Chitting Potatoes - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

Durgan · 03-13-2008, 07:12 AM

Chitting Potatoes

Chitting Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Choosing & Chitting Seed Potatoes General Overview.

Seed tubers are best 'chitted' or sprouted. Look closely at the potatoes and you should see more eyes at the crown - often there are three or four, sometimes five, in a cluster. On some tubers, particularly the roundish shaped types, they may be placed off centre. If these are allowed to grow they will produce mainly small tubers. Using a potato peeler or a small pointed knife remove all the eyes in the cluster by scooping approximately one eighth of an inch (3mm) deep, which should eliminate any regrowth. Without the crown cluster eyes, the tuber's food reserves will be directed to shoulder and side eyes. Reject all tubers showing the slightest sign of disease. Cutting out the diseased part, such as dry rot or gangrene, is no answer because if it is planted the diseased tubers will infect the soil.

Set treated tubers, crown up, on egg trays, thus allowing space for the sprouts to develop. They do not require high temperatures, but should be kept in full light and free from extreme cold or frost.This will encourage sturdy sprouts. Sprouts will form within a few weeks, dark blue or green, or deep pink or red, depending upon the cultivar, by planting time. By chitting we may select the eyes and encourage good sturdy sprouts before planting to produce earlier, improved crops.

http://heixa.notlong.com/ Chitting Picture, showing sprouts.

Although unsprouted tubers can be planted, the chitted ones benefit from their flying start, and vigorous sprouts. Early cultivars will crop sooner and more heavily if chitted.

Chitting later season cultivars results in earlier foliage before blight or drought strike and they mature earlier and can be gathered before slugs damage the tubers.

lspichkin · 03-13-2008, 10:30 AM

Thanks for the info - I'll give it a try. I've never really grown potatoes before but with the number of potatoes that we eat, might as well try my hand at growing them!

paul b long · 03-13-2008, 11:29 AM

Some people think chitting is not essential; others that it is well worthwhile for earlies and not so necessary for maincrop varieties. If you don't chit your maincrop potatoes you will not be able to dig them up so early but you are more likely to prolong the growing season. I am chitting my first earlies (Red Duke of York) and second earlies (Charlotte) but not my maincrop (Desiree) or my late salad variety (Pink Fir Apple) to test out this theory.

Whether you chit or not, the main thing to watch out for is that the soil is not too cold and wet when you plant your seed potatoes.

Durgan · 03-14-2008, 04:35 AM

I will test two rows of one type of potato this year. Using this procedure. I will plant the regular potatoes in the ground and the chitted potatoes at the same time, probably about the 15 of April 2008. My soil and location is ideal.

Chitting potatoes. I only learned about the procedure two years ago. I chitted by did not run any controls.

I have no interest in shortening the harvest time, but am interested in larger uniform size, and greater quantity. One row of 25 will be chitted and the other row of 25 will simply be placed in the ground. The rows will be a adjacent. These will be allowd to mature without taking any small early potatoes. The results should be informative.

paul b long · 03-14-2008, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durgan

I will test two rows of one type of potato this year. Using this procedure. I will plant the regular potatoes in the ground and the chitted potatoes at the same time, probably about the 15 of April 2008. My soil and location is ideal.

Chitting potatoes. I only learned about the procedure two years ago. I chitted by did not run any controls.

I have no interest in shortening the harvest time, but am interested in larger uniform size, and greater quantity. One row of 25 will be chitted and the other row of 25 will simply be placed in the ground. The rows will be a adjacent. These will be allowd to mature without taking any small early potatoes. The results should be informative.

I'll be very interested to hear the results Durgan. I planted my earlies on 6 April and my maincrop (King Edward) on 19 April last year and plan to do something very similar this year. My elderly Irish friends on my allotment site in London tell me that they plant their maincrop potatoes (Desireee does very well here they say) in trenches with manure on the bottom and a layer of soil on top of that. I'll be doing this and will also be planting some on top of shredded comfrey which I'm told is excellent for growth.

Durgan · 03-16-2008, 02:43 PM

16 March 2008 Chitting Potatoes 16 March 2008 My Chitting method.

Seed potatoes were purchased 16 March 2008. Some were already sprouted, so it was easy to remove the clustered sprouts. This is my method. I use a potato peeler and remove a plug consisting of the clustered sprouts. This is probaly only feasible in a home garden, due to the labour and expense involved.

The types of potatoes are Kennebec, Superior, Chiefton.

Durgan · 04-06-2008, 11:23 AM

6 April 2008 Chitting potatoes 21 days in light. 6 April 2008. Chitting after 21 days. The sprouts take the colour of the particular potato. The potatoes will be planted in about two weeks time.

cia007 · 04-06-2008, 09:29 PM

I'm still debating on the chitting thing....I have 3 potato "grow bags" I purchased, capable of growing up to 13 lbs each.

