To chit or not to chit potatoes? Spuds are being sorted but it’s all go with sowing in the greenhouse, too
If you’re anything like me you’ll have been saving egg boxes all year, not just because they’re great to add to the compost bin, but because they can be used to chit seed potatoes in. That said, there’s always the discussion whether to chit or not. Chitting simply means leaving seed potatoes somewhere light and frost free for the eyes to develop into sturdy little shoots before they’re planted out in a couple of months time; some say it gives the plants a head start.
I must admit I always put my seed potatoes into egg boxes, not specifically to chit, but to stop the shoots growing though the net bags they’re sold in, otherwise you can damage or rip the shoots off when trying to get the sprouted tubers out of the bag. This year I’m growing ‘Charlotte’ earlies, ‘Acoustic’ second earlies and ‘Mayan Rose’ main crop. I’m particularly looking forward to the ‘Mayan Rose’, with its two-toned skin, as it’s a Phureja, or old Andean variety; these rare types not only have amazing flavour, but they’ll cook in a third less time than regular varieties and have good blight resistance as well.
There’s plenty of sowing to be getting on with now the light levels are increasing on a daily basis, and chillies are next on my list to get growing. This year I’m scaling back on the number of varieties as I still have loads in the freezer from last year! I love pickled ‘Jalapeño’, so I’m starting them off in a heated propagator in the heated greenhouse; a warm sunny windowsill will work just as well, as long as it’s around 22C (71F). I find the long, thin, heated mats work great for use on a windowsill, plus they really help speed along germination, then once plants are growing they can be moved off the mat to a sunny windowsill, letting you start more seeds.
While chillies need a lot of heat to get them growing, there are some hardy flower seeds I’m starting in the unheated greenhouse and cold frame that don’t need any additional heat – in fact, some even need the cold to flower well later in summer. I’ve decided to keep adding lots of different types of flower forms to the borders between the different levels of the kitchen garden as it’s just amazing how many insects they attract to the garden, plus all the colour and fragrance is incredible. With that in mind I’m starting cow parsley ‘Ravenswing’ and sweet Williams, plus a few more sweet