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Tiny Holes in My Spuds
NewBoy2
Posts: 1,813
I have just pulled the rest of my First Earlies which were Rockets
About 30 - 40% had small hooles in them and when cut open there was a tunnel going inside with a brown deposit in the tube but no insect
? What could it be and any suggestions for next season
? Different variety
? Any sugestions friends
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
0
Posts
Most likely is keel slug damage followed by wireworm,using the entry made by the slug.
Almost impossible to get rid of. Our neighbour farmer has stopped growing potatoes commercially because of these underground dwelling pests.
Dig over and leave the soil exposed and hope the birds etc. eat the pests.
Thanks Berghill
The holes are about 3 - 5 millimetres across and perfectly round
I have dug and sowed some green manure ...field beans for over wintereing
I have keel slugs and the best solution I've found is to grow slug resistant varieties. This year I tried watering-in nemaslug and grew a non-resistant variety of 1st early which I know are susceptible (Orla) and they had a fair bit of damage, so using nematodes may not help, or more applications than I used may be necessary. Reliably resistant varieties here are Kestrel (2nd early) and Sarpo Mira (late maincrop.) Fair resistance from King Edward and Golden Wonder.
BTW, I have clay soil which keel slugs seem to love.
We just took over a plot that's been 3 years overgrown and was worried about wireworm holes in the potatoes as the neighbouring plot-holder warned us. There were a few of the blighters (they are click beetle larvae) in the soil, but I couldn't judge if the numbers were bad or OK. However, so far, the Charlottes I've dug up have been flawless.
Crop rotation and regular soil cultivation seems to be the best approach, but some varieties are better than others it seems. Here's a link to a (North American) paper summarising research which might be useful. http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Project-Products/Western-SARE-Project-Products/Wireworm-Biology-and-Nonchemical-Management-in-Potatoes
My 'Rocket' earlies have been 'mined' by slugs, too! I'm just about to uplift my 'Osprey' 2nd earlies - I'm half expecting similar damage as the local slug population is pretty high, especially after a very mild, wet wintertime & early spring. Maybe the only way is with 'resistant' species AND nematode treatments next season?