My potato seeds have started to chit nicely as you can see in the picture below. You don’t have to chit potatoes, you could just simply plant them in the ground when the time is right but chitting potatoes usually helps get a quicker start (particularly for early varieties).

Chitting potatoes is basically encouraging the tubers to produce sprouts by placing them in a light and frost-free environment. I remember the TV presenter and experienced gardener Monty Don made a trial a couple of years ago which showed that early varieties of potatoes benefit from chitting, as it usually gives you earlier and bigger crops.

And ít’s so easy to do: place your tubers in a tray or individually place them in an egg carton ensuring that the rose end (where most of the eyes or indentations are) is facing upwards. Chitting can take up to 6 weeks and when the sprouts are short, shubby and about 3cm (1 in) long they are ready to be planted.

And it’s not too late to start – so get chitting now!

See my other posts on growing potatoes and my growing potatoes update.