Potatoes ?

 When and how to chit potatoes please ready for planting?

 
Potato Day in Hampshire is, iirc, end of Jan, which seems to work very well
for me.  Take them home from there and put them in a sunny* window.

You could probably do them now, if you wanted - but then you risk the
sprouts being too big that you damage them on planting, as you still have to
wait till after they're going to get frost damaged before planting out (at
least, after newly exposed bits will be out to be frosted!)

Personally this (er, next) year we've tried the Thompson+Morgan sets rather
than heading out to Hampshire, so we're just going to chit 'when they
arrive' - which I'm expecting will be around Feb.

 Vicky wrote ...

I'm not sure about T & M, have found they often send stuff much too late for
planting at the proper time. Certainly some stuff has been inferior quality
too.

We have used this supplier in the past with excellent results, top quality
seed potatoes and good selection too.
http://www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk/

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

 
I have to admit to having some problems with T+M quality.  We keep getting
seduced by their sale items, though.  :-/

Had terrible trouble last year with a set of penstemons.  3x6 colours, 6
were a bit ropey when they arrived, and never pulled through.  Oddly, they
were 5 of one colour and 1 of another (all the same colour would at least
have made sense, or 2-3 of each colour if it had been leaned against a
radiator, or something!).

I grumbled at them, and they sent a replacement (totally out of season, so
presumably a leftover) - and /all/ of them were ropey and died.  I gave up
at that point.

But of the original ones, we sold a lot at the school fete, and my next door
neighbour got some lovely plants from it.


Last few years we've bought ours at Hampshire, and topped up with Wilkinsons
or HomeBargains items.  Planted way fewer than normal last year and have
very few left now, which is a bit of a novelty for us!

 

To answer your question. For earlies.
To chit them, put them in a very light place(I put them on indoor window
cills) 4-6 weeks before planting to get nice green, red, black or whatever
coloured shoots your seed shows.
If you want to plant them at the end of March (which is the reccommended
time), start chitting on St.Valentines day.

When you plant them, do it gently so you don't knock off too many shoots.

You can, however, plant a few under a cloche in mid-late Feb. to harvest
them earlier and that requires an earlier chitting, say halfway-late Jan.

If you chit them too early, simply take off the shoots as the seed potato
will grow them again.

The reason for chitting is to get the spuds earlier than you would without,
and this is IMO essential for earlies to have them, well, earlier.

A link for you

http://tinyurl.com/6negqw

Hope this helps.