Chitting - help!

[alan refail]

"Light" as opposed to in a dark cupboard.
"Cool" as opposed to anywhere with artificial heat.
An unheated greenhouse is fine, just so long as you remember that "cool" implies frost-free.

Have look at this:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles02 ... tatoes.asp

Alan

[bigpepperplant]

hooray! thanks

[bigpepperplant]

oh, just out of interest, what temp do you heat your greenhouse to?

[alan refail]

Potatoes on the windowsills can lead to strife
Glad we have saved you.

[oldherbaceous]

Bigpepperplant, i try and keep the temperature up to about 50f / 10c for February and then a little higher as we get into the second part of march.

[maree t]

hi, i think that monty did a study last year on wether it was worth chitting or not and if i remember rightly the results showed that it was only worth chitting the earlies which did give a much better yield but the maincrops caught up. maree

[dovesails]

Just to let you know that I did knock off the spindly shoots and within the week had nice new shoots. They are now planted - so we will have to wait and see. I'll try to remember to post the results - I worthwhile experiment even if it means I lose some weight if it doesn't work out!

[Cider Boys]

We still try and chit our early potatoes; why? Because we always have done. We often chit our maincrop as well. However I think the jury is still out on the benefits or not of chitting. In my view the growth and yield of potatoes, especially maincrop, is dependant on so many factors outside of our normal control that the importance of chitting is over valued. Far more important is to get rain at the right time to bulk up the yields.
I think the Jersey Royal growers used to knock off the too early chitted shoots to time the shoot growth with their planting times.

Barney

[George Gray]

The Garden Centres seem to have their seed potatoes out on the shelves just after the New Year to persuade us Spring is round the corner. I am a bit skeptical of the value of chitting potatoes but I certainly wouldn't buy them too early. If you have a spell of wet weather and can't get at the plot you may not be able to start planting until April.

[Freckleston]

Hi I have read all the bits about pototo seed but I have one little question - although you all seem to want loads of them - I only want about 6 for my small space - I take it there is no way of keeping the pototo seed from the bag?! (for next year)? sorry if im being very silly, I had success last year with my small stock of potatoes but I cant remember what I did with the rest of the potato seed - they got thrown away I think.

[alan refail]

Hi

I'm afraid it's plant 'em or chuck 'em. If you had kept last year's tubers they would have announced themselves with long shoots any time from last June onwards. If you only want a few, look out for a garden centre that sells by weight and buy what you need.

Alan

[Chantal]

Freckleston, if you can find a local Potato Day they are sold by the tuber, so you can by any amount from one upwards. It may be a bit late for this year though, our PD was at the end of January.

[Freckleston]

thank you for your comments - i think i was expecting that answer anyway really but I didnt know if there was some secret way of keeping them. I just got them from B&Q which is the only place I have seen them - Im a 'Town-ie' and do not drive so have to make do with B&Q, Wilkinsons and the 99p shop for my supplies! although between them, those shops normally have what I need (except for a big pair of hands to help me clear up all the winter debris!)

[acrylicspud]

You could try Homebase as I think I saw small packets of spuds (10) in there.
I brought 3 cloves of elephant garlic in a pack from there. It's abit more expensive but at least you don't throw any away.

[Freckleston]

thanks i havent tried there - I have ended up with twice that amount. Last year I tried to give away to my friends but they were not interested unless I did it all for them!