I first heard of Chitting Potatoes on this forum last year from @Sjoerd and @Daniel W . I had no idea what it was, and my learing curve the time was steep and all full up for the year. Then...I hear this funny little word again on Daniel's potato thread. After an early morning of reading I think this may be a very helpful practice for my garden. I have a very short season, and I don't grow many potatoes. Just enough for Hubby, to share with a friend and keep a few for next year. As always, I found mixed information on how to do this. I hope potato people will lend their personal practices so that I have something more concrete to go on. What I took away from the internet was confusing at best: About 4 - 6 weeks before planting place your potatoes rose side up in a shallow cardboard box, seed starting trays or egg cartons. Then this happened and my Mrs. Potato Head is spinning: ( controversy #1) either keep in the dark and/or cool for two weeks ( mine have been in a fridge since the fall), and/or keep in a bright window sill. (controversy #2) keep at below room temp for two weeks or they will shrivel, and/or keep at room temp 21 C for two weeks in bright sunny location but below room temp Also - keep below room temp for two weeks then move to room temp with sunlight. (contraversy #3) once sprouting, cut potatoes into sections with sprouts for planting. Leave cuts open to air for a few days, but not at room temperature or they will shrivel. (contraversy #4) dip cut portions of potatoes in wood ash prior to planting. UGH. If any Potato Chitters out there could offer this potato head a little direction on how they Chit, I would be grateful. Thanks so much
Potato chitting is really simple. I take a seed potato, look for a section with at least two "eyes" which are the little beginning sprouts, cut the potato into sections with two eyes, and place them cut side up outside on the garden bench. They sit for two days, or three if the weather is cloudy, until the cut sides heal over. When the cut sides feel leathery, we plant. Chitting is not an exact science, but rather "hey, do what you want to do" garden experience.
I don't grow them now but i used to put them in egg boxes and put them on a windowsill up in the bedroom. There's a radiator there but it only comes on twice a day. I don't know how long it took but they don't need to be very long in length, just start them off. Plant with the most sprouts upward. I didn't cut them in 2.
@Melody Mc. I think potatoes are pretty forgiving. The chitting speeds the sprouting. I've had some that I kept in the garage over the winter - mostly 50s F - that did it on their own. You want the stems to be short and stout. So they should be chitted in the light, such as a window sill. If the eyes are close together, I leave more eyes per section. I cut mine into sections with a couple of eyes per section. Not too small. I cut these yesterday. They are in a shallow cardboard box with cut sides up, drying. Then I turn them so the eye is up, and let them sprout. At room temperature in the light, most of mine sprout in a week or two, I think. Sprouts a half inch or so is what i aim for. I've never dipped them in wood ash. The alkalinity might make them more susceptible to scab, but I've just never done it.
**When I chit, I first select early or second early spuds to plant. **Then I estimate when to plant— for me about 1april. **I place them in paper egg cartons on my bedroom windowsill with the stem attachment end up (like they grow underground). As they begin to chit I rotate or sometimes invert the spuds, letting the chitting growth develop unhindered. **as 1 april approaches I make deep furrows in the garden bed and leave open for a few days to warm the earth before planting.
I'm going to attach a link if that's okay. This is what confused me a bit. When I see the picture in the link of the chitted potatoes before they are cut into chunks for planting, they are whole and have a lot of sprouts. ( like what you are saying @Logan ). The pictures in the link show way more progressed sprouts than mine ever have. They also aren't all leggy like my sprouts go when kept in the dark too long. For the last year I thought chitting was the act of cutting them into sections with eyes, and letting them rest a few days before planting. It looks like there could be another step that I could be missing. Are your potatoes whole when you do this Sjoerd? or do you cut them and then place them in the carton? Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it. https://growagoodlife.com/chitting-potatoes/
I wondered about this step too. I have a friend that puts a dusting of wood ash before she plants her turnip seeds though, to keep little worms from eating them. She says it works, but I'm not crazy about a lot of ash. I wonder if it's the same idea.
