[Grubbypaws]

Most of my seed potatoes survived being left in freezing conditions by the carrier so I put them out in the dark in the cellar as I do every year. Yesterday I went down to check and they had all produced several inches of pallid chits 

This has never happened before. Usually when the time comes I bring them up into the bright and warm and only then does chitting commence.

What on earth do I do now?

My choices would are:
1. ignore chits and plant out as normal when the time comes.
2. pull the chits off and hopefully set them back a bit
3. Plant them out (In february  ) and keep them well protected from the weather
4. Throw them away (£££) and start again.

What do you all think that I should do?

[mumofstig]

I'd rub off the chits and start again, putting them somewhere light but not too warm, would be ideal.

[Grubbypaws]

Would their near death experience in the frost have somehow caused them do this?

[mumofstig]

Thermal shock - sudden change to higher temperatures is used in the industry to make seed potatoes sprout; so perhaps, in effect, this is what happened to yours.

It may just be that storage has been a little warmer than usual this year - who knows 


For what it's worth - I never put my potato seed in the dark.

[Kristen]

For what it's worth - I never put my potato seed in the dark.

Me neither (although from discussions on Forums opinions vary ), I figure that if they are in the light, and as cool as I can keep them, at worst they will grow short stubby green chits a bit longer than the chits they would if they were even colder.

[JayG]

Chilling them in the dark, i.e. in your fridge will hold them back, but is risky if you can't be certain they won't get frosted.

Light is more important than the 'correct' temperature for successful chitting - mine chit slowly on a north facing window sill for months on end if necessary, even though the temperature is probably a bit higher than is often recommended.

Rub off all the weak, white chits, and let them produce new ones.

[anchorman]

If they are producing chits, they are alive. I agree with others and dont put mine in the dark. I've placed mine in those plastic seed modules, stood upright like eggs, chits and eyes up. I place those trays on the bottom shelf of the cold greenhouse staging in the shade (not at all dark). Then I just lay a couple of layers of fleece on top. It worked very well last year so here's hoping for this year. The theory being that they are in diffuse low light, not in contact with the cold staging so they should chit at a steady pace without becoming drawn and pale.

I think in your case of long drawn pale chits. You could rub out the longest, place them in a cool shady place and see if they start to recover in a week or 10 days. If the chits dont start greening or purpling up a bit, or no new chits sprout, replace them

[Kristen]

I think in your case of long drawn pale chits. You could rub out the longest, place them in a cool shady place and see if they start to recover in a week or 10 days. If the chits dont start greening or purpling up a bit, or no new chits sprout, replace them

Good point, any "short" chits could be kept, saving the tuber energy making new ones (and it will take it a week or two to "trigger" a new eye to make a new chit, which might delay earlies a bit - but won't matter for mains).

However, long chits / shoots tend to be brittle, and break off when planting, so I wouldn't keep anything "too long".  Perhaps have a piece of string handy to work out how-long-is-too-long? Might be easy to determine by seeing how brittle the ones that are broken off as being "too long" are, and judging safe-length from that?

[AnneB]

I always chit my potatoes in the light.   I put them in a spare bedroom with the radiator turned down to 1, just above frost protect level.   Our local potato day is mid February and I find the tubers are nicely chitted when I put them in the ground at the end of March / early April.

[Salmo]

Rub off all eyes and put them in light and cool. Not too cool as you do want them to develop chits. Light will keep chits compact.

You could plant them with long chits but planting potatoes with several inch long shoots would be quite difficult without damaging them.