[Salmo]

From time to time someone quotes the Gardeners World potato chitting trial that they did a few years ago, which concluded that chitting potatoes was not worthwhile. Full stop!!

I get quite annoyed about this because in my opinion they did a great disservice to gardeners.

The trial was quite unscientific and ignored the important reasons why chitting can be an advantage. Mainly that chitted potatoes bulk up earlier.


From what I can recall, in their trial they simply planted chitted and unchitted side by side, ealies, second earlies and maincrop. At the end of the Summer they dug them up and weighed them. Yields from chitted and unchitted were the same.

What they did not take into account were the reasons why potatoes are chitted by both gardeners and farmers.
1. Early potatoes bulk earlier and can be dug as immature earlies a week or so earlier. To a farmer that can mean a higher price. To the gardener there are early potatoes on the plate sooner.
2. If the weather is bad at the planned time of planting the chitted potatoes have already broken their dormancy and they can wait until conditions improve without losing yield. Unchitted potatoes will not break their dormancy until they are planted and therefore may have a shorter growing season.
3. If there is blight and tops need to be cut off to prevent infection chitted crops which have bulked up earlier will have a greater yield. That is especially important to organic growers and gardeners growing main crop varieties.

[JayG]

I've said it before (I've probably said most things before at least once!  ) that since potato plants grow by producing roots and shoots from the eyes, pre-chitting must get them off to a quicker start, and saving a week or so out of the 12 (-ish) weeks that first earlies take has to be worthwhile (the percentage saving is less with maincrops which is why it's probably considered to be less of an advantage.)

(Won't say what I think of GW's production team because I've definitely said what I think of them before now!) 

[emptydraw]

I've said it before (I've probably said most things before at least once!  ) that since potato plants grow by producing roots and shoots from the eyes, pre-chitting must get them off to a quicker start, and saving a week or so out of the 12 (-ish) weeks that first earlies take has to be worthwhile (the percentage saving is less with maincrops which is why it's probably considered to be less of an advantage.)

(Won't say what I think of GW's production team because I've definitely said what I think of them before now!) 

Couldnt agree more with your chitting comments, not sure about the GW production team!!!!

[JayG]

Of course, the main reason for chitting is that with seed potatoes on sale from the beginning of January you haven't got any real alternative if you want to be sure of getting what you want! 

[DD.]

You've about summed it up there!

Mine are set up for chitting in January as a means of storing the things. I have to move then before all the Lady Christl have disappeared.!