Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Growing FAQs and other Information => Topic started by: mickeyboy on March 17, 2007, 08:26

Title: chitting spuds
Post by: mickeyboy on March 17, 2007, 08:26
I bought some seed spuds 2 weeks ago and put them in a cold room on the window sill. They are starting to shoot what look more like flowers than roots :!:  :!:

However the ones i have left in the outhouse where it is dark have produced longer more root looking shoots.

Which should i use :?:  :?:

Thanks for your help :D
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: DD. on March 17, 2007, 08:39
Both!!!

But get the ones in the dark into the light ASAP. They are getting drawn by the lack of light.

I suppose you could call them flower like, this is what they should look like:

http://www.organicgardening.org.uk/factsheets/gg9.php
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: mickeyboy on March 17, 2007, 13:20
Cheers for that dave.  twas a great help. If i plant the ones in the dark aswell will i not be over run with spuds. I have 16 earlies chitting and 16 mids. These will require alot of space i presume??


Thanks Digger

Mickeyboy
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: GrannieAnnie on March 17, 2007, 15:05
You won't be overrun Mickeyboy, not if you like spuds!  I've got about 95 seed spuds and once they start growing, they won't last long, and there's only 2 of us, plus the dog and the chickens!!!!!

One of my books says to plant earlies 2ft apart and maincrop 2.5ft apart, but a site on the web said you can get away with 18inches for earlies and 2ft for maincrop.  Also you can plant quick growers in between rows like salad leaves and radish type things.  And some of our posts have people planting in black bags, old compost bags, big pots and whatever else comes to hand.

Good luck with it anyway!
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: mickeyboy on March 17, 2007, 20:29
I may have a problem with the spuds on the window sill. They appeare to be turning rather soft  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

However the shoots still look fine.



Mickeyboy
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: muntjac on March 17, 2007, 20:35
they are drying out i would think the skins going like a prune . i would suggest you take them off the sill and put them in a pot of compost each until the bad weather has gone and then wait till it dries out a bit and plant them in the ground with the compost blanket you have them in ,if you do not take some kind of measure they will rot completly before your able to plant them out :)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: mickeyboy on March 17, 2007, 20:58
Cheers lads :D  

Munty, do i put each spud in individual pots filled with compost :?:  :?:

If so how big should the pots be and where should i keep em buddy :?:  :?:

Also using your supreme knowledge can you let me know what veg is good to grow together. I am trying to plan where veg will grow in my plot and am struggling a bit :cry:

Thanks
Mickeyboy
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: muntjac on March 17, 2007, 21:00
4 inch pots if ya have , roots together . brassicas together .etc etc salads together . toms and cucs seperate
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: pookey on March 18, 2007, 11:22
my spuds have been chitting for 6-8 weeks, the shoots are short and black.  heres photo - are they alright?

(http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t70/pookey_amiko/P1010641.jpg?t=1174237089)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: pookey on March 18, 2007, 17:03
i dont think theyre as big as they look, they average maybe 6-7cm high.  I got them from b+q.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: muntjac on March 18, 2007, 21:52
i see em and they is good uns  :wink:
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: mickeyboy on March 19, 2007, 21:14
so munty in reply to your last post about putting spuds in pots. Will i be growing what are basically small spud plants :?:  :?:

If so do i bury the whole thing when planting mate :?:

Thanks for you help munty

Mickeyboy
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: Zak the Rabbit on March 19, 2007, 21:29
Top Shoots! :D



need to check on mine see how they are doing (been working past couple days)

I had read some advice somewhere (think it was from one of you 'orrible lot) to remove all but one shoot, so this is what i have done, but then me veg book says not to :?

but then i reason that if only one shoot grows, all the energy and nutrients from the seed go into a single plant, so yield should be higher, rather than ending up with a handfull of competing plants and tons of foliage :?:  :)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 19, 2007, 21:33
Quote from: "Zak the Rabbit"
I had read some advice somewhere (think it was from one of you 'orrible lot) to remove all but one shoot, so this is what i have done, but then me veg book says not to :?

but then i reason that if only one shoot grows, all the energy and nutrients from the seed go into a single plant, so yield should be higher, rather than ending up with a handfull of competing plants and tons of foliage

I'd leave all the shoots on.  It is still only one plant.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: shaun on March 19, 2007, 21:40
if you want big spuds but not many leave one chitt on
if you want average size spuds leave 2 or 3 chitts on
if you want lots of small sized spuds leave em all on
or am i wrong  :?
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: ziggywigs on March 19, 2007, 21:44
Nope Shaun, spot on.... couldn't have put it better myself!  :D
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 19, 2007, 21:47
Quote from: "shaun"
if you want big spuds but not many leave one chitt on
if you want average size spuds leave 2 or 3 chitts on
if you want lots of small sized spuds leave em all on
or am i wrong  :?

