Growing potatoes faster involves chitting or pre-sprouting the eyes before planting. This process can give you a head start on the growing season, leading to an earlier and potentially heftier harvest. Here's how you can accelerate potato growth by sprouting eyes. 1. Select Seed Potatoes Choose mature, disease-free potatoes. Typically, smaller potatoes can get planted whole, while larger potatoes can be cut into pieces, ensuring each piece has at least one or two eyes. 2. Setting Up for Chitting Place the seed potatoes in a single layer, with the eyes facing up, in a tray or egg carton. Keep the potatoes in a cool, light place (but not in direct sunlight). A temperature around 50 degrees Fahrenheit - or 10 degrees Celsius is ideal. This temperature range encourages robust green sprouts rather than long, weak, white ones. 3. Nurture Potatoes for a Month Allow the potatoes to chit for four to six weeks. Once the sprouts are about one-half inch to one inch long, they are ready to be planted. 4. Preparing Your Soil Prepare the soil by ensuring it's well-draining. Raised beds or mounded rows work well for potatoes. 5. Digging Trenches Dig trenches about six inches deep. Place the sprouted potatoes, sprouts facing up, about 12 inches apart. Cover with three inches of soil. As the plants grow, keep mounding soil or straw around them. This constant mounding is to prevent sunlight from contacting the potato tubers. The sunlight turns them green and sometimes toxic!