[Benny130]

Only just bought my spuds! Is there time for them to chit or shall I just bung em in??

[mjg000]

It may still be too early to put them in, depends on temperature of your soil and when your last frost will be.  If you read some of the other theads there is a lot of debate going on about whether or not to put them in yet so you can easily leave them in the light to chit for a week or so if you want to, but you don't have to, they will still grow, the threat of frost catching the early leaves is the more important factor.

[ptarmigan]

I checked back and I planted mine out last year mid April and they were fine.  So safe to leave them for a bit.  Also you can plant without chitting - it's not essential just gives them a bit of a head start while you are waiting for soil to warm up and you probably get a slighter higher yield. From what I've read its a good thing to do for earlies if you can and not so essential for maincrop.

Saying that I planted mine two weekends ago.  Probably a bit premature as its quite chilly here!

[Beetroot Queen]

Ours went in at the weekend but only because our son needs his bed back lol
Otherwise I would have waited another two weeks

[surbie100]

It really does  depend on where you are and how warm the soil is/likely the chances are of a frost. Lots have put their spuds in on my site. I'm leaving it for another week or two.

[JWK]

Depends what type they are. If they are earlies then it's worth-while chitting them before planting in say two weeks time. For main-crop varieties it's been shown that chitting has no benefit, but I'd still wait a couple of weeks. The main reason for delaying is to avoid the frosts when the foliage appears.

[Salmo]

If they have chits visible just keep them in the cool and light until you are ready to plant.

If there are no chits visible then put them in the warm and light for about a week to break their dormancy and start the chits.

They can sit chitting for quite a while. Chitting breaks their dormancy and starts their life cycle so that when they are planted they hit the ground running.

I once planted two lots of potatoes, some chitted and some not. After a while I had a dig down to see how they were doing. Both had the same length of shoots making their way to the surface. The chitted ones had put out a good root system while the others had almost no roots. Both emerged at the same time but the chitted then grew faster and developed their potatoes earlier. I was surprised at the difference.

Earlier bulking up is obviously good if you are growing earlies. It is also good for seconds and mains if blight comes in and you need to cut the tops off at the end of July. Much confusion has been made by a trial that was carried out a few years ago. They dug their crop late when the potatoes had died back and just measured final yield. They found little difference betweem chited and non- chitted and announced to the world that chitting was a waste of time. They seem to have not understood why chitting is good. It allows planting to be delayed if the weather is bad, earlies bulk up sooner, seconds and maincrop bulk up before blight strikes.

[Kristen]

I always put my seed potatoes to chit - bright but cool location, must be frost free. Reason being that if I put them "away" they will grow long brittle shoots that will break off when I plant them.

When the soil is warm / weather is right I plant them.

If I buy my seed potatoes late there may be zero days between Chitting and Planting but if there is a gap, any gap at all, then I "store" the seed potatoes by chitting them.

I think chitting helps for 1st earlies to make them earlier, but only in the sense that I usually buy them a month or two before the ground is ready for me to plant them - I buy them early to avoid disappointment and get the varieties that I particularly want.  But other than that it makes no difference whether you chit them first, or plant them without chitting, to my mind the main issue is how to store them prior to planting.

[Goosegirl]

I grow second earlies and used to chit them, but one year I was a bit late so I just bunged them in and they were fine. They may just crop a bit later but at least you don't have to protect the foliage from frost unless you get a late one.