potato crop failure

[Armchairhomesteader]

I started harvesting my potatoes this morning. Crop failure. I planted them back in January which is the usual time for my part of Florida. But, between last Thanksgiving and the middle of April any day that the weather wasn’t in the 20s was overcast and rainy instead. There simply wasn’t enough sunlight, and nothing I planted last winter did well.
I know that potatoes don’t begin forming tubers until the plants bloom, but my plants grew so slowly that they were already old enough to be dying back before they bloomed. So I am getting very little in the way of harvest-sized potatoes. And a lot of what I am getting is covered with circular pock marks. They look like craters on the moon. These marks are usually just on the peel, but sometimes they go into the flesh of the potato. Does anyone know what the cause of this is, and what I can do about next year?

 

[so lucky]

Might be potato scab, which is a bacterial disease, I think, and can remain in the soil for years. It can be the result of planting un-certified potatoes, like potatoes you buy from the grocery section. Also, wet conditions increase the possibility of getting it.

 

[catjac1975]

I had a lot of the holes on my sweet potatoes last year and someone on the forum said it as insect damage. Here is a photo from UCONN. Mine looked like this but more of them.
http://uconnladybug.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/why-are-there-holes-in-my-potatoes/

 

[catjac1975]

http://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/garden-pests/wireworm-control/

 

[Carol Dee]

Sorry they did not do well. It does sound like weather was a contributing factor. Do not give up. Try again this year, but to be safe, plant in a new location.

 

[Armchairhomesteader]

http://uconnladybug.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/why-are-there-holes-in-my-potatoes/

The picture looks the same as what I am seeing, but the suggested cause doesn’t really match. The garden is several years old now and was never really covered with grass. It stated out as a yard of fill dirt. I dug out the fill and replaced it with compost from a landscape company. This particular bed has been under constant vegetable production ever since, although I haven’t had potatoes in it before this year.

 

[Armchairhomesteader]

Might be potato scab, which is a bacterial disease, I think, and can remain in the soil for years. It can be the result of planting un-certified potatoes, like potatoes you buy from the grocery section. Also, wet conditions increase the possibility of getting it.

I planted both seed potatoes (from Walmart and 2 local garden supply centers) and potatoes from the grocery store (they are usually sprouted better than seed potatoes when you buy them), but they all seem to be affected.

 

[catjac1975]

My garden has been in place for 35 years and I suddenly got it bad last year.

 

[Armchairhomesteader]

My garden has been in place for 35 years and I suddenly got it bad last year.

I planted a single 3’ x 15’ bed in my main garden starting in January. It took a while to get the whole bed planted because I ran out of seed potatoes several times and keep having to wait for decent weather to want to be outside. But later in February I planted some other potatoes in a trash can that I drilled holes in along the side and also in a mesh cloth fold out laundry hamper. I haven’t harvested either container yet, but their plants did as well as the ones in the garden even with the later start. Such is the weather in Florida.

 

[journey11]

Google potato scab images. I always buy certified seed potatoes, but I've had it happen too. It's a fungal disease, so I do think your wet weather could have contributed to it. I know that sure is a bummer. Sorry!

Maybe try a raised bed planting to get better drainage. My best potato harvest to date (and easiest to dig up) was in a raised bed. Also rotate your location at least every 4 years. Filling a raised bed with new dirt would help.