Potatoes chitting, with the help of an onion?

[Nicos]

I am aware that potatoes and onions are companion plants but I read an article a while ago that if you place an onion amongst chitting potatoes they will bring on better chitting?

I bought some cooking potatoes the other day which I fancied growing but noticed they were sprayed in something to prevent chitting.
So I washed them thoroughly and have now placed them in to chit with an onion next to them to see if they will actually produce chits.
Obviously I won’t know if it’s the washing and/ or the onion helping them to chit, but I thought I’d try this as an experiment!

Has anyone else tried this?

[Mark Rand]

Is that why my potatoes in the kitchen seem to sprout so regularly? Need to find another location for them or the onions...

[rary]

Nothing ventured nothing gained Nicos, why don't you set a washed potato up as well just to see the difference, as for chitting I never bother doing that though with other than seed potatoes it makes sense to do so

[ameno]

If my understanding is correct, it's likely to make things worse, not better.

Onions release ethylene gas. Ethylene inhibits potato sprouting. It also hastens the ageing process of the potato, which will lead to faster withering and eventually rotting.

[Nicos]

Ah…interesting ameno, thanks for that.

Have to say though that the spuds are indeed showing signs of chitting. Could just be because I washed them of course!
I forgot to leave one aside for comparison
Not sure now whether to leave the onion there or not now….maybe they have indeed brought the spuds on but now I need to remove them now the chits are showing so they don’t rot?

[gardenhistory2]

why would you need chit potatoes in the first place?

[Nicos]

You don’t really , although you can then choose to rub off the weaker chits.
Farmers don’t chit.
Most of us want to buy particular varieties and they sometimes sell out, so we get them early, just to be sure we get hold of them.
Left in their bags they tend to produce long spindly chits which then get entwined with the netting.
So, if it’s too early to plant out ( thinking of too cold/ wet and also frosts when they start to grow) the best way to store them is in a bright and cool position.

And let’s face it - it’s a great feeling watching for the first chits to appear and develop. As gardeners isn’t that one of the joys…knowing you are in the process of growing your next year’s food?

[gardenhistory2]

i always prefer planting early in insulated bed.

[Snoop Puss]

Out of interest, how do you insulate your bed, gardenhistory2? With mulch or do you have a different method?

To go back to the subject of chitting, not everyone does it and my understanding is there's no need to do it for maincrops, only first and second earlies to give them a bit of head start and get a crop in quicker. Meanwhile, here's Grow Your Own's grow guide for potatoes that mentions chitting: https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gu...owing-potatoes

[rary]

Gardenhistory2 what do you mean by an insulated bed, is it covering with black polythene or similar, or is it something else entirely?

[Nicos]

gardenhistory2 Sounds interesting.
Do you have any photos of your insulated bed? Always happy to learn something different!
My last frost is the first week of June so this idea appeals to me .

[gardenhistory2]

wood, foam and manure for heat.

[Penellype]

wood, foam and manure for heat.

That sounds like a hotbed - very similar anyway.

I'm always puzzled by people who say they don't chit potatoes. Potatoes chit themselves, its just a case of do you plant them immediately you buy (unwise in open ground in January), leave them in their bag (in which case they will grow weak long chits), or spread them out somewhere with some light so that the chits grow slowly. I suppose you could also put them in the fridge to slow them down, but when I tried that some of them hardly grew at all afterwards.

[rary]

I agree with what you say about potatoes growing weak long chits when in a bag, but always having restricted space I just leave them in the bag, having grown potatoes for a good number of years and never having set them out, I have never had any problems planting them with the long shoots, I have planted them in various ways, digging a trench and covering them with soil, compost, straw and various other things, placing them on the ground below a black permeable covering, even simply using a dibber and dropping them in the hole, which is now my preferred method,then of course the main reason for not setting them out is that I'm lazy🙄😁