# Potatoes in saturated ground - dig em or leave em?



## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

Last summer, in August, we had a period where we got a lot of rain during a period with hot, humid weather, and most of my potatoes rotted in the ground. I was not a happy camper.

I know that the longer potatoes stay in the ground before you dig them, the longer they store (thanks, Martin!), so I'd like to leave them as long as possible before I dig. 

I planted my potatoes late this year - they didn't go in until late June. I have 4 varieties out there; the plants of the reds and Yukon golds are pretty much dead already, the plants of the 2 white varieties are still lush and green.

Over the weekend, we had record-setting amounts of rain fall. The ground is totally saturated. But it's not going to be hot like last year. 

I need for these things to store well; I don't know what I'll get yield-wise, but I did plant a LOT of taters! (40-ish pounds of seed potatoes, cut up to maximize the number of plants.) So even if my yield is relatively small, we should have a lot of potatoes - and there are only 2 of us here to eat them! I'd hate to dig them too soon and lose them in storage, but I'd be even more upset if I lose them all to rot again.

Should I dig them now or leave them be? If I should dig, should I dig them all, or just the ones whose plants have died already?

Thanks in advance!


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

if you expect the ground to be saturated for a long period of time, i would dig the spuds.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Get them out NOW! I cleaned out the home potato patch just ahead of this latest wet spell. Some of the Kennebec plants still had some green but I also remembered what happened last fall. Ran the Mantis through it right afterward to till in horse manure and sulfur. Soil hasn't really seen a dry moment since. 

Your potatoes may come out of the ground wet and muddy. Don't be afraid to wash them before curing them. That way, the skins will cure evenly. After your period of saturation, a little more water ain't going to hurt them.

Martin


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Oh, heck! I completely forgot about the tomatoes!

Well, I know who will be playing in the mud today...


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## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

So Pony, how's your back holding up? Methinks it's time for a grownup beverage; I'm sore and pooped. :buds:

I have a long ways to go yet, but Martin, you were right - it does need to get done NOW. In the smallish area I got done, I found a couple with mushy spots already. Also realized I've got onions out there that need to get out of the mud, too. And DH is out of town this week. Uff-da!

Martin, how would you recommend I cure these taters? If they'd stayed in the ground longer and cured there, I'd have just knocked the dirt off, let them dry out for a bit in a cool, dry, as-dark-as-possible spot, and moved them to storage. But since these guys missed out on their ground curing, and got thoroughly soaked, how long should I leave them dry before I store them? Thank you!


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If they weren't already dug, I'd say to give them a quick rinse with a hose to get the biggest chunks of dirt off as soon as you've got them assembled in one spot. Now you're past that stage as once the potato skins begin to dry, it's best to keep all water away. Now you need to keep them from becoming moist and that means keeping them off the ground. If there were just a few involved, spreading them 4 or 5 thick on cardboard in a garage, shed, etc. would be great. Milk carton crates or half-bushel baskets would also work. I use both of those; crates for regular potatoes and the baskets for fingerlings. 

The above would normally apply for potatoes in sound condition, not what you're finding. However, I did find that rotting continued even on apparent sound tubers but stopped when they dried. The rotten part simply dried up while the rest of the potato was OK. So, don't toss anything with just a small wet spot as it's either salvageable as a fresh potato now or a stored one. Remember that it's a condition and not a disease. If nothing else, there is no reason why they can't be saved for next year's seed stock. I've only went through that once in my lifetime and that was enough. As I told others, now I know how the Irish felt.

And your storage onions are still out there? Mine have been safe and dry for almost a month! Even then I found a few with soft bottoms. Went through the garden complex today and I think that only my niece and two others still have some onions in their plots. My niece grew her onions on a raised mound and thus the bottoms of the bulbs are not as affected by wet ground as ground level planting would. 

Martin


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## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

Paquebot said:


> And your storage onions are still out there?


