how long can i keep seed potatoes?

robnye

i have been given a bag of seed potatoes and have planted enough for ow, but i still have quite a few left - (other than passing them on)
how long i keep them?

if they are earlies, will they be ok to plant as second lot say in april?

oliveoyl

Yes... first earlies should be in by the middle of April (maybe a bit later if you're northern/Scotland), second earlies by the beginning of May. You might want to think about chitting them before planting out... would save any possible storage problem.

robnye

i have already chitted the ones that i planted today, the rest of them (still in the bag) have started chitting..... can i delay planting them until may then?
if so, is there anything i should do to prolong the unplanted seeders until may?

oliveoyl

What variety are they?

robnye

red duke of york - first early

Zazen999

Earlies don't have to go in earlier...they just mature earlier. Any left in the ground will just get bigger as you leave them.

So, if you want them all as smaller potatoes, stagger the sowing and knock off any large chits now and let them rechit in the meantime.

If you don't mind larger spuds, plant them now.

robnye

oh right, so if i knock the chits off and let them regrow - then i can use them later

pobby_2

Hi, hope you are all having a good weekend :beer:

I know I'm a little late but have decided to add potatoes to the list of veg I'm growing and bought some 1st earlies on Friday which are chitting now (some have already sprouted) and some bags to grow them in.

Question one is how long do I have to chit them for? A set amount of time or until they have a certain number of sprouts or a certain size of sprout???

Question two; there are too many seed potatoes in the bag I bought for me to use. Am I able to store them until August when I would like to plant some more for harvesting in December? Or would they not last?

If I can store them, what is the best place / method?

If I can't I have a friend with an allotment who I am sure can make some space for them so they won't go to waste!

Thanks in advance
Paula x

retrocircles

Chit them until the 'sprouts' are about 1 or 2 inches long. It normally takes 2-3 weeks. I put mine out on the shelf 2 weeks ago & plan to plant them Easter weekend.

I would store them in a dark cool place. Such as in a bin bag at the back of a cupboard or something similar.

tsstss7

I don't bother to chit - just plant and grow! but if you want to chit I like to go for sprout of about an inch - much longer and they are more easily knocked off by accident.

I put my first earlies in about 3 weeks ago but you can keep planting them for as long as you like they should take about 10 weeks until harvest.

pobby_2

thanks to those who replied. A lot of them already have sprouts of about an inch long so I may plant them over the easter weekend! :j exciting stuff.

Does anyone have any idea if I can store those I don't plan to use yet over the summer and plant later for another crop? If so how do I store them to keep them dormant?

Thanks in advance. Paula