Looks highly plausible in theory but I'd reckon it is a load of cobblers.   :wink:  :)
The number and size of tubers in the final yield will have much more to do with plant spacing, soil fertility, available moisture, etc
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: Bigbadfrankie on March 19, 2007, 21:55
I go with WG stick them in the ground give em water and a bit of feed the number of shoots will not have a bearing on the yield.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 19, 2007, 21:56
Quote from: "shaun"
have a experiment but no cheating  :lol:  :wink:

Sorry mate, I'm not gonna dig them up just yet - mine have already been in the ground for months developing ROOTS and not just sprouts.  :wink:

In support of my theory, m'lord, I offer as evidence the potato in a barrel method.   Major crop of potatoes from just a single seed tuber.  Like its relative the tomato, I believe the potato can produce roots from earthed up foliage; unlike the tomato, these go on to produce tubers.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: shaun on March 19, 2007, 22:11
these are not my words these are the words of a farmer who grows them for a living
when i picked my seed spuds up from him the other week they had started to chit and he had removed all but one,i did ask him why and thats what he said.
heres some of them
(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152/shaungill/P3200003.jpg)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: ziggywigs on March 19, 2007, 22:13
As you say WG that's the theory but how many of us actually do it...i don't.

I've seen me buying tatties late and just putting them in the ground...it all works out in the end.

Water is the vital bit when the tubers are swelling to get a good crop....afterall I don't want mammoth sized tatties just tasty tatties.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: Trillium on March 19, 2007, 23:54
We save our own potato seeds for a few years, WG, and that's about the size that give the best yields. You'd think the bigger the tuber, the bigger the yield, but it just doesn't work that way. At about 4 years, we buy fresh seed potatoes and really have no problems other than couch grass getting out of hand, or our nuisance Colorado potato beetles gorging on plant tops. An organic market gardener I know, walks along the rows each day with a car snow brush moving the leaves so that any bugs fall into the bucket he carries below, and all contents are dumped in the chicken runs.  We solve ours by squishing the greedy blighters - just wear old clothes because the squirting goo stains.  :wink:
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: ziggywigs on March 19, 2007, 23:56
Interesting as my FIL used to say the same...the smaller the seed the more tatties you get.

I've saved some seed for this year and they are large marble sized ones whereas the ones i've bought are slightly bigger.  Will be interesting to see what the difference in crops are.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: Aunt Sally on March 20, 2007, 09:44
Quote from: "whisky_golf"
Have you seen the size of seed that seed growers plant?  About the size of a big marble.

I believe you can actually cut a large seed potato in half before planting, as long as each piece has an eye, so potentially doubling your crop.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: muntjac on March 20, 2007, 10:01
that correct sally you can . cut them in half and then dip them in fine soil to close the wound up so they dont dry out . i have heard that normal flour is ok as well  :wink:  incidently during the last war pows used to cut them up with a eye and put them in water and they rooted and then they planted the roots and the growing eye :)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 20, 2007, 10:02
Quote from: "Aunt Sally"
I believe you can actually cut a large seed potato in half before planting, as long as each piece has an eye, so potentially doubling your crop.

Well, like any vegetative reproduction, it will certainly grow but the cash-starved seed potato growers will point out that you are giving plenty of opportunity for disease to affect the cut faces.

Quote from: "http://cropandsoil.oregonstate.edu/classes/CSS322/Select.htm"
 the cut surfaces of seed potato tubers are large wounds that can act as infection courts for pathogenic organisms from other sources

Ye pays yer money and ye takes yer chance, I guess.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: Aunt Sally on March 20, 2007, 10:09
Good potato growing web site here:

Garden Action (http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_november_1_potato.asp#potato_start)
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: shaun on March 20, 2007, 21:02
and what about those potato plants you can buy what are they all about  :?
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 20, 2007, 21:14
Quote from: "shaun"
and what about those potato plants you can buy what are they all about  :?

I thought we'd put this thread to bed last night !!  :wink:

Potato plants have been grown vegetatively in near-laboratory conditions from small pieces of tuber.  Much like slips from sweet potatoes, I guess.

They are a way in which the grower can extract maximum return from a minimal quantity of genetic material in a single season.  Frequently used for very old or very scarce varieties.
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: shaun on March 20, 2007, 21:24
just wondering thats all
so what about those tomato thingys you get on your spud plants what are they all about ?
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: WG. on March 20, 2007, 21:25
Quote from: "shaun"
so what about those tomato thingys you get on your spud plants what are they all about ?

You mean the above-ground fruits?
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: shaun on March 20, 2007, 21:26
yes there seed arnt they ?
Title: chitting spuds
Post by: DD. on March 20, 2007, 21:26
Quote from: shaun
just wondering thats all
so what about those tomato thingys you get on your spud plants what are they all about ?

Believe it or not Shaun, they contain the seeds of the potato - not seed potato - the seeds of the potato.
Title: Re: chitting spuds
Post by: pommes on March 21, 2009, 15:23
My main crop potatoes are chitting well with about 6-8 sprouts a piece.  Question is, should I rub off some of the sprouts before planting or leave them all on?

Thanks for any advice, Carol.
Title: Re: chitting spuds
Post by: Rampant_Weasel on March 21, 2009, 15:31
rub some off and leave about 4 on