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sweetannie4u

My Potatoes are Chitting!

Annie
11 years ago

Have you ever heard of the term, "Chitting Potatoes"?

I first learned it on an Irish gardening site. They were all chatting away about chitting their potatoes and I was like, "What the heck is that???"

Chit; Chitting; Chitted:
It means that you sprout your seed potatoes before planting them.
This technique is not necessary, but it does get them started to grow faster and some of the Irish folks on that site swear by the method, saying you are less likely to have the "spuds" just sit in the ground and rot.

I have been putting off planting my seed potatoes because it was too cool and too wet and they would have just rotted. But those seed potatoes have now chitted, so I am going to plant them as soon as the moon is right to do so, which I believe will be in the next few days.

So, now you too can tell everyone:
"My seed potatoes are chitting!" :)

Comments (9)

  • mandolls
    11 years ago

    I have never grown potatoes before, but have 5 lbs of yukon gold spuds that just arrived. It will be probably 2 weeks before I can get them in the ground. (still snow out there !!) Tell me more about chitting please. right now mine are just sitting out uncovered, I havent cut them into pieces, or anything. Some have obvious eyes, some seem pretty smooth. How do I "chit"?

  • Annie
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here is a very good explanation I found on Mother Earth News for those of you who have never tried chitting potatoes or have never heard of the term before:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Get a Head Start with Chitting Potatoes

  • mandolls
    11 years ago

    Thanks - I did do a little searching about it. Mine all are budding up nicely now. I think the snow might be over for the year. It is supposed to get to 70 this weekend. I dont think they will actually develop much growth before I plant them out, but at least they are moving forward.

  • nancyjane_gardener
    11 years ago

    Well, heck! Mine chit about every 4 weeks or so! Just by themselves! LOL Nancy

  • tammyinwv
    10 years ago

    I didnt pre=sprout mine, and they came right up. This will be my first yr growing potatoes and I planted 50 lb. Growing an inch a day.
    Tammy

  • kristincarol
    10 years ago

    I always do this but it isn't intentional. It does work well, however.

  • seb14
    10 years ago

    i did that this year! i cut the patatoe with sprouts in 3 peices, until you have sprouts on all the peices it works! 3 plants, i got 10 pounds of patatoes out of one.

  • lavender_lass
    10 years ago

    My mom does that every year, but I didn't know it had a name :)

  • lavender_lass
    10 years ago

    Annie- The gals at the Cottage Garden forum are looking for you. Hope everything is going well for you and you have a great holiday season :)

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