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chitting
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Message 1.Â
Posted by susan (U14016651) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
hi all,can someone tell me,is there an ideal place to chit potato's also i have 3 different varieties,early,2nd early and then a third ,how far apart do i plant them to get a succesion of potato's,thanks
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Message 2
Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
No requirement for an apostrophe in potatos - just an 'e'. . .!
Ideal place is somewhere cool, light but not in direct sun. If you plant them all at the same time you will get a succession as they will take longer to grow and mature. The early first, the second early a bit later . well, you get the picture.
I'll let someone else tell you how far apart to bung 'em in as I tend to squeeze 'em up a bit ! Cheers, Tony. -
Message 3
Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
Basically I agree with Tony.
This is how I do it (click on pics to enlarge)
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Message 4
Posted by koala_girl (U12702629) on Thursday, 27th January 2011
I chit mine in egg boxes on a north facing window sill in an unheated bedroom so they are quite light but not in direct sunlight and not too warm.
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Message 5
Posted by greenspudsanono (U14768730) on Sunday, 30th January 2011
hi just joined dig in you should plant your first and second earlies a foot apart in rows a foot apart and you late about 18inch apart in rows 18inch apart hope this helps .
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Message 6
Posted by Stressed out (U11163734) on Sunday, 30th January 2011
OH does the veg
She normally cuts them in half and they go in newspaper lined boxes on top of the fridge/freezer in the utility room. So not that warm and out of direct sunlight.
Watering and earthing up seems to be more important than how far apart. -
Message 7
Posted by madeleineR (U14451255) on Monday, 7th February 2011
So if you cut the postoes in half you get double the quantity? Don't they rot in the soil?
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Message 8
Posted by Niblet (U14438752) on Monday, 7th February 2011
Due to OH's over zealous recycling I have no egg boxes, so my Charlottes are rose-end up in large seedling modules. I have put mine in my cool light unheated conservatory on the windowsill. Should the sun ever deign to come out I might have to move them out of direct light but I doubt it
They have been there since Wednesday and have developed many little purple nubs, so so far so good. -
Message 9
Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Monday, 7th February 2011
So if you cut the postoes in half you get double the quantity? Don't they rot in the soil?Â
Yes you get twice the amount providing there is at least one eye (chit) on each portion.
In any case; The seed that you sow rots away whether it is whole or not!
In the event you do not know let me explain;
The tops (haulms) grow from the chits, the new potato (tuber) grows from the base of the haulms, and the seed you plant just rots away.
Now to confuse you even more the seed you plant is not a seed at all, it is a tuber, which is a swelling on the root system at the base of the haulm.
True seed comes from the flower on top of the haulm and these appear as green tomato like growths once the flower dies back.
As with a tomato ( the same family) the seeds are inside the fruit.
I hope that clarifies the growing process!
This is the cultivation process; -
Message 10
Posted by koala_girl (U12702629) on Monday, 7th February 2011
I have always been in two minds about cutting the larger seed potatoes in half. Does it really make a difference to have three chits on one potato rather than having three smaller bits of potato with one chit on each?
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Message 11
Posted by Stressed out (U11163734) on Monday, 7th February 2011
madeleine51
I think Tee Gee's post covers it.
It depends on how many potatoes you need to plant. We normally use them to clear the ground when we are bringing it into use. So we dig an area and remove all the weed and first year we just put potatoes in as they are an easy crop. So this is why we tend to split the seed potatoes up as we are not that concerned about how big the crop is. To be honest we normally give most of them away to the neighbours.
You can dust the cut tuber with fungicide but we never tend to bother, as long as they are in a dryish area for a couple of hours after they have been cut they don't tend to rot. -
Message 12
Posted by the2 jays (U14383723) on Monday, 7th February 2011
Susan lots of help been given, Tee Gee is so good. My only criticism would be the English grammar lesson.
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Message 13
Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Monday, 7th February 2011
Sorry about that 2j
Might be because I am Scottish
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Message 14
Posted by Stressed out (U11163734) on Monday, 7th February 2011
Tee Gee:
Might be because I am ScottishÂ
Cut them in four then?
