When your seed potatoes arrive, it’s a good idea to chit them. This basically means encouraging them to sprout shoots before you plant them in the ground so that they grow faster and more furiously!
Now, this isn’t absolutely imperative, and if you feel that you just want to get your spuds in the ground perhaps because they’ve arrived a little later in the season and the weather is warming up already, then it really won’t be a problem…you will still get a good crop, so don’t panic!
But if you do have a little time, then it’s worth doing. And it’s easy. Simply put the seed potatoes into an opened egg box, one in each space with any small shoots (or knobbly bits that look like they might soon become shoots) that you can see pointing upwards. Place the egg box with the seed potatoes in a light, cool place for a little while. A windowsill will do the trick. In a few weeks the shoots will have grown quite a lot and your potato will look a bit alien. At this point, they are well and truly chitted and you can plant them out with confidence that you’ll dig loads of potatoes up in the not too distant future.
Happy Rocket Gardening!