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Chitting seed potatoes is the process of starting them into growth before they are planted in soil. The terms chit and sprout are interchangeable and mean exactly the same.
First and second early potato varieties definitely benefit from being chitted. Maincrop potatoes benefit very little, if at all, from being chitted and should be planted without chitting.
By chitting potatoes in a better environment compared to planting them straight into the soil (which will be very cold and damp) they can be started into life earlier in the year and therefore will produce an earlier crop.
Because chitting potatoes occurs outside of the soil it is possible check how many "sprouts" develop from each seed potato. The ideal number of sprouts from first and second early varieties is three to four. Excess sprouts can be removed (see later down this page).
Leaving too many sprouts to develop will result in smaller potatoes and weaker potato plants.
Getting the timing correct to start chitting potatoes will ensure that when the plants emerge from the soil later on they are not damaged by frost. It will also ensure that you obtain the earliest crops as safely as possible. The difference between the last frost in spring differs significantly (by about six to eight weeks) over the UK so one specific date is definitely not correct for the whole of the UK.
To determine the best date to start chitting potatoes in you town in the UK, go to this page which will allow you to enter your town and it will then recalculate all dates in this website to be accurate for your town. Return to this page when you have done that, for the most accurate dates.
All potato varieties (first early, second early and maincrop varieties (if you have chitted your maincrop potatoes) should be chitted at the same time of the year in your area. It's important to understand that the use of the word "early" and "maincrop" in describing varieties refers to their harvesting time and not the planting time.
The best time to to start chitting potatoes is the first week of March in average areas of the UK.
The picture below shows the eyes on this particular seed potato. The eyes on a potato are the point from which sprouts can grow upwards and through the soil eventually forming the potato plant above ground.
On some seed potatoes the eyes are very pronounced and visible, on others they are almost invisible, but they are still there, under the skin, just waiting to spring into life.
"Eyes" on a seed potato
The ideal size of a seed potato is about the size of a large egg. If you have more seed potatoes than you need, select the larger ones and discard the smaller ones.
For seed potatoes to sprout and produce strong dark coloured sprouts they need:
For many decades, amateur gardeners have been using egg boxes to start chitting potatoes. They aren't essential but they do satisfy all the essential requirements and they are free.
Seed Potatoes in Egg Box
First take a good look at the seed potatoes you want to sprout and note where the majority of the eyes are. When you place a seed potato in the egg box, do it so that the majority of the eyes are facing upwards.
If you are unable see where the eyes are, don't be concerned. The eyes will soon become visible with little sprouts on top. The seed potatoes can then be repositioned so the the majority of the eyes / sprouts are uppermost.
After four weeks or so, your chitted / sprouted seed potatoes should ideally look like those in the picture below. The sprouts will be about 2cm long and a dark green / purple colour. If you click the picture below you will be able to see an enlarged version of it.
Sprouted seed potatoes
Before you plant the seed potatoes out (ideally the first week of April in average areas of the UK) you will probably need to reduce the number of sprouts to three sprouts for early potato varieties or five sprouts for maincrop varieties.
Experience has shown that restricting the number of sprouts as indicated above, results in full sized potatoes and healthy plants. Too many sprouts will result in more potatoes but they will be under-sized.
To remove excess sprouts, place a finger at the base of the sprout and simply rub it away. When rubbing away sprouts try and leave the remaining sprouts all at one end of the seed potato.
After chitting / sprouting your seed potatoes the next step is to plant them out in open ground or containers.
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