Potato Chitting, Seed Sorting and National Vegetable Society

Rain stopped play, again

After some dry but cold weather, it warms again and starts raining. It’s pretty useless trying to do much with heavy clay when it rains so another day indoors.


Potato Chitting


I don’t know what all the fuss is about with chitting potatoes. You buy them from the shop or wherever and there’s nothing you can really do for a couple of months so you may as well chit them. In fact, if you just keep them in a dark place they will grow a tangle of spindly shoots, so better to chit in my opinion.


I often read about placing them with the eyes uppermost in egg trays but I can never quite decide, the shoots seem to come from all sides so I just place them in seed trays in our unheated spare bedroom, which, being above the unheated garage, is the coldest room in the house but frost free. It’s quite light although north facing so it doesn’t get direct sunlight either.


I read that spraying with seaweed solution every two weeks helps form stronger shoots but I doubt they absorb much nutrition from that. I tried it one year and didn’t notice any real benefit.


Sorting Seeds


This is the time of year if not a little late to decide what to sow and see what I’ve got in stock. So started the great seed sort. You tend to get packs free with magazines, bargain deals you come across when shops are clearing and those half packs left from last year.


Some seeds are past their sow by date but I find that just means reduced germination rates in most cases. I’ve had courgettes with 100% germination from seeds found after seven years, which is pretty amazing.


National Vegetable Society


Larry called round, so seed sorting stopped and we put the NVS and the world to rights and then designed a notice for our next meeting which Larry will get distributed to some of the allotment sites in the area. Must admit I think it’s a good one, Saatchi and Saatchi had best watch out for our creative design agency.


After he left, I printed out some of our little schedule leaflets and decided the great seed sort could continue tomorrow.

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