Ugliest potatoes ever!

16 years ago

I have been gardening for many years. My first large garden was a veggie garden which produced great vegetables, but was turned into a flower garden which is now a veggie and flower garden. Four or five years ago I caught the daylily 'bug' and planted hundreds of daylilies, like around 700-800. Last year I came to my senses and plowed up a large section of the daylily bed which I used this year for potatoes, tomatoes, peas, onions, sweet potatoes and parsley. Our grandchildren moved back near us and they were excited to help with the garden. Last Wed. my DH and I dug the red potatoes out and they are all scabie and have little holes all over from I don't know what, maybe a bug or some kind of worm. The damage does not go deep and they can still be used after peeling the ugly spots away. On Sat. the grandchildren came to help get the white potatoes out and they looked as bad as the red potatoes. We still had fun seeing how many we got and what size the biggest would be, but they are so UGLY to me. It really didn't seem to bother the kids.

After my long story, can anyone tell me what might have caused this on the potatoes? When I got the bed ready for the daylilies I added a lot of mushroom mulch which contains chicken and horse manure. Was this the culpirt, and, if so, what do I do about it? I also had a gazillion thistles in the daylily bed which I think came from the mushroom mulch, also.

Thanks. Jane

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Comments (5)

namfon
16 years ago
3 things come to mind.

The holes that are not too deep may be from wireworms ( about 1 - 1.5 inches long and as thin as a pencil's lead )

The scabie condition might actually be potato scab, this should not happen if your pH is low enough ( 5.5 or so ).

The mushroom compost and especially the chicken manure might have caused too much rapid growth which can make the other problems worse. Best to amend potato beds the fall before planting.

Fall is a good time to get a soil test done at your state's ag university or your local county extension service. They can recommend amendments with your results.
fusion_power
16 years ago
The soil ph is not low enough. 5.5 to 6.0 is perfect for potatoes. The soil is infested with scab causing nematodes. There is an infestation of wireworms or something very similar. You planted highly susceptible commercial cultivars.

As a plan for next season, do NOT plant Red Pontiac potatoes if that happens to be the variety that you grew this year. They are about the most nematode susceptible variety I've grown. While the production won't amaze you, Russian Banana is very disease tolerant and makes wonderful boiling potatoes.

DarJones
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janepa
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for your replies. The red potatoes are Pontiac. I never had a problem with them before, but I had them before the mushroom mulch was added. What results do you think I might have with Norland red potatoes? My stepmother liked Norland better than Pontiac because she said their eyes were not as deep. The white potatoes are Kennebec. Both were seed potatoes I purchased at a local country grocery store that always has seeds/seed potatoes for sale in the spring.

Thanks again. Jane
pippimac
16 years ago
Mushroom compost is usually pretty alkaline, which potatoes don't appreciate.
Chop the thistles down, add 'normal' compost on top and mulch like mad!
janepa
Original Author
16 years ago
The thistles were not a problem this year. I really worked on them last year and took care of any that came up in the spring. The daylilies got so huge and close that it was almost impossible to work between each one. If you only break the thistle off it will send up additional shoots trying to survive the beheading. It is necessary to get the roots.

I am getting a soil test kit this week and we will see what we have to work with and what the county extension agent advises.

Jane