chitting potatoes

In this video Sarah shows us how to chit potatoes and talks about one of her favourite varieties, ‘Belle de Fontenay’.

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I’m chitting my potatoes this morning, ‘Belle de Fontenay’ it’s a lovely salad variety, really waxy really delicious and it’s an early, and it’s the earlies particularly that you want to chit, and all that means is bringing them into growth a little bit earlier and I do mine in an egg carton, it’s perfect because it holds them vertically which is just what you want.

One like this that’s got a sprout already, put the sprout uppermost, and then what you end up with is a short, stumpy sprout like that, you don’t want the things that you get when it’s in a drawer, that are all sort of like spaghetti, those are no good at all, you want them short and stocky like that, and then you just put them somewhere light but frost free to get them to grow a bit, and then plant them in the garden in about a month’s time.

common questions

when to chit potatoes

Generally you will need to chit potatoes around six weeks before planting. You can usually start chitting your potatoes in January and February.

should you chit potatoes?

Yes, chitting potatoes can help to get them off to a flying start. There is a lot of debate about whether chitting is necessary, but in our trials at Perch Hill we have found that it does seem to ensure a quicker and slightly larger harvest.

how long to chit potatoes

You should chit your potatoes until strong, short green shoots grow from the eyes of each tuber. They need to be about 2-3cm long and this usually takes around 4-6 weeks.