Cutting up seed potatoes

redser7

Hi - have read about it but has anyone done it with good results?
My local shop has Home Gaurds and thinking of chitting some soon for early planting in the tunnel. Would be good to cut them in half before planting to double up on the yield. That's the hope anyway.
Cheers

BALLHOPPER

Hi redser7
Yes you can cut seed potatoes in half but make sure you have at least on or two growing eyes in each side, better to leave them chit for a small while to give the eyes a chance to develop before cutting, in the old days these were called( scialiaouns) not too sure of the spelling, we used to shake lime onto the cut side to prevent slug and snail damage to the seed. I havent seen potatoes grown in pollyhouses has annybody had success growing spuds this way

redser7

Cheers Ballhopper. Yes have read of plenty of people doing it. You can get much earlier early crops. I had Charlotte in April last year, grown in large pots

im invisible

'every potato has eyes and an @rse'

or so my father said, basically a dent or hollow with no growth, when there are growths from the eyes
find the arse of the spud and cut it so you have half an arse on each half spud, with eyes on each half aswell

Macy0161

BALLHOPPER wrote: »

I havent seen potatoes grown in pollyhouses has annybody had success growing spuds this way

We do it every year in the polytunnel. Usually in trugs, or large pots. The very first ones I put in a mini greenhouse, in the polytunnel, and then fleece that again if very severe frost is forcast. I haven't risked it at this time of year though, but we're at altitude - a winter like last year we'd be fine, a winter like the one before would've been a waste of time (as it got to -18 on my polytunnel thermometer!).

redser7

ah yeah it's a risk alright. Would be chitting for a few weeks so hopefully plant them in large pots/buckets end of December.
Thanks

evilmonkee

I currently have a couple of potato plants growing in the green house... they're growing in the big blue IKEA bags with a couple of holes melted into the bottom for drainage!

Conmaicne Mara

I think I read cutting seed spuds increases the chance of blackleg?

I read that after doing it mind you