[JayG]

Make sure you chuck out the soft mushy ones to avoid affecting the others - with temperatures forecast to be minus-quite-a-lot this week in many parts of the UK any sort of unheated greenhouse or shed is not the place to be chitting spuds!

[Herb]

Do you mean on top of the wall units? The heat in the kitchen rises, so I expect they would be too warm up there, and would sprout too quickly.

That's exactly where I chitted mine last year. It worked very well. But we rarely had the heating on in the kitchen.

[homegrown]

Got them indoors last night just incase
Now on top of fridge n on window sill.
They look ok the shed wasnt freezing and I had 3 layers of fleece on them
Thanks for all ur advice
Last year I didn't chit because i brought late and they came out well

[Salmo]

A reminder of the correct procedure for chitting.

Decide on a target date for planting and work back to when it will be 6 weeks before, shall we call that chitting day.

Before chitting day the potatoes should be stored in a cool but frost free place. It will not matter whether it is light or dark as the potatoes are still dormant with no sign of chits.
( that is unless the garden centre has kindly kept them too warm and chitting has already started)

On chitting day move the potatoes into a warm and light place for about a week so that the dormancy is broken and chits start to grow. This will take longer with main crop than earlies.

As soon as chits can be seen move them into a cooler and light place with the rose end (opposite the end where the stalk was and where most chits are) uppermost.


The chits will slowly increase in size and eventually develop a small bud with leaves. Around the base of each chit there will be nodules which will be the roots.

They can stay like that until you are ready to plant. If planting is delayed by bad weather there is no worry. They will go green and probably get quite rubbery.

[Sweetpea C]

Sorry - bit confused now. Is an unheated greenhouse too cold for chitting? It certainly feels cold in there. Is the corner of the kitchen okay away from a radiator?

I've just bought some and a few have already started...oooops.

Thanks,

Caroline

[mumofstig]

Sorry - bit confused now. Is an unheated greenhouse too cold for chitting?

Yes, it can still freeze inside an unheated greenhouse!
As already said - they need somewhere cool but frostfree and light to chit properly

[Sweetpea C]

Thanks mum... I've been told I am not allowed to bring the garden indoors but i may just be able to negotiate a corner of the kitchen, after all, we will all benefit 
 

[Stewpot]

I have 27kg laid out on fleece in my double glazed greenhouse, with a layer of fleece draped over them. Have been doing them like this for over 20 years and have yet to loose one.

[mumofstig]

lucky you - not many people have a doubleglazed greenhouse 

[DD.]

I have.

Glass & bubblewrap!

[mumofstig]

Somehow, I don't think that's quite as effective as proper doubleglazing though 

going by how cold it's getting in my bubble wrapped one 

[JayG]

My greenhouse has no insulation of any description, and in the interests of science (and at the risk of startling the neighbours  ) I have just been out in my dressing gown to check the temperature (with a proper lab thermometer because the max-min one tends to tell porkies!)

It's -3C outside and -2C inside, so not much of a "greenhouse effect" happening just now!   

[Grubbypaws]

Before chitting day the potatoes should be stored in a cool but frost free place. It will not matter whether it is light or dark as the potatoes are still dormant with no sign of chits.
( that is unless the garden centre has kindly kept them too warm and chitting has already started)

How cool does it need to be to stop them chitting?

[DD.]

It varies as to who you read, generally below something like 4C, but obviously not freezing. If they've started you won't stop them, just slow them down a bit.

[JayG]

The only reason I can think of for wanting to delay the start of chitting is shortage of space to actually chit them (or a serious lack of brownie points in your bank account with respect to negotiations with your OH!) 

I suspect my partially-heated north-facing bedroom windowsill is a bit warmer than the ideal, but I've never had any variety which hasn't sat there from now onwards slowly chitting away for months (in theory I could have still planted them much later in the year for a Christmas crop, although I usually chuck the spares away in July.)

You don't actually have to chit any spuds - it's usually considered more beneficial to give early varieties a head start as soil temperatures will probably be lower on average, and of course you will very likely be in a big hurry to begin harvesting!