Shed]

I'm with Tim on this one - chit them as soon as you get them!

[calendula]

and not in the garage as this will probably be too dark and the sprouts will get leggy  :)

[Magnolia]

Many thanks for your help with this one.  It's my first year so thanks for putting up with very basic questions.

I've placed them on my potting table in the garage which has sunlight coming in from two windows.  This should be ok?  Is there such a thing as too much light or cold?

[kt.]

When would you suggest I start chiting them - are they ok to be left in their net bag?  Some of the 2nds have tarted chitting already.

Never leave them in the net bag. They will still sprout tuber runners, each of which will become a potato once planted. The runners tend to snap as you are removing them from the net bag.... less spud ;)

[cornykev]

They should be fine just don't leave in direct sunlight.  ;D ;D ;D

[Paulines7]

Many thanks for your help with this one.  It's my first year so thanks for putting up with very basic questions.

I've placed them on my potting table in the garage which has sunlight coming in from two windows.  This should be ok?  Is there such a thing as too much light or cold?

Magnolia, is your garage frost free?  If not then why not scrounge some old egg trays to hold the potatoes and then chit them indoors.   Put them somewhere light such as a windowledge but as Kev says, not in direct sun.

[Sparkly]

Our allotment shop doens't open until the beginning of Feb. They have lots of seed potato varieties avaliable, but is this late for chitting? They are cheaper than anywhere else, hence why I would rather wait!

[sarah]

no its not too late.  they only need to chit for a few weeks really. in fact a lot of people dont chit at all and get a perfectly good crop. you wont be planting them until late march so you should be fine.

a light frost free place is the best option for chitting and lay the spuds out on a tray or suchlike with the rose end down (the little tiny bit that will become roots).  when the chits are ready they should
be about half to an inch long and tough greeny purple colour.  but like i say, there is a debete wether chitting really acheives anything.  :)

[tim]

Rose end down?

[sarah]

thats right isnt it? the rose at the bottom and the eyes pointing up? i thought the rose was the bit that grows the root. i may be wrong; anythings possible.  ;D

[sarah]

what am i talking about?.... ::) i am talking complete nonsense of course. i was just checking to see if anyone would spot my deliberate mistake.  :-[ :P

that would be rose end up then.... :D

[morton]

What chitting does is to give you a head start in that it allows the plants to start growing when it is to cold to plant them in the ground and chances are that you cannot get out there anyway to dig the trenches. It is my belief that they don't need chitting and anybody who has self-sets [and who doesn't] will concur. The ones that I save in the fridge until June or July go straight in.
Interestingly on the subject of self-sets they never seem to get bothered by the frost as much which is always a suprise to me.

[tim]

In my humble mind, potatoes will sprout/chit even in the dark.

What one is trying to do - as I see it - is to strengthen up those shoots into healthy greeny/purply/pinky things ready to take off when they hit the soil?

[calendula]

trouble is when it is dark is that the sprouts go leggy, thin and even more fragile

earlies should be chitted as they don't spend long in the ground but it isn't essential for late croppers as they are in the ground nearly twice as long

[Magnolia]

Well I was studying my spuds last night - now I thought the rose end was the funny little hairy dimple.  But I was staring at it last night think - you look nothing like a rose.  Have I found the rose end or not?   ;D

[Rob the rake]

Well I was studying my spuds last night - now I thought the rose end was the funny little hairy dimple.  But I was staring at it last night think - you look nothing like a rose.  Have I found the rose end or not?   ;D

It's the end with the most eyes, usually the blunt end, if there is one. Perversely though, some spuds have eyes all over!

Rub out all but 3 or 4 sprouts, leaving these roughly all at one end.

[Rob the rake]

and not in the garage as this will probably be too dark and the sprouts will get leggy  :)

I have a little book called "Gardening Without Chemicals", by the late Jack Temple, in which he describes his chitting methods.

"A month or so before planting, move the seed potatoes into the dark to ENCOURAGE the shoots to grow long and spidery. On the day before planting they are brought back into the light to harden the shoots against breaking easily. Several past experiments convinced me that potato seed planted with long spidery shoots will yield large size potatoes without decreasing the output."

The first time I tried this I doubled my yield, with no other change in cultural methods. It has been my preferred chitting method ever since.

The only drawback is that extreme care must be taken to avoid breaking off the rather brittle stems during planting.