Chitting potatoes - is it necessary?

[adamjohn]

Hi all, as a lurker of the forums I have seen a lot of talk about chitting potatoes. I understand that reason for doing this is to gain a few weeks advantage and therefore be able to get an even earlier crop. Is this correct? Are there any other reasons to do so?

Is it necessary to chit potatoes? Could I just plant my seed potatoes direct from the pack and still get good results?

Thanks!

[WendyC]

Yes you could. Although if you've already got them they'll start chitting whether you want them to or not, before it's warm enough to plant them. It's mainly an advantage to early potatoes.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Some people especially those who grow for show chit their spuds in order to take some of the spruts off and thereby get fewer but hopefully better potatoes.

As said above if you have your seed they will start to chit anyway and unless you give them the right conditions they will throw white spindly spruts which is not what you are after.

Colin

[Doive]

Indeed, not really necessary, but then it depends on what you want from your potatoes. Without chitting you will still end up with a decent crop of spuds perhaps a week or two later than you would have done. The real benefits of chitting are getting the seed plants off to a good start, the ability to control accurately how many shoots you want, and the ability to weed out sick or useless seed spuds.

My dad swore by chitting his spuds for a good six weeks before they went in the ground, and every year without fail we had a really good maincrop of potatoes that lasted for months. I'm following his lead and chitting all mine for as long as I can. Planning to rub off weaker growths to allow three or four strong shoots to develop, that way hopefully producing larger and stronger potatoes.

[chris]

I chitted half my first earlies, and salad spuds, and rubbed them off the others. Not exactly controlled, but I didn't notice much difference between them in yield. (Grown in planter sacks). Perhaps in the ground it'd be different as I'd not have fed them as much.

[Aberdeenplotter]

It is absolutely not necessary. Chitting - setting the potato up in full light results in small stubby sprouts developing instead of long brittle sprouts which can get tangled and are easily broken. Potatoes will grow away perfectly well without having been chitted provided the soil temperature is high enough

[alex-adam]

One only has to consider the method of mechanical commercial planting to deduce that chitting is not really necessary.

(Having said that, I do chit my potatoes for growing in large pots)

a-a

[phil the shed]

i dont bother with my main crops

hee hee it must be that time of year again.......




next thing you know there will be a p*****p question lol

[Nicos]

I used to chit mine cos that's what I thought you had to do!

Now- I still tend to chit them.
Why?
Well- because I like to buy them ahead of planting time to ensure I get the varieties I want. I've been caught out before now not being able to find a certain variety

If left too long in a cool dark place then they will chit anyway- and I find the chits sometimes manage to tangle themselves around the netting and then snap off when trying to remove them. Tis a right fiddle snipping at the netting!
I'm of the school where I prefer many chits per spud and not rubbing some off ( I prefer more babies- but smaller)- so I want to leave as many chits in place.

It's also fun inspecting them on a tray on a daily basis to see them slowly coming to life!

[Two_Sheds]

Is it necessary to chit potatoes? Could I just plant my seed potatoes direct from the pack and still get good results?

You should, but sometimes a spud won't chit (esp if you're being a cheapskate and using supermarket spuds for planting).
By chitting (I do it for peas & beans more than I do it for spuds) you can see immediately which seeds are viable, and so don't waste time planting those that is dead

[tel]

how do you chit your pea and beans,when do you know when the are ready?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I used 2Sheds method for my peas last year and was suitably impressed.

I used a plastic fast food container, placed required number of peas into container and cover with water, leave overnight.

Next day drain off water and rinse peas with fresh but drain again. Rinse every day until peas chit.

Easy to know when all is done they grow what looks like a small tail.

Potty

[alex-adam]

Like TS I chit my beans (don't grow peas) so I always know that the seed is viable. - I have also done the same with courgettes and ornamental gourds - I just don't like the usual advice "sow two seeds in a pot and discard the weaker seedling" seems such a waste.


a-a

[Feral007]

I'm just planting my supermarket spuds that start growing before I can cook them. They're going great guns out there atm. Making the garden look great. I'll let you know how the tater's bit goes in a while.

[SarzWix]

Some spuds, such as the Sarpo types, have a very long dormancy period and it makes a big difference if you chit them first. I planted them without chitting last year and they were a looooong time coming up. I have them in egg boxes now in a warmer place than the rest to get some good shoots on them before they go out this year!