I have 3 varieties of potatoes to plant:

German Butterball
Red Potato
Ozette Fingerling Potato

Maybe I will do some and leave others alone and see what happens....we have a lot of rain and moisture here, so they might be safer just tossing them in whole???

03-13-2008, 07:12 AM	#1
Durgan Green Thumb Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 77	Chitting Potatoes Chitting Potatoes Chitting Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Choosing & Chitting Seed Potatoes General Overview. Seed tubers are best 'chitted' or sprouted. Look closely at the potatoes and you should see more eyes at the crown - often there are three or four, sometimes five, in a cluster. On some tubers, particularly the roundish shaped types, they may be placed off centre. If these are allowed to grow they will produce mainly small tubers. Using a potato peeler or a small pointed knife remove all the eyes in the cluster by scooping approximately one eighth of an inch (3mm) deep, which should eliminate any regrowth. Without the crown cluster eyes, the tuber's food reserves will be directed to shoulder and side eyes. Reject all tubers showing the slightest sign of disease. Cutting out the diseased part, such as dry rot or gangrene, is no answer because if it is planted the diseased tubers will infect the soil. Set treated tubers, crown up, on egg trays, thus allowing space for the sprouts to develop. They do not require high temperatures, but should be kept in full light and free from extreme cold or frost.This will encourage sturdy sprouts. Sprouts will form within a few weeks, dark blue or green, or deep pink or red, depending upon the cultivar, by planting time. By chitting we may select the eyes and encourage good sturdy sprouts before planting to produce earlier, improved crops. http://heixa.notlong.com/ Chitting Picture, showing sprouts. Although unsprouted tubers can be planted, the chitted ones benefit from their flying start, and vigorous sprouts. Early cultivars will crop sooner and more heavily if chitted. Chitting later season cultivars results in earlier foliage before blight or drought strike and they mature earlier and can be gathered before slugs damage the tubers. __________________ Durgan Zone 5B http://eesoos.notlong.com Last edited by Durgan; 03-13-2008 at 06:43 PM.

03-14-2008, 04:35 AM	#4
Durgan Green Thumb Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 77	I will test two rows of one type of potato this year. Using this procedure. I will plant the regular potatoes in the ground and the chitted potatoes at the same time, probably about the 15 of April 2008. My soil and location is ideal. Chitting potatoes. I only learned about the procedure two years ago. I chitted by did not run any controls. I have no interest in shortening the harvest time, but am interested in larger uniform size, and greater quantity. One row of 25 will be chitted and the other row of 25 will simply be placed in the ground. The rows will be a adjacent. These will be allowd to mature without taking any small early potatoes. The results should be informative. __________________ Durgan Zone 5B http://eesoos.notlong.com

03-16-2008, 02:43 PM	#6
Durgan Green Thumb Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 77	16 March 2008 Chitting Potatoes 16 March 2008 My Chitting method. Seed potatoes were purchased 16 March 2008. Some were already sprouted, so it was easy to remove the clustered sprouts. This is my method. I use a potato peeler and remove a plug consisting of the clustered sprouts. This is probaly only feasible in a home garden, due to the labour and expense involved. The types of potatoes are Kennebec, Superior, Chiefton. __________________ Durgan Zone 5B http://eesoos.notlong.com

04-06-2008, 11:23 AM	#7
Durgan Green Thumb Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 77	6 April 2008 Chitting potatoes 21 days in light. 6 April 2008. Chitting after 21 days. The sprouts take the colour of the particular potato. The potatoes will be planted in about two weeks time. __________________ Durgan Zone 5B http://eesoos.notlong.com

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03-13-2008, 10:30 AM	#2
lspichkin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: West Hollywood, CA Posts: 175 Images: 88	Thanks for the info - I'll give it a try. I've never really grown potatoes before but with the number of potatoes that we eat, might as well try my hand at growing them!

03-13-2008, 11:29 AM	#3
paul b long Green Gardener Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: East Finchley, North London Posts: 27	Some people think chitting is not essential; others that it is well worthwhile for earlies and not so necessary for maincrop varieties. If you don't chit your maincrop potatoes you will not be able to dig them up so early but you are more likely to prolong the growing season. I am chitting my first earlies (Red Duke of York) and second earlies (Charlotte) but not my maincrop (Desiree) or my late salad variety (Pink Fir Apple) to test out this theory. Whether you chit or not, the main thing to watch out for is that the soil is not too cold and wet when you plant your seed potatoes.

04-06-2008, 09:29 PM	#8
cia007 Green Thumb Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Olympia, WA Posts: 48	I'm still debating on the chitting thing....I have 3 potato "grow bags" I purchased, capable of growing up to 13 lbs each. I have 3 varieties of potatoes to plant: German Butterball Red Potato Ozette Fingerling Potato Maybe I will do some and leave others alone and see what happens....we have a lot of rain and moisture here, so they might be safer just tossing them in whole???