Er, um, yes. They didn't get put in the ground until late June, though, with the potatoes. Had a little hiccough getting the garden going this spring. So the tops have just now started to fall over on them. We've got small-medium bulbs, and they probably won't store too well, but that's okay because we didn't plant too many of them - we'll use them up pretty quickly.

I won't toss those with soft spots - but I am setting them aside to use first.

Is there any reason I can't wash the potatoes well now? (As opposed to hosing off the big chunks of dirt.) They're already wet, so if I handle them with care, can I hand-wash them to save work later?


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Your onion bulbs, as you know, probably haven't grown more than fraction of an inch the past month. They have been watching the length of day and know that they ain't supposed to be growing now. If the tops have just started flopping, they are done. If you look closer a few days after that happens, the leaves may be green but there will a dry section just above the bulb. At that phase, there is no interaction between the leaves and the bulb. Any change in what happens to the bulb after that is not for the better. The bulb is done. Next action will either be that the bulb rots from the bottom or begins growing again. 

The reason for not wetting potatoes a second time is the skin. As soon as they dry, the skin hardens and shrinks. That takes place evenly around the tuber during the curing process. It can only do that effectively one time until the skin is set. A second time will create uneven spots which are subject to various molds and rotting. 

Martin


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## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

My onions went in so late that the tops are just now starting to flop over - a plant here, and plant there. I knew to harvest them after they flop, but now I have a better grip on the timing and what's going one with the plant. Thank you!

I didn't have a clue about the curing process of potatoes. Now I understand why not to wash them if they're coming out of reasonably dry soil! But mine are coming out of very wet soil, so I don't have to fret that washing them is doing any more harm, so long as I get it done before they dry out at all.

I started on the Red Norlands that were in the lowest/slowest draining section of the garden. Found a couple with soft spots, but all in all, they looked okay. Started on the Kennebecs yesterday. Bad, very bad. I almost cried. Fully 3/4 of them had started to rot. Some were completely rotten, many others had no skin left or big rotted-out holes, and a few might be salvagable. I washed the rotten goop off as best I could (Oh! The smell!) and laid them out in the garage to dry. I doubt the rot will stop - it's too extensive.

Weird: most of the ones that had avoided rot had all these tiny white warts (for lack of a better description) all over their surfaces. Not sure what that was about, but there seems to be a pretty obvious corrolation between the rotters lacking the warts, and the non-rotters having them.

As I washed the nastiness off the rotters, it dawned on me that the culprit is likely the same beastie that causes bacterial soft rot in irises: _Erwinia carotovora._ Apparently, the soil here is loaded with it, because I've been battling iris rot like never before since we moved here. Lovely.

I'm not close to being done digging yet. The ground is so wet and heavy, and my back is screaming. Last night, I *tried* to keep going after dark by dragging an extension cord and work light out there, but all I did is frustrate myself and attract every mosquito in the county.

I finally gave up last night when I discovered what it was that I keep hitting with the tiller in the spring. CONCRETE. Literally. Some bleepity-bleep buried concrete rubble out there at some point in time! Why? WHY? This is out in the middle of the former yard! I can deal with tree roots and hardpan and dried-out clay and rocks - those, I understand. But a human did this, and that makes me want to hurl chunks of concrete at whoever that human was. At least the pieces weren't as big as the stuff I found buried where I put the main iris bed - one was so big, I couldn't get it out with my tractor, I had to ask the neighbor to come over with his backhoe to move it! WHO BURIES CONCRETE ALL OVER THE YARD?!?! Didn't they know some crazy woman would eventually move in and start gardening all over the place?

Okay, sorry about that. End rant. I feel a little better now. Or at least I will until I go back out to continue digging. Which I must, before _Erwinia_ destroys ALL my spuds.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Phantomfyre said:


> Weird: most of the ones that had avoided rot had all these tiny white warts (for lack of a better description) all over their surfaces. Not sure what that was about, but there seems to be a pretty obvious corrolation between the rotters lacking the warts, and the non-rotters having them.
> 
> As I washed the nastiness off the rotters, it dawned on me that the culprit is likely the same beastie that causes bacterial soft rot