Chitting potatoes ?

[coachman]

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 ?

[shirlthegirl43]

Leave them all on there - the more the merrier.

[Cutecumber]

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.

[gardenplot]

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

[veg4681]

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

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.

[gardenplot]

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.

[rustylady]

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

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

[Vegetarian Fox]

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

[Vecten]

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.

[Cutecumber]

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.

[Geo]

My Home Guard..Chitting nicely...

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

Geo..

[momol]

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 .

[veg4681]

My Home Guard..Chitting nicely...

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

Geo..

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.

[crichmond]

Only just got mine on saturday.

[gardenplot]

Gonna move mine in to the cool dark store room to keep them from sprouting anymore, thought they didn�t look too good.