Chitting and planting potatoes

[krazy_krok]

is it ok to chit on a windowsill in a room with the radiator on the wife wont let me turn it off because she needs it for drying the washing, she's already sick of the garlic and shallots on the kitchen windowsill!!!!!!

[gojiberry]

You usually find that areas that are prone to blight only grow first and second earlies as you can usually get the potatoes harvested before blight strikes. However with the newer sarpo varieties it is possible to grow maincrop. I personally wasn't keen on them and will be sticking with earlies and charlotte this year.


Ian

[allotmentlady]

you can also utilise the top of your wardrobes.........my daughters, sons are being used, just spent an hour sorting them out.

[jayjay giant]

Chitting potatoes

Hi there,
Just a quick one. I have been given some seed potatoes but haven't got any info with them apart from the name ( rocket, pink fur apple ) i have never grown potatoes before. So far i have put half a dozen of each in egg boxes but what then ? Do i keep them warm, cold, dark or light ? When do i plant out etc.
Thanks in advance,
jayjay

[tattieman]

Hi Jayjay. I started a thread in the top tips section if you want to look at that.

[Winky]

Got my Seed Potatoes, now what...

Hi

I've just received the seed potatoes I ordered, and am not sure what to do with them between now and when I plant them out. Hadn't expected them to arrive quite so quickly - last year I left it too late and missed out. I have Anya and Cara varieties, and hadn't planned on putting them out, in pots, until late March. Is that too late? If I put them somewhere cool and light to chit now surely they'll be huge plants by March! Help! What do I do?? All suggestions gratefully received

[Marthaclematis]

Last year I too got some seed potatoes at this time of the year. I chitted them slowly for about five weeks by putting them in a cool room downstairs - I put them on the opposite side to the window and kept the (see through, white) blind half way down - the room was North facing too and although it got light it never got 'bright'. I thought I had planted them out too early - I grew mine in pots - but they were fine. I planted them mid February and I got a good crop. I grew 'Rocket' and some others (and I can't remember the name) which had sprouted in the kitchen cupboard, were meant for eating, not growing, but they produced a fine crop too.

[Capsid]

What Martha said. You can chit the Anya (2nd earlies) in egg cartons in a cool light place; I put mine in the conservatory. They will only make a few small shoots in the cooler temperatures so don't worry about having huge plants. For the Cara (main crop) Gardener's World did a study which showed that chitting was not necessary, so you could just store them in a cool place in the bag they came in.

My seed potatoes arrived this week and I shall chit the earlies but not the maincrop.

[Two_Sheds]

There are literally 100s of potato threads on the go ... have a furtle around with your Search button for lots of advice

[tattieman]

Have a look in top tips section.

[zazen999]

There are literally 100s of potato threads on the go ... have a furtle around with your Search button for lots of advice

There are, but I'm trying to keep the chitting ones all together by merging them.

[Snadger]

My Kestrel,British Queen and Disiree are on an unheated greenhouse bench covered with a double layer of the opaque polystyrene you lay laminate flooring on. Used the same piece last year as well.
Maincrops don't need chitting but I find the light turns them green and 'hardens' them up a bit!

I still have tatties in the ground believe it or not and was surprised when I dug up a shy of Desiree to find there was no slug damage and they were quite edible!

[lynda66]

My Kestrel,British Queen and Disiree are on an unheated greenhouse bench covered with a double layer of the opaque polystyrene you lay laminate flooring on. Used the same piece last year as well.
Maincrops don't need chitting but I find the light turns them green and 'hardens' them up a bit!

I still have tatties in the ground believe it or not and was surprised when I dug up a shy of Desiree to find there was no slug damage and they were quite edible!

i've still got half a row of spuds underground, dug some more the other day, and they were actually much better than the ones i dug up after the foilage died back ...... pure laziness lol, but very tasty

i got mine from wilkies last week and most have small shoots, so they are all on my kitchen windowsill chitting away

[Alan Farmer]

ONly point I cant see covered above, is that they shouldnt be in direct sunlight, (or too warm)

[devon-surfer]

Seed potato help

Ive just put my pots in egg boxes to chit. Is it ok to leave these in the greenhouse? I have bubble wrap and also a parrafin heater?

What surprised me was how warm it was in the sunshine in the grenhouse :-) spring is on its way