Have you ever considered how eggs could enhance your garden?
A keen gardener has revealed how these cartons are essential at this time of year, with preparations starting right now. The green-fingered enthusiast demonstrated how she gives her homegrown potatoes a head start before spring arrives.
Using a popular gardening technique called chitting, the process involves breaking seed potato dormancy through pre-sprouting – and you’ll need an egg carton or two to achieve this.
Sharing her expertise on TikTok under the username @allotmentality, she explained: “Here’s how I get my homegrown potatoes to a flying start.”
She added: “And it all begins before the sprouts even hit the ground. With a practice called chitting. Chitting basically means breaking the seed potato dormancy by pre-sprouting it.
“As a result, they emerge sooner than planting and are ready to harvest earlier.”
The gardener starts by sourcing high-quality, disease-free seed potatoes from a trusted supplier.
She added: “You can start chitting your spuds about 6 weeks before planting out and I only do it to first and second early varieties.
“I’m using egg cartons but any container with compartments will do. All you need to do is place your seed potatoes the eye side up, by eyes we mean these nobbly bits here and this is where the shoots will sprout.
“And place the potatoes in a cool and light area, such as a windowsill in an unheated spare bedroom.”
Revealing the outcomes, she added: “After six weeks, the sprouted potatoes will look like this, at which point they will be ready to plant out, nicely primed for faster growth and earlier harvest.”
Best time to grow potatoes:
Before you commence the process, it’s crucial to chit your potatoes from late January to February, roughly 4-6 weeks prior to planting from mid-March to April.
It’s vital to start your potatoes this month so they’re prepared for spring. Begin by situating tubers in a light, cool, frost-free location (like a garage or windowsill) with the “rose” end (most eyes) facing upwards.
Then, once spring arrives and the soil has warmed up, your potatoes can be planted to grow splendidly.
For optimal results, begin planting in late March.
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