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Message 15
Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Monday, 7th February 2011
.
and what makes it even funnier is;
I never cut mine
must have lived in England too long
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Message 16
Posted by the2 jays (U14383723) on Tuesday, 8th February 2011
And what makes it even funnier is;
I was referring to message 2, Kleftiwallah's comments.
Tee Gee I hold you in such high esteem I could not possibly comment on anything you say in a critical way.
Sorry folks but it's one of my pet hates seeing people put right over such things. We have people from all walks of life & feel we are on a gardening web site for, lets be honest gardening advice not an English lesson.
Perhaps Kleftiwllah feels the opposite. Nuff said from me. -
Message 17
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Tuesday, 8th February 2011
Avoid home-saved tubers these may be contaminated with virus.Â
I am surprised that TG says this. He must have had a bad experience!
I should think that cost of new seed potatoes would outweigh the value of the new crop!
A self respecting potato grower surely keeps his smallest and best spuds from last year as seed potatoes for the coming one? -
Message 18
Posted by David K (U14115317) on Tuesday, 8th February 2011
I should think that cost of new seed potatoes would outweigh the value of the new crop!Â
I suppose it depends what price you put on a far superior product!
Be assured, ordinary supermarket and garden grown seed potatoes DO carry spores of bacteria and fungal pests and certified Scottish seed potatoes do not. In addition, non-certified seed can carry eelworm, or if treated with sprout suppressant will stop your crop from growing properly.
Mosaic disease also occurs when an aphid-transmitted a potato Virus infects plants. -
Message 19
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
David K's remark does its best to undermine the self sufficient growers produce.
You hear people make remarks like that about ALL seeds at some time or other,
(Quite apart from th fact that small potatoes are not seeds).
Let you own spuds speak for themselves (!) I had a pal who grew his own for 50 years and never bought a new potato seed again during the whole of that time.
He lived until he was 101.
Smash seed merchant capitalism! Grow your own potatoes EVERY year! -
Message 20
Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
I am surprised that TG says this. He must have had a bad experience!
I should think that cost of new seed potatoes would outweigh the value of the new crop!Â
I wouldn't say I have had a bad experience but the return on saved seed can be a bit indifferent.
Regarding value; I never pay those extortionate prices that people like T&M sell them at.
I am part of a group who buy bulk and buy them wholesale meaning at the price I am paying, I see no point in saving seed when I get them this cheap!
Another thing is; In recent years there seems to have been a lot of potato diseases about so I wouldn't necessarily know if any seeds I saved were disease free.
Plus there is the uncertainty of not knowing if I am going to get a good crop from saved seed or not, meaning; my efforts might be in vain.
For example I was hit with blight in 2009 resulting in a poor harvest, then in 2010 I was hit my dodgy farmyard manure (aminopropylid).
At least it gives me a little peace of mind if I know my seed are OK and that hopefully all will be well and I will have a good harvest.
A self respecting potato grower surely keeps his smallest and best spuds from last year as seed potatoes for the coming one?Â
As I say I don't think it is worth the hassle, but having said that; I haved saved my PFA stock for the last four or five years and they have been OK.
But then again these are not my bankers, they are more of a bonus crop to me so the results are not as important to me.
I think what is key is knowing if you have 'disease free' stock.
If you can guarantee this, then it doesn't matter how you source your seed.
And it is like David said; what do you value your stock at? -
Message 21
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
And it is like David said; what do you value your stock at?Â
It is the taste of the spud when you eat it, which counts. -
Message 22
Posted by koala_girl (U12702629) on Wednesday, 9th February 2011
I would rather buy quality seed potatoes to give my crop the best chance. They don't cost that much and I would not want to go to all the time and trouble of growing the plants and getting indifferent results just for the sake of saving a couple of pounds.
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Message 23
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Thursday, 10th February 2011
As much as a sack of potatoes, admittedly the taste of which you do not have so much choice over.
If you know what taste you like in potato then you can get the seed potato for the purpose.
If you've been growing potatoes for years, and you are well organized, then the taste you want is the taste you have got! Going out and buying again is a risky procedure!
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