Thursday 5 August 2010

Lets Chit Some Potatoes Today !


Every one loves potatoes. Why not grow your own this season?

For those who don't know, I have a roof top garden where I also grow crops in pots.Potatoes are my favorite crop that can be grown in bags, bins and large containers. This afternoon I decided to chit some potatoes.

Chitting potatoes simply means to encourage tubers to sprout before planting. The easiest way to grow potatoes is in bags, bins or large containers. Here is how you can start chitting your potatoes:

Selecting potatoes:
You can simply select any potato that you like the best. Its hard to find potato seeds ( which are basically baby potatoes) here in Karachi, so I use the potatoes I get from the grocery store. Make sure the potatoes you select are healthy and do not show any signs of a virus or infection.

Eyes of a Potato:
Yes! A potato has eyes. Notice there are black spots all over a potato. Those are its eyes from where the shots will begin to appear.

Chitting:
Before your potatoes go in a container or a grow bag, you want them to develop shots. For encouraging that, place your potatoes in an empty eggs tray or any empty cardboard box with maximum eyes upwards. Place this tray in a well lit  place but not in direct sunlight.

As soon as you see sprouts emerging, leave only 2-3 on each potato and pinch off any extras.

Last year I selected a sack to grow potatoes. This year I am using a huge plastic tub. It gives me more space and I also like its color!

Lets chit some potatoes together and share our experiences.

To learn how my potatoes are doing in a tub and to know what to do next, stay tuned!

For any problems you face growing your potatoes write to me crops.in.pots@gmail.com

Happy Gardening!


11 comments:

  1. great idea!!!! everyone plz try it..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice to see a blog related to one of my primary interests :-)
    I remember when I was a kid I often plant potatoes in a small plastic pot and even harvested some cute potatoes... I just used thick cuttings of grown eyes and the results were quite fine.

    After reading your blog I just wanna repeat it once again :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome to my garden!
    Thanks Smnabil. You are right. Everyone loves potatoes and digging for them is so much fun!

    Do grow potatoes this season and share your pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yep I've chosen a potato and watching his eyes! It will be in a pot in a week, and will try to update a serial blog of my harvest(if I got time**)

    ReplyDelete
  5. do that:D I am going to post progress of my potatoes soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ...and when the "soon" will fall?
    :-)
    as I'm waiting to put my potatoes in pots and I think ur post will be helpful...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Zahra,

    Only saw your blog today and I have to admit: I quite enjoyed it.

    One question from a novice: Is it still the right time to start planting potatoes?

    Thanks for any feedback,

    Ibrahim

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Ibrahim,

    Yes you can still grow potatoes. Potatoes are grown around the year in all seasons.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's good news. I will start this week.

    Thanks a million.

    Ibrahim

    ReplyDelete
  10. i m tired of sowing potatoes as it always unsuccesful like my bottlegourd n zucchini everytime something got wrong .this time potatoes were doing good suddenly some dogs came n destroyed them by digging now those plant look pale ,yellow in color n retarded can i do something wid them ?????????

    ReplyDelete
  11. A.U.A,

    I always appreciated girls & women, who are contributing in the development.
    May I know the exact dates in which the potatoes are grown or sowing season of the potatoes?

    Regards,

    ReplyDelete

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