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Can anyone reccomend a site/book that can give me definitions of the gardening terms used?

Things like chit - what is that!

There are plenty more but i cant think of them now!

Thank you

any jargon you don't understand, just ask away.

Chit means to pre-germinate. Which means to germinate the seed before you sow it.

It usually applies to potatoes - putting the seed spuds somewhere bright to allow the shoots to develop before planting.

Can also be done with seeds that are hard to germinate such as parsnips, beetroot, peas, beans, sweetcorn. Usually means putting them on damp kitchen roll.

clear as mud?

Thanks,

Just didn't want to keep bugging people and saying whats this, whats that, whats the other - could get tiring!

Ona different note re your potato comment. If i have a couple of old potatoes (from a supermarket) that look like they have grown arms and legs, can i plant them and grow more?

You're a bit late but if you want to give it a go, put them in a large pot rather than the ground. You should get a few small ones but don't expect too much.

You should not grow spuds from the supermarket as they will probably contain diseases. You will probably lose your crop and also spread the disease to other crops (don't forget - potato and tomato blight is interchangeable, you might also affect your neighbours' crops and disease your soil for future years). Phil Cooper has a lovely rant about this.

Make sure i dont do that then!

Do you use ones from a market/greengrocer, or buy 'special' ones from plant outlets?

Just to interrupt - additionally, you could use the net - like http://davesgarden.com/terms/vbl/c/

With a pinch of salt!!

Thanks Tim,

i will bookmark that one - I googled a few terms but couldn't find any suitable - none had the word chit that i was looking for!

See my more polite version above!

seed potatoes must be bought from seed suppliers to ensure they are certified disease free. Any sold for eating could be disease carriers. (that sounds odd, but you know what I mean!) Most will have sold out by now, but they do sell "new potatoes for Christmas" at hugely inflated prices.

wont be dong it this year as have a lot to get on with already but think it might be nice to do next year - keep imagining digging up my own potatoes and having them roasted - that thought seems to make me smile - dont know why!

That's why most of us do it Shaolin.  You could try growing your supermarket potatoes in a barrel as long as you dispose of the compost afterwards, or I have hear that supermarket spuds can be thrown on the compost heap and the resulting potatoes are meant to be really good.

shaolin - to some, roast news is sacrilege. But, so long as you have plenty to have smothered in butter, things like this are very valid.

http://thefoody.com/meat/newpotatoesbacon.html