Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi.

I have some Marris Peer I was storing that I forgotten about, they have sprouted with 2-3 inch sprouts. I was wondering if this growth is normal or have I let them sprout too much, too early? Should I just plant them under a poly tunnel before they get too 'leggy'? I believe that if they sprout too much they wont produce as much as normal chitted ones would...

Anyone got any advice?

Where were you storing them? Sounds as if it might have been somewhere warm and dark, hence the long sprouts. They should be put somewhere light and cool but frost free. The sprouts should be green, not white. However, all is not lost. If the sprouts are long and white you can still put the spuds carefully into egg trays or similar and put somewhere light. They will green up. I'm not planting mine out until end of March.

I put them in a cold shed but it was dark! I'll put them in a light place and hopefully they will green cause at present they are white! .

Thanks for the advice! Whens the earliest time for planting under polytunnels?

If you have a poly tunnel plant them in that, they will be in out of the frost.

...the sprouts appear to be going purple at the tips?

Don't worry about the purple - shoots are usually purplish green - as they get bigger you can see the green better

I found some that have done this too!!

Could they chit well enough in my unheated greenhouse (i.e. cool but light)?

Thanks

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They will chit in the unheated greenhouse. I always chit mine in the greenhouse and it is unheated. If it gets very cold i throw some fleece, newspaper or an old sheet over them and they do just fine.