Mel— I never chit my spuds in the dark, because I do not want the leggy pale growth. i want stubby, thick and darkish growth. The pale, leggy growth is too tender and may not do too well. Mate, I never cut my seed potatos. Cutting them in pieces is not the chitting. Chitting is letting them develop little growth buds. One cuts the tubers like Mr D to have more plants. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with this technique and back in the day, I did that as well with seed potatos that were too large. So you do not have to cut them if you do not want…it is a choice. For learning purposes, you could do some that have been cut and some that are not. See how this works where you live. You know Mel, because of where you live, you may need to set your chitting spuds under a grow light for say, eight hours a day to get decent chits. When there is growth, I harden them off outside on the balcony before planting, for the ground is cold. You can harden them off in cool surroundings, but not where it is still freezing. One final word about chitting— chitting is not something that must be done, it is a gardener’s choice. The purpose is to get a head start so that you can get plant leaves above ground sooner. This is important to me because we have a short growing season. I did have a look at the link you sent. I can understand now how you can be confused with techniques and wondering what to do. Chitting, like other gardening methods that are new to new gardeners pose the problem of “how to do it”. Researching can make a decision difficult because one can’t see the forest for the trees, as they say. When I am in this situation, I do one of two things— I either select one method and follow that…or I let all that I have seen swim around in my brain and then choose my own course, based upon bits and bobs that I have read or watched, keeping my eye on what I am trying to achieve. Good luck with this, and as always if you are finding it difficult to grasp something, just ask anyone on here for clarification. No worries.
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for the clarification! I'm actually no longer a fan of cutting my potatoes. I have done it both ways - (cut and uncut) and I find that I get a smaller yield and quite a lot of rot issues on the cut potato. Just tool cool and damp in spring I think. And some seem to be eaten a bit. I'm trying to not buy my seed potatoes because they have to be shipped so late in the spring to prevent freezing (third week in May and they usually have no nubbies on them) that they are very slow to grow. I've kept my own this year ( and a few organic store bought freebe's that will go in the "unknown" patch) to try and time their planting more effectively. We will see how that goes. I'm also moving them to a drier sunnier spot. Thank you for such a patient and thoughtful response Sjoerd. I definietly couldn't see the forest. And also thank you for telling me about hardening off. That makes so much sense. I've never done that for the poor little nuggets. I'm off to take my taters out of the fridge and put them in the window under the edge of the redneck grow light. I certainly am grateful for everyone's experiences and for the STEW. I'm the lone gardener in these parts, and it really means a lot.
I just gave my egg cartons away to the Food Bank ( they receive egg donations from local farmers but often don't have cartons) so I only have two, but some newspaper helped out. The ones in the back are the mystery potatoes. Hopefully their growth isn't too far along. The ones in the cartons are my Norland Reds and Kennebec from last year. There were a few long spouts, but lots of baby eyes, so I pinched off the long pale sprouts. We will see how they do. We're pretty excited to perhaps have a new strategy for potatoes in a cold climate garden.
I am glad to be of help, but of course there were other folks that have contributed. Those egg cartons look like just the thing for your chitters. Naturally you do not have to use egg cartons, you can use other techniques. I have to say though that it is as if the egg cartons were made for this job. Haha.
Melody you could use a seed tray and stand them up. Glad to be of some help, when i used to grow them i didn't cut them up.
After looking at the price at a single baked russet type potato at the grocery all priced at 89 cents each, all you potato growers can charge a fortune selling to the markets. Geez …
Those taters look quite happy there, like they are having a chitting party! Whether they are cut into chunks, seems be a matter of personal preference. In my garden, I aim for a seed potato roughly the size of a small egg. If it's a great big potato, I cut into chunks. If about twice the size of a small egg, I cut in half. I haven't lost any, either way. When I am hoeing and hilling, I don't notice any spaces where a plant should have been. I think production is good either way. Today I noticed some potato plants growing in last year's potato bed. Those were ones I missed when digging. They grew with no cutting or chitting. Potatoes are pretty rugged.
@Daniel W - thanks Daniel We often find a few sproinks here and there left over from last years spuds - especially after the rotatiller hits them. Some don't do anything, so have a few offerings I think part of my rotting problem was location - I'm hoping this year will be better. It will be dryer and have more sunlight.
