Author Topic: Potatoes (again!) (Read 2735 times)

HesterF · « **on:** March 17, 2013, 10:01:39 am »

This is my first year of growing potatoes so I ordered a beginners collections from T&M with first earlies, second earlies, maincrop and late maincrop. I've been chitting the first earlies for a while but haven't yet planted them because the ground has either been soaking wet or frozen - neither of which felt quite right. Also they've been very slow to chit so one variety has still barely got anything more than eyes on there.

I've just opened the box to get the second earlies out and realised all the potatoes in the box (which was shut and covered up so must have been pitch black) have been chitting away like crazy. So my question is whether I can just plant them all out at the same time. I think main crop are supposed to go in in late March anyway and the back end of this week, touch wood, looks like it might be a little more spring like. Will they just all mature at different rates or should I still try and stagger the planting so that some go in in April? TBH, it would make it easier to do them all together because I can work out all the spacings better and make sure I have a balance between the varieties - otherwise I'll no doubt plant all my earlies and then realise later I've got no room for the maincrops.

Thanks!

Hester

Clarebelle · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:05:40 am »

I have had a similar experience this year. Its the first time ive done potatoes and ive only got three potato bags to do them in so i only got one variety of seed potato. I had them in a shut box in a dark cool place like you but when i went to put the first lot in they had all gone mad! In the end i decided to still stagger them as I know I would end up with more wastage if I dont as we dont eat alot of potatoes anyway.

deepinthewoods · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:20:55 am »

i would let them chit in the light, or they wont do very well.

HesterF · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:05:29 pm »

They're all out in the light now anyway but can I plant them all at the same time? I'm reckoning that potatoes last in the ground for a while so I can dig them up at different times but is that right?

Thks,

Hester

deepinthewoods · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:13:20 pm »

yes you can plant them at the same time, but theyll mature at different rates. i believe rustyme to still be digging his maincrop from last season. they will keep in the ground. but to free up the space for a late salad or brassica crop, dig and store them.

sabrina · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2013, 01:10:22 pm »

I have always planted at the end of March as we can get bad frosts even snow late on. I find leaving them in the light for a while means they come on that bit slower which for me works fine.

MAK · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2013, 01:11:19 pm »

I chit mine in the light. I believe that if the chit in the dark or chit too early for you then you can nip off the shoots and leave them to chit a new. Any thoughts on this?

Also - my neighbour and I planted 4 rows in furrows left by a tractor. I dragged out 2 cuts of soil using a long handled axe thing and she threw in a potatoe - the next hole back filled the last. None of her seed potatoes were chitted but we had a good crop.

supplies for smallholders · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2013, 01:47:35 pm »

Chitting is more of a smallholder / allotment grower thing - it accelerates the speed at which you see shoots developing.

Commercial potatoes are not chitted and they just go in as they are - they all grow without problem - in fact having shoots on them is a pain, as they can tend to block within the patato planters.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2013, 02:05:48 pm »

The earliness or lateness used to describe potatoes and many other veg such as peas, refers to the time they take to develop. So a first early will be ready to eat before a maincrop variety planted at the same time, no matter what time of year it is.

It's way too early to plant out potatoes here, so I will be leaving them for another few weeks. If you can plant some under cover they will be ready sooner, but all the new leaves need to be protected from frost.

Chitting is done in the light, to give some nice, sturdy, dark green shoots. If they are left in the dark the shoots will be long and straggly and will break off when you plant them out. The reason for chitting therefore is to make sure that the shoots, which are going to grow anyway, are short and sturdy, not long and fragile. Commercially, seed potatoes would be kept cold enough to prevent chitting until they are planted. It is the cold which matters, not the light or darkness.

I would imagine that if you break off the long straggly shoots then you could lose the whole seed potato, as there are only so many eyes. I've never tried it deliberately though so I don't actually know that it's true. I will be interested to hear if others find it works.