Chitting and planting potatoes

[JimmerG]

Chitting problem...

Hi all,

I bought a few kilos of Rocket potatoes (first earlies) I thought it was too early to start chitting them - so I put them in a cardboard box under sthe stairs where it cool and dark.

Having left them there for 2 weeks - I checked them and to my horror they've all a sprouted unhealthy looking white shoots all between half and and one inch long.

What do I do!?!? - Knock them all off and start them again in the light? Or leave them on and hope light turns them green!!

Disaster!!

[shirlthegirl43]

Get them out into the light and they should thicken up.

[jackie j]

Hi all,

I bought a few kilos of Rocket potatoes (first earlies) I thought it was too early to start chitting them - so I put them in a cardboard box under sthe stairs where it cool and dark.

Having left them there for 2 weeks - I checked them and to my horror they've all a sprouted unhealthy looking white shoots all between half and and one inch long.

What do I do!?!? - Knock them all off and start them again in the light? Or leave them on and hope light turns them green!!

Disaster!!

This happened to mine and tattieman said to rub them off which I have done and they seem to be ok so far, try it on a few first.

[zazen999]

Hi Jimmer.

You've still got 6 odd weeks before they go in [at least], so plenty of time to rub them off and get new ones growing. They probably would be fine if you left them on as well - just get them in the light if you can.

[tattieman]

Yeah Knock the sprouts off and start again. My new top tip is place on a North facing window so that they get light but not too much direct sun light.

[Jenegade]

Yeah Knock the sprouts off and start again. My new top tip is place on a North facing window so that they get light but not too much direct sun light.

What happens if they get too much light?

[tattieman]

Direct sunlight will dry them out and make them useless for planting.

[pigletwillie]

We grow only reds for main crops as they are much more slug resistant on our ground and we do make an effort to chit them.

For a change we are growing pentland javelin as our early crop and we dont make any special effort to chit them, if they do they do. They go into the ground in late March, dependant upon the weather. Some get planted now in barrels in the heated greenhouse for harvesting in May.

[HeyWayne]

Just ordered mine (Pentland Javelin, Kestrel and Sante). It's the one time I actually appreciate the French doors of my kitchen. North facing, they're nice and bright without getting much sunshine. Chitted well last year.

[Jenegade]

Direct sunlight will dry them out and make them useless for planting.

Argh! Mine have been sitting on a south facing windowsill, they've got lots of sprouts though. I hope they will be ok, will move them to a north facing window!

[Naga]

Growing spuds in Hessian Sacks?

I was given two new 25kg Hessian sacks and was wondering if they would be ok for growing spuds, they look quite big but not sure if they would be big enough, I have about 50 seed spuds I brought today so I guess I would need quite a few sacks.

[bazzaboy]

Herby, I'm all for container veg and it's a neat idea to think of growing potatoes in a sack more usually standard for storing them... BUT i think you might run into problems. Subjected to constant damp for weeks the sacks will begin to rot so might split; if they let light in through the weave the crop could be ruined, difficult to keep damp etc. It's not difficult to find better alternatives - these days there's varieties of "patio grow bags" available for potatoes or a cheaper alternative is heavy-duty plastic compost bags (use two, one in t'other, if translucent) - more discreet if turned inside-out (usually black inside) with a few drainage holes in the base; about 5 seed spuds per bag. Then if appropriate you can use your dry hessian sacks for storage!
b.

[Snadger]

Agree with Bazz......I'll second wot he said!

[snuffer]

I also have to agree with Bazz. A couple of years ago we were given some sand bags by the council in a failed attempt to prevent flooding. Afterwards I thought the sandbags might come in useful should the need for flood defences arise again. I gathered all the sand bags together but could not put them undercover. Within weeks the hesian had rotted and I was left with a pile of sand and a few bits of mouldy, rotting hesian.

[ixi1456]

you could try them with a black binbag inside it would keep out the light and would keep off the damp might work cant see why not