[supervegman]

HI all put my king edward poatoes out to be chitted a few weeks ago in the shed by the window and not a thing has happened any idea or ma i being toooo impatient

[sunshineband]

Nothing has happened because they are sensible little spuddies and biding their time 

All will be right in the end, no panic 

[mumofstig]

Like Sunshine said they are waiting for it to warm up a bit! 

I hope your shed is frostproof though:unsure:

[supervegman]

yes have one of those heaters that stop frost

[Salmo]

King Edwards are main crop so you are doing the right thing by keeping them cool and light. Leave them just as they are and by late March they should have nice short chits with sort of nobbles round the base which will be roots.

Early potatoes usually break their dormancy and start chit growth without much encouragement and light keeps the chits short. If they not show signs of chit growth two or three weeks before you aim to plant them they may need a week in the warmth of the house to break their dormancy, then back to the shed.

[supervegman]

what about rooster potatoes

[mumofstig]

what about rooster potatoes

What about them?

If you mean when to chit them...you start 6 weeks before you want to plant them.

[supervegman]

any idea as to when i would be good to start chitting them

[Yorkie]

Did  you not bother reading MoS's reply supervegman?

She told you to start chitting about 6 weeks before planting.  There are absolutely loads of spud threads going at the moment and several of them say you can plant from March - April.

You decide when you want to plant them, and work backwards.

[joyfull]

any idea as to when i would be good to start chitting them

Looking at my calendar if you start chitting now then you should be ok for planting 12th March - as MoS says 6 weeks before you want to plant.

[solway cropper]

You don't have to chit them and this six weeks business is not cut and dried. Chitting will start the growth process and give you an earlier crop. That's fine for first earlies but not really necessary for maincrop. Having said that, I chit mine just to make sure that they are actually viable.