Home > Projects >

How to Chit Potatoes

You will need: Seed Potatoes, Seed Tray, Egg Box

Chitting is the practice of encouraging potatoes to start to shoot before you plant them. It makes it easier to pick good potatoes to plant and helps them get off to a rapid start. Buying seed potatoes each year is preferable to saving your own, as you always have fresh, clean stock.

Best time to do it:

Step 1

Use fresh, healthy tubers each year and discard any that show signs of rot or damage.

Step 2

Each of these 'eyes' will grow into a stem that will feed the root system and encourage lots of delicious potatoes.

Step 3

Put the potatoes in a seed tray or egg box to chit, with the end showing the most eyes uppermost.

Step 4

Place them in a cool, frost-free, well-lit spot to let the eyes develop. Once they are around 1cm long, the potatoes are ready to be planted out. Keep them the same way up as you plant and they will soon start to grow.

Related FAQs

Ask a gardening question:

Latest Gardening News

What is a Nematode?

Joy of Spring at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show!

10 Downing Street Garden Opens for One Unique Weekend

Jacksons Fencing introduces Jaksun™ Solar Fence Panel

Gardening Projects for April

---

How to sow large seed

How to grow Gladioli

How to keep a lawn drained

How to make a Herb Planter

Latest Gardening Videos

---

Pruning an Overgrown Climbing Rose

Treating white fly and red spider mite

Gardening Jobs for Easter

Rooting Cuttings

Potting On Small Roses

Lawn Drainage

All Videos

Explore Gardens from Around the World

Keukenhof
Lisse, Netherlands

Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore

Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
Tokyo, Japan

Lalbagh Botanical Garden
Bangalore, India

Pukekura Park
New Plymouth, New Zealand