Kitchen Garden Forum

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...

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.

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.

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.

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

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?