Grow Your Own Magazine

I'm growing tatties for first time.

I currently have them on the floor in light,
just starting to show sprouts, so what do I do now.

Do I choose the strongest sprout, and rub the rest out ?

Leave them all on there - the more the merrier.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Congratulations on your new endeavour!

I leave all the sprouts intact, myself.

For early potatoes, it is general considered that there is no need to tamper with them - let them sprout away.

For maincrops, some people remove all but three or four sprouts in the hope that this will give fewer but bigger potatoes. Again, I just leave them.

Perhaps leave well alone this year, and experiment in future years.

Do these look ok, my Arran pilot look abit leggie, been in hall plenty of light and warm.

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Smile and the world smiles with you

Oh my gawd ! You are ahead but shouldn't they be a little shorter and thicker with tiny compacted bud leaves. Your heating is on higher than mine I think coz we're a miser here.

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Food for Free

i only have the heating on from about 4pm till 10ish,
These are my Yukon gold

and

Sante

all put to chit in same place at the same time.

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Smile and the world smiles with you

Too warm and not light enough. You don't want to force them, just let them make nice compact green shoots. Put them somewhere without any heating as long as it's frost-free

Sorry to crash this thread, but I am a bit confused about chitting

Should they be in light or dark, or does it not matter?

Also, how should you store seed potatos that you want to keep for a later crop?

VF

Chitting needs to take place in cool, light conditions. I chit mine in the shed on a bench by the window. Hope this helps.

Almost missed your second question If you want to store them for a while longer before chitting keep them cool and in the dark.

To chit, they need to be in a cool and light place, protected from frost. North facing windowsills indoor work fine for me, other people put them in a greenhouse (but you must protect them if you have sub-zero conditions).

To store potatoes, they need to be kept in constant dark cold conditions, free from frost. This is quite hard to achieve for most of us. Personally, I keep a few tubers back to use later and just let them keep chitting, or I use tubers from new the crop produced by the early ones I plant.

My Home Guard..Chitting nicely...

I also have Sharpes Express,Arran Pilot and King Edwards...

Geo..

Nice piccie Geo ! Your spud has produce strong chubby shoots. My Nicola is also at the same stage as your spud. I am thinking of potting them today .

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I grow, I pick, I eat ...

Wow, that looks like right, yes? My sprouts are only a third or so in length from yours.

I think if you're in a hurry to chit, it may be better to put them in a dark cupboard to begin with until you can see enough eyes sprouting but taking them out before they get too long and pale. Then transfer them to cool but frost free area with some light to form sturdier shoots. I didn't really do this otherwise I think my shoots would have been longer by now. Don't know why nobody's ever pointed this out though or am I missing something here? I did this with 2 variety potatoes I bought from supermarket and they had a headstart for spending the initial time in a dark cupboard.

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Food for Free

Only just got mine on saturday.

Gonna move mine in to the cool dark store room to keep them from sprouting anymore, thought they didn’t look too good.

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Smile and the world smiles with you

Chitting potatoes need to be in strong cool light...

Geo..

No, darker room may force them to shoot faster (as you get with putting them in cupboard). Choose a cooler room but still next to natural light e.g. on a table near a window or even window sill. You don't have to use those sprouts, could break off a bit to encourage sturdy chubbier sprouts but that depends on when they get planted as that's a 1st earlies, is that right? Maybe still enough time to regrow stronger shoots before planting. The tubers can be placed close together, not compulsory to have spaces of an egg tray. Please anyone correct me where I'm wrong. Just trying to help remedy the tubers.

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Food for Free

What type are the tiny pots in the middle of the piccy crichmond?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

I have various tatties chitting on the greenhouse bench and we've had some humdinger frosts the last three days. Went to the allotment today expecting to find a pile of mush where the tatties had been but to my surprise they are unharmed?
Are they slightly hardier than we give them credit for? Temp had dropped to minus 6 the last three nights and there was ice in the watering can in the greenhouse, but the chitting spuds have survived. Not to take any more chances and push my luck I have covered them with lots of sheets of newspaper (cos that's all I had to hand!)

I should sleep a little bit better tonight!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Sorry but I cant remember, I will tell you tomorrow after I come back from the allotment, they are a salad potato but cant remember the name.

I've got mine in the garage but under newspaper - they are sprouting......should i remove the paper ????

I'm doing Red Duke of York and Golden Wonder......going to do them in Compost Sacks (3 seed pots in each)

I think you should remove the newspaper. Are the sprouts thin and leggy or strong and chubby?

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Food for Free

to be honest they're not too long - but are not thick like Geo's above