Chitting Potatoes

 First Early  - Sharp's Express - Taylors 

First Early / Salad Potato - Pentland Javellin - Taylors

Second Early - Charlotte - Taylors 

 Main Crop - Desiree - Taylors

The morning and lunch with the Diginator and Emma, and then down to the allotment in the afternoon when Digs needed his nap. Grandad will be growing Digby some sweetcorn this year.

14c feels like 10c Sunny. I spent most of my time in the potting shed after finding the mushroom trays that I use for chitting potatoes.

I should have got them out of the carrier bags faster and into the chitting trays, they have all grown hair and look like Boris Johnson, and will need a trim, they were a little sweaty, so nothing like ex Prince Andrew, but they can now breath better.

No one has taken any woodchips yet, nice mound

First Early / Salad Potato - Pentland Javellin - Taylors

First Early / Salad Potato - Pentland Javelin - Taylors & Charlotte Salad Second

Charlotte & Sharpe's Express - both Taylors

First Early - Sharp's Express - Taylors on the left &
Main Crop - Desiree - Taylors on the right

Potatoes in Chitting trays, I need to make some labels up one label for each row as I put 4 in the 30Litre Pots with handles from the looks of things I'm going to need 27 - 28 Pots with handles. Easter Good Friday Falls on 3rd April this year.

I need to find out when the water will be turned on as I have coir blocks to hydrate.

Potting shed bench top.

Starbucks Coffee Grounds laid out for breaking up and drying out.

Spuds in The Space Saver Greenhouse

Space Saver Greenhouse now clean and tidy and the six varieties of potatoes are finally out of the house and fending for themselves in the greenhouse. Terracotta Candle heater and Firefly heater, and propagator lids ready for any minus temps to keep the frost off them.

The mushroom trays were fitted with insulation last year and I made two more insulated trays this year, and they will be stored away ready to be used for chitting the potatoes in future years.

Frost Protection Reduced

 

With the night time temperatures staying above freezing and anticipated to be a min of 4C plus it stopped raining for a while I made a dash for the space saver greenhouse and removed the bubble wrap and fleece so that daylight can get to the chitting spuds. 

I also took the opportunity to cut more timber to make shelves for the bottom layer of trays so that I can use the watering trays with my modules.

Chitting in The Greenhouse

New! Potato Premiere - First Early - Mr Fothergill's 

These are exactly the size one expects seed potatoes to be. The bag is a 1.5kg bag and as a result I have 35 seed potatoes so if 3 per buckets that's 12 buckets required for these.  

New! Home Guard - First Early - Dobies

1 kg Bag and 16 spuds, they had long chits when they arrived but had grown more whilst waiting for me to get their shelves ready in the greenhouse. All long white spindly chits rubbed off and now placed in better colder conditions.

New! Acoustic - Second Early - Mr Fothergill's

1.5 kg bag with an expectation of 15-20 seed potatoes and 16 in the sack. Temporary crate until I can access the mushroom tray.  

New! Mayan Rose - Main Crop - D.T.Brown 

Funny that the colour of the chitts look more like the spuds are supposed too. 1.5kg bags, each pack containing approx. 15-20 tubers.  22 Seed Potatoes Arrived again a nice sized seed potato.   

New! Stemster - Main Crop - Dobies

1 kg Bag Stemster

New! Sarpo Kifli - Main Crop - D.T.Brown

Sarpo Kifli 1.5kg bag, each pack containing approx. 15-20 tubers, as you can see 17 seed potatoes but 5 or 6 are much larger than one would expect if seed potatoes. 

New! McCain Shepody - Early Main Crop - Dobies

1kg bags, Nothing said about how many seed potatoes to expect but received 17 and only one potatoe was what I would say on the large size. 

Photo with fleece over before I found the propagator lids and bubble wrap to give another level of protection against frost attack.