Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: containerman70 on December 21, 2023, 12:12
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Hi, I,m new to veg growing but can only do it in containers and pots. My wife does the gardening so i don,t interfear. I,ve sent for my seed potatoes 1st and 2nd earlies,but they won,t be delivered until Middle march, how long will they take to chit in the greenhouse and when should i plant .
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Hi there containerman
I wouldn’t worry overly about how long you are chitting. Spuds can grow successfully without chitting if more convenient.
If your seed potatoes arrive in mid March you are close to when I would have planted anyway. The key is will the shoots be above the ground at the time of your last frost. If you are just growing in pots at home you can protect them by just covering the shoots with compost if a frost threatens.
The traditional time for planting potatoes was Easter due to this being when workers had free time to do it. Good luck HH
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Re sowing
Oop here in the North West I work with the local farmers, 2nd weekend of April onwards unless it is a cold one but most of the time we have no problem.
Last frost date here was May13th but that is now May 3rd!!!
One lad goes with the old Irish saying..
"In with Paddy, out with Billy" but he has a good few occasions been hit by late frosts.
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As said, chitting isn't necessary but may make your cropping date a bit later? I grow in tubs and do two layers of pots then cover with compost and top up with some grss cuttings to help retain moisture. Worked well for me last year with my first earlies.
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we tend to plant our seed potatoes around good Friday they will be delivered mid Feb and we do box our seed in chitting trays we find the shouts tend to be more stronger have done this method for years now
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I also chit them in my garage that has skylights, then plant out from the equinox, weather depending. I wouldn't be too worried about chitting to be honest, but it's something to do early in the season! Last year we had a hard frost at the end of April which killed all the foliage, they grew back fine though
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we tend to plant our seed potatoes around good Friday they will be delivered mid Feb and we do box our seed in chitting trays we find the shouts tend to be more stronger have done this method for years now
My granddad in North Wales always used to plant on Good Friday (probably because he had the day off from work and it wasn't a Sunday) - which is obviously a moveable feast and can be quite early or late. :)