Re: Chitting spuds: newbie questions
- From: Scotia <Scotia.25jevz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 11:06:44 +0000
Some questions:
* Should I prune the green down to a single green root?
* What size should the roots grow to before planting up outside?
Thanks,
Bruce
You may get different points of view on this, this is mine;
1) Some people do! but think of this; you remove all but one, plant it
and on backfilling it is knocked off.........result the chitting was a
waste of time.
I have found it makes little or no difference.
These sprouts / chits are individual haulms (tops), not roots as you
suggest.
The original seed potato rots away, and roots develop from the haulms
and the new potatoes are swellings (tubers) that grow on these roots.
This is one of the reasons for 'earthing up',that is, it encourages
more roots, and the potential for many more potatoes.
It might then be said that this area of soil will not sustain lots of
potatoes so it is better to reduce the number of haulms and get few but
bigger potatoes.
So really, reducing the chits to one, a few or just leaving them all on
is just a matter of personal choice.
Regarding the length of these; this does't really matter the most
important thing is the state of the soil, i.e. it is not water logged
or frozen.
In fact you can plant seed potatoes without chitting, by not chitting,
this only means that the haulms will take a little longer to emerge.
If you plant out too early the new emerging growth might be nipped by
late frosts so this sets you back and the benefits of early planting
has been lost.
I tend to work backwards from when I expect the last frosts.(have a
look at 'Frost Zones on my website)
I find in my area it takes around three to four weeks for the tops to
emerge so I plant out about three to four weeks before the last
anticipated frost, assuming the ground is in a fit state to do so.
I think patience and local knowledge is the answer to much of what you
ask.
If you look in my website you will see it is a calendar of events
brought about from the days I was in your positions i.e. each year I
kept notes on what I did and the results, then the following year I
adjusted my tasks accordingly.
I always err on the side of safety a sow/plant later if I am in doubt
and generally I find that through the resilience of plant life (not me)
I get a good a crop of what ever I am growing.
I hope this answers your question.
--
Scotia
.
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