- Potato Varieties | Comparison Chart (PDF)
- 'Red Gold' Potatoes | Information on Early Breaking of Dormancy | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Classic Storage Crops | Post-Harvest Handling & Storage Guidelines
- Potatoes | Key Growing Information
- Chitting Potatoes (Greensprouting Potatoes) Instructions
- Certified Seed Potatoes | Growing Instructions | Tech Sheet (PDF)
- Greensprouting Potatoes (a.k.a. Chitting Potatoes) | Breaking Dormancy Prior to Planting
Instructions for Chitting Potatoes (Greensprouting)
Greensprouting, also known as “chitting” or “presprouting,” breaks the dormancy of seed potatoes prior to planting. The process of greensprouting does create extra work prior to planting, but it also leads to a number of benefits:
- Earlier plant emergence, reducing the risk that seed pieces will rot in the ground.
- Advances the potato harvest by as much as 2 weeks.
- In short-season areas, enables the use of varieties that normally wouldn’t have enough time to mature.
- Staggers the harvest when only a portion of each variety is greensprouted.
As the name suggests, greensprouting forces the seed potatoes to begin to develop small sprouts from the eyes.
How to Chit Potatoes
Step 1
Step 1: Put whole seed potatoes in ventilated boxes or crates
Put whole seed potatoes in ventilated boxes or plastic crates, no more than two layers deep. The crates or boxes can be stacked, as long as air can move between them.
Step 2
Step 2: Bring crates or boxes into a warm room.
Bring the crates or boxes into a warm (65–70°F/18–21°C) room with normal ambient light and high humidity. Greenhouses are an ideal location as long as it doesn’t get too hot, but almost any warm spot in your house should work.
Step 3
Keep the potatoes dry to prevent them from rotting. If they start to shrivel, humidify the air in the room with a regular home air humidifier.
Step 4
Step 4: When the sprouts are about ⅛" long, move the potatoes back into a cool area.
Let the potatoes sit in the warm environment for a week or two, until the eyes start to sprout. Rotate the potatoes during this initial phase to encourage uniform sprouting. When the sprouts are about ⅛" long, move the potatoes back into a cool area (50°F/10°C) with normal ambient light. The sprouts will start to green up and should grow to about ¼–½" long.
Step 5
Keep the tubers at 50°F/10°C until you are ready to plant. Cut and plant the seed as you normally would, being careful not to break off the sprouts.