… if used a nappy on the seed potatoes you would not have had a chitty problem like this.
Explain please … in the UK and much of the English speaking world a nappy is what the USA calls a diaper.
In the USA the term nappy is an unacceptable racial slur.
The potatoes have chitted because they have been too warm … the shoots are too long because they have been kept in the dark.
Move the potatoes to a frostfree but cool position in good light. This will slow the growth of the shoots that have developed and the appearance of new ones.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Break the sprouts off and put them in a room with plenty of light. You need green or purple sprouts depending on the variety. You do not need white ones. There is plenty of time for them to resprout it is going to be too cold and wet for the next couple of weeks to even think of setting them. If you set them when the ground is too wet then they will rot. I currently have 7 mushroom trays in a spare bedroom with about 300 seed potatoes all nicely chitting away.
Thanks everyone. Have taken the sprouts off and put them back where they were, next to the patio doors where there's never any direct sunlight but it's bright. A couple are quite wrinkly - is this ok?
This is the problem when people also fail to read the poster's query correctly @Dovefromabove
@jenniferavril said - first two lines of her post on 11the March : "Bought some Anya (second early) seed potatoes yesterday only to find them already chitted straight from the shop and ready to plant out."
Follow the good advice from several posters re taking off the long shoots and keeping them in reasonable light, and you'll be fine @jenniferavril
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Another thing to bear in mind is where you live. There's no point in planting out until you can be sure of keeping the tops frost free when they've started pushing through therefore allowing them to chit too early is bound to end in disappointment one way or another. Anya's are second earlies, so, as I say, it depends which area you live.
As an example my International Kidney seed potatoes are still in a cold, dry and dark place where they've been for nigh on 3 weeks. I'll bring them out perhaps next weekend or maybe a bit later and set them out for chitting. I won't rush the process, I'll leave them in the shed by the window an aim to get them planted by about late April. I'll still be watching the weather forecast for frosts though. As I said in my first post, this is how I do it.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@jenniferavril said - first two lines of her post on 11the March :
"Bought some Anya (second early) seed potatoes yesterday only to find them already chitted straight from the shop and ready to plant out."
Follow the good advice from several posters re taking off the long shoots and keeping them in reasonable light, and you'll be fine @jenniferavril
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
As an example my International Kidney seed potatoes are still in a cold, dry and dark place where they've been for nigh on 3 weeks. I'll bring them out perhaps next weekend or maybe a bit later and set them out for chitting. I won't rush the process, I'll leave them in the shed by the window an aim to get them planted by about late April. I'll still be watching the weather forecast for frosts though.
As I said in my first post, this is how I do it.