first time chitting help

hi all
first time trying chitting when they start sproting which way would you plant them are they the roots or the stems ? i`m growing mine in tub and bags using soil and composs half and half mix ok ?
should i leave as many eyes or just keep around 4 eyes ?
thanks paul

 

"Chits up" - they are stems, not root. Good question though!

I put 4" of well rotted manure in the bottom of my bags, then about 6" of (purchased) multi-purpose compost into which I have put some slow release Potato fertilizer and I plant into that. Then as they grow I let them get their leaves and a few inches of height and then earth up with my own compost. Using soil may give you problems trying to water them - but it depends how good, and how free draining, your soil is. You might well get away with half-and-half. (You could also consider what you will use the compost for after the Potatoes? I mix some 50:50 with sharp horticultural sand and grow Carrots in pots, and the rest goes into Tubs and Urns, and then onto flower beds and so on - so its not a one-time-cost, as such)

More eyes = more, smaller, spuds. 4 eyes is probably about right, but I don't do anything special with mine (but that may be because my seed potatoes don't produce more than 4 eyes - they would if I had really big ones though!)

 

sometimes you get sprouts forming on both ends of the potato so you can cut it in half and plant as paul777 suggests

 

thanks all any more advice
what do you mean sprotting from top and bottom ?

thanks paul

 

Potatoes have eyes all over, but there is an area called the rose or rosette end where most sprouts (chits) will come from, but chits are not exclusive to this rose end and they can come from all over the potato...and every potato will be different.

You can tell which end of the ptoato is the rose end quite easily, it has the most eyes or what might look like blemishes on its skins, it these eyes that you chit by leaving out in the daylight and the sprouts will come from the eyes.

Therefore, determine which end is the rose end and stand your potato in a seed tray or egg box so that this rose end is uppermost.

Steve...