Chitting potatoes - This is what I found

Hi Everyone,

We saved potatoes from the allotment last year to use as seed potatoes.  I put them in a paper potato sack, under the stairs.

We have just got them out to chit them.  The majority of them have long ( a foot to a foot and a half) purple, pink growth on them.  We are not sure if they are a root or a sprout.  They are also a bit soft, but not green.

Can we still grow potatoes from them?
Should we remove the long growth?

Thank you for your help in advance.

Regards

To go off the point a bit.I was checking my seed potatoes yesterday and wonderd if the funny shaped potatoes give a higher rate of funny shaped potatoe ofspring.I know i'm sad and should get out more but that is how my mind works

I'd endorse argyllie's point about seed potatoes.

Saving your own really is not good practice and seed spuds are not that dear, especially from somewhere like Wilkos.

When you say you saved potatoes, I take it you mean you grew and then didn't eat them, rather than you kept back bought seed potatoes from last year..

Really sorry about that.  We grew potatoes last year and we saved some of the harvest to plant this year.

These are long shoots, in effect chits, which the tubers throw out when you keep them in a darkened state. You'd want to break them off at the skin,

Thank you for that.

but ideally you'd want to buy new seed potatoes for their disease resitant properties which potatoes you have grown will not have.

I will buy seed potatoes next year.  I thought I would be all right as they are not main crop. I have bought seed potatoes the last 2 years, but I always buy them late as we are very poor in January and February and by March Wilkinson doesn't have much left.  Just a few second earlies.

Belly buttons down!

See in this thread:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=49569.0