# Potatoes are rotting



## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

We planted our potatoes about one month ago, the middle of April.. and have had very spotty emergence. I dug around today and found the potato chunks have rotted. We planted 4 80 foot rows; one row of red norlands and 3 rows of yukon golds, here in southern ohio. it has been very wet. We have 50 red plants and 70 yukon golds to emerge and I think that will be it. I'm thinking of replanting with something, have to see if I can find any potatoes somewhere.:Bawling:


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## DoubleD (Jan 28, 2007)

I have a few trenches that are not emerging well either. Alot of them are up and going - but I have two or three sections that are not... I think the soil is just colder there... as we have not had excessive moisture... but who knows. We are in for some warmer weather for at least a few days - hopefully a few of them will finish emerging as a result.


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## Jerry in MN (Dec 2, 2007)

goatsareus said:


> I'm thinking of replanting...have to see if I can find any potatoes somewhere.


Chances are, certified seed potatoes are still easy to find up here in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota, where planting is probably less than 50% complete.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

I just called a feed store in Athens Ohio and they said potatoes rotting in the ground is an area wide problem right now. The store is out of any russet type of potato, has 5 bags of Kennebecs and a lot of reds. I don't need any reds, they came up pretty good, I have not have good success with Kennebecs in the past. So, I'm going back to the local feed store where I got my Yukon Golds to see if they have any left. But they don't open for another hour. Other than those two stores, I don't know where to look. I'll have to call around and maybe have to drive a couple of hours to score some spuds.

The Athens feed store said they thought it was the cold wet ground that was making the potatoes rot. This is a new problem for this area. Oh, and did I mention we got almost two inches of rain in the past 24 hours?


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## bgraham (Jun 30, 2005)

goatsrus,

Did you cure the seed first? I always let mine dry for at least a week between cutting and planting. This year I think they set for 2 weeks.

We've had a wet spring here, too and everyone of them came up.
Good luck!

Beth


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

yes, 7 days between cutting and planting.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

It's not just the weather that causes rotting but it's nice to have something to blame it on. There are those on this forum who insist that any potato placed into the ground too early will just rot. At same time, volunteer potato plants are from tubers there all winter. I planted on 6 April and in ground which had a foot of snow and ice on it less than a week before. Count was taken today and I may be missing one out of 45 and that's one more than I would ever expect to lose. One thing is that I never place the seed more than about 3" deep. With the thickness of the seed piece considered, there may be only an inch or so of soil above it. I think that that has almost become lost among gardeners. I see some gardeners planting the piece in a deep trench and then making a mound almost a foot tall over them. That may be how they should end up but not start. Mine are close to the surface and can absorb the sun's warmth. I'm usually hilling within 2 weeks of planting. 60 more hills were planted today, 15 each of 4 varieties. Laid out the trench with a hoe and still barely 3" deep. I foresee no condition which would cause me to expect anything less than 60 plants to begin hilling in early June.

Martin


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

thank you for your wisdom, Martin, I really appreciate it!..


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## DoubleD (Jan 28, 2007)

Well, I am happy to report that our sudden influx of warm days (mini heat wave in the pacific northwest) has caused my sections that were missing - to emerge. So I was right in my asssessment that it was just cold soil - and they were stalled out.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

DoubleD said:


> Well, I am happy to report that our sudden influx of warm days (mini heat wave in the pacific northwest) has caused my sections that were missing - to emerge. So I was right in my asssessment that it was just cold soil - and they were stalled out.


Great news!

and I am happy to report that I found about 40 pounds of Yukon Golds at my local feed store. When i walked in yesterday and asked for them, he said they had sold out, so we both forlornly walked over to the empty potato shelves, when he spotted a bag in the corner about 15 feet away, saying, I am sure those would not be yukons, but they were!

When I went to cut them up yesterday, I noticed something odd about them. No matter the size of the potato, from 1 ounce to 8 ounces, about 75% of them were developing only one eye clump. None had sprouted yet, but they only had one eye mass, so I did not cut those, the majority, of them up. Way too wet to plant them, we really need at least one day of no rain here!


