Looks like overly dry air. Increase the humidity around them. Misting them now and then if nothing else. You don't plan to cut them at all? That plus a bit of plastic tenting over them also increase the humidity.

Dave

I am cutting a couple of the bigger ones so I can have even numbers among the varieties.

I can try putting a tent or something over them. The humidity in that room is only about 30%.

I like to let the sprouts get just a bit bigger before chitting. the sprouts will be dark green on the end and appear smaller at the tip than at the base group of eyes.

Don't over think it.

30% is very low humidity. Tenting alone won't do it with humidity that low. You'd have to do some misting inside it too.

Dave

Chitting potatoes does not improve potato production or help in getting an earlier harvest

I disagree some. I have read that it speeds up emergence and I believe it is so.

i read studies by USDA and RHS(royal horticulture society in UK) both have done studies on chitting potatoes both found very little difference in production and harvest times.

It tells me they’re alive before I stick them in the ground.

True. Different strokes for different folks. I have never found any benefit to chitting but some folks think it is helpful. If you believe in it do it. Does not hurt anything, just a bit extra labor.

Those green sprouted ones come up very quickly. I don't bury them real deeply because I tend to get some heavy rains in spring and potatoes don't like to be soggy wet.

It is easy to green sprout them...spread newspaper, lift out of burlap sack, and spread on the newspaper.

Now the one that looked shriveled at the end, it’s got three or four smaller ones coming out around that original shoot.

Should I break all but one or two of those off when I plant them, so I have a stronger stem with bigger potatoes?

I tend to break off some sprouts...leaving 2 or 3.

I never break the sprouts off of my potatoes, particularly because seed potatoes tend to be expensive. If I can cut one up to get 2 or sometimes even 3 seed potatoes from one, so be it! Stems are normally plenty sturdy provided I hill them up properly.

i leave on all the sprouts of all 22 eyes on the large potatoes i grow for big harvest,,

I think that the potatoes just tend to let the first most vigorous eyes grow...kinda like watermelons tend to limit the number of daughters the mother plant can raise.

So that then brings the next question, if I am cutting the potato, will a less dominant bud “take over” on a cut piece?

Any eye on a potato is capable of sprouting in my experience. Sometimes people use whole potatoes, where multiple eyes will sprout and then get more potatoes, but supposedly smaller potatoes. However, not every eye sprouts in that situation because not all sprouts are on the same side of the potato facing upward. Some may be placed downward and will have a very hard time sprouting. When cut, you can place every sprout up, getting many more plants for your money. Some claim there is less yield, but generally the potatoes are bigger from cut seed potatoes with less eyes per piece than a whole potato, so it kind of evens out.

There are so many ways of growing potatoes. They're a very versatile crop, and generally easy to grow. Probably my second favorite vegetable (behind cabbage of course) to grow for that reason. Of course, I eat a lot of potatoes so I'm sort of biased.

jacoblockcuff

where multiple eyes will sprout and then get more potatoes, but supposedly smaller potatoes.

where did hear this info since it is total bs from what i seen and read.

For myself, I like to have fewer but stronger and sturdier stalks per tuber.

Ok - so if I cut them, is it better to cut them now, or a couple days before planting?

Here is one of my larger “German Butterball”. It has a couple good eyes on the back half, so I think I can cut it in two.

If I cut it now, I can re-position the other half so the eyes grow in the direction of least resistance, or I can just let them do is they may, and when I cut them all plant them so that whatever way the sprouts are pointing, is up. What is best?

You should let them grow more before you cut. You may cut potato before planting on as many pieces as many eyes they have. Let them dry out couple hours in the air after cutting.

You may even plant only skin with non grown eyes and still get good harvest by the end. Everything depends on how fertile soil and how regular watering your potato plants will get while growing.