chitting potatoes

[bigpepperplant]

hi just bought some pink fir apple potatoes: can I start chitting them now? And does anyone know if I can chit them in my polytunnel...? it's light in there, obviously, but a bit damp this time of year and I wasn't sure if this might be a problem...

[jane E]

It needs to be dry, or they will mould. The light levels are right though. Why don't you raise them off the floor and the damp won't be as much of a problem. I chit mine in an unheated greehouse. I start them when they arrive.So it's slowly if they arrive now, in an unheated place, but if they don't come until March I do it indoors so that they put a move on.There's a big body of opinion say that there's no need to chit and I wouldn't dispute that. Don't let them get long, spindley shoots though.

[Beccy]

Pink Fir Apples are very reluctant to chit. In my experience you are lucky to get a quarter inch of sprout, but they still grow away quite happily when planted out. So don't worry if they don't do much when you try to chit them.

[lizzie]

Hi all

I don't bother to chit any of them. I just pop them in the ground when the time is right. I've tried chitting and not chitting and, to be honest, i've never found any difference. I don't even dig a trench. I use a bulb planter, pop in the spud, put the soil back in and cover the top of the bed with manure and calcified seaweed.

[bigpepperplant]

thanks for all that - the no chitting idea sounds hassle free, will definitely try it...

[Iain]

Let's say you decide not to chit but your first earlies have arrived. You plan to plant them out in mid-April. How do you store them till then without them chitting spontaneously?