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## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

This is only 2 springs' worth of observation, but I've noticed that Yukon Golds don't seem to have many eyes, no matter the size of the spud. Might be a varietal trait. :shrug:


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

goatsareus said:


> When I went to cut them up yesterday, I noticed something odd about them. No matter the size of the potato, from 1 ounce to 8 ounces, about 75% of them were developing only one eye clump. None had sprouted yet, but they only had one eye mass, so I did not cut those, the majority, of them up.


Even though there was only one eye showing activity, you could have still probably cut even the smallest tuber in at least half. The eyes are there but all of the energy was being directed to one. That could have been due to the temperature and humidity during storage. If you brushed that one off, others would become active. This morning, I gave a mixed bag of about 40 pieces to a friend to plant. First thing that she commented on was that some didn't have any sprouts. Told her not to worry about it and that was sufficient!

Martin


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## Grandmotherbear (May 15, 2002)

Tryparsnips, they need to stay damp to sprout


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

Grandmotherbear said:


> Tryparsnips, they need to stay damp to sprout


I raised parsnips for several years, thought I should be eating them, kept feeding them to the goats, just do not like them. On the other hand, I can eat potatoes three times a day, for years!


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## Skip (Mar 13, 2008)

This is my first year planting potatoes. I bought a 50lb bag of seed potatoes, and have been planting them as time has allowed me to turn ground. Do you have to cut the seed potatoe? I've been planting the whole potatoe. What do you do after you cut it? What do you mean by curing the seed potatoe?


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Skip said:


> This is my first year planting potatoes. I bought a 50lb bag of seed potatoes, and have been planting them as time has allowed me to turn ground. Do you have to cut the seed potatoe? I've been planting the whole potatoe. What do you do after you cut it? What do you mean by curing the seed potatoe?


No, seed potatoes may be planted whole. If cut in half, your potential production is doubled. If you cut them into quarters, the potential is quadrupled. It all depends upon how much garden space you have available. (I cut a single Russet Norkotah into 15 pieces last year and got about 25# of potatoes in return.) It is safest to allow the cut pieces to dry and scab over the cuts. Best way is to spread them out on newspapers. That is the same as curing.

Martin


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## Grandmotherbear (May 15, 2002)

Skip said:


> This is my first year planting potatoes. I bought a 50lb bag of seed potatoes, and have been planting them as time has allowed me to turn ground. Do you have to cut the seed potatoe? I've been planting the whole potatoe. What do you do after you cut it? What do you mean by curing the seed potatoe?


If it has several eyes on it you cut it into 1 1/2 inch pieces with at least 2 eyes in each piece. then you shake sulfur on the potato cuts to discourage fungus, and let it "cure" by sitting in a dry place for at least a week- longer if you need to.
I only cut the huge seed potatoes and planted the smaller ones whole. My book The Potato Garden says a whole large seed potato will give you multiple small tubers, and a very small seed poato will give you a few hugeish tubers/ My actual experience was that I mostly got 2-4 medium to small no matter how I treated them.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

A single plant will generally produce 3 to 6 tubers. There will be one large, one medium, and the rest will be small. In soil with average available nutrients, the best harvest would come from 2 plants off one seed piece. If there are more than 2 plants, there is too much competition for the same amount of food. In very rich soil, 4 or 5 plants together may produce nearly the same as 5 single plants in average soil. 

Martin


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## debbiebofjc (Jun 11, 2006)

My cut taters ended up sitting TOO long and started to get moldy.
Most came up, but some just rotted. 
I wanted to cut them up and let them dry before we planted them, but then it started raining, and we couldn't get into the garden till several weeks later.
We live in mid-Missouri.
Kennebecs did fine, Dakota Pearl pretty good, Yukon Gold not as good.
I planted them all pretty close together, thinking many would rot, so I carefully dug up a few from the thicker areas and moved them to the empty spots. But now my varieties are mixed up a little. Oh well.
Speaking of garden, I'd better get off the computer and go get some work done!


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

I've had mine in the ground about a week and a half now and only a couple have emerged. It's hit or miss. I dug up a couple and they aren't rotted, just aren't putting down any structure much above or below.

Here in northwestern Illinois the soil temperature just really hasn't gotten above 70 degrees yet. It's still pretty cold. This morning at dawn when I went out it was only three degrees above freezing. Nothing's really doing well except the cold weather crops like spinach and onions.


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