[garddwr]

Hi,

My local agricultural store has seed potatoes in now and I was thinking is it too early to put them to chit ? Also would a garage be suitable for chitting ? I want choice of varieties so I thought get them early but I was unsure.

[Salmo]

Chitting seed is in essence advancing the potato lifecycle.

Buy the potatoes any time now and store them in a cool and frost free place. Many shops keep them too warm and they start to sprout. Do not buy them. A garage or shed is ok, they are fine in the dark at this stage. The important thing is to keep them cool so they do not start to sprout.

About 6 weeks before the expected planting date bring them into a warm and light place. After about a week the potatoes dormancy will break and sprouts, called chits, will appear in the eyes. They think it is Spring.

Once you can see the chits move the potatoes to a cool, light and frost free place. A cool geenhouse or shed window is fine but they may need covering or bringing inside if a frost is forecast. Light will stop the chits from growing leggy.

They will hold like this until you are ready to plant. The chits will grow and become miniature potato plants. Around the base of each you will observe small baubles. These are the roots waiting to grow as soon as they go into the soil.

To get really early potatoes you will need to be prepared to protect tops against frost. I would aim to plant in early March which should give you the first taste in early June. To achieve this you will need to start off the chiting process at the start of February.

[Iain@JBA]

I would buy them now if you have the chance and just keep them in your garage until you want to chit them.
Many varieties are sold out now so they might not be able to get any more in stock so strike while the iron is hot.
What varieties do they stock?

[garddwr]

Thanks for that Salmo and Iain. They stock all sorts of varieties first early,second early and maincrop so I'll head down there next week.There isn't a big demand here for them as I saw they still had them in April.But I'm not risking it !

[Salmo]

Buy them now and you control how they are stored.

[FRUITFULL]

I am definatly getting mine from B&Q 2 bags for a fiver.I thought that was good.Im going for 1st early Charlottes,had them last year and they were lovely.Space is limited so its good they are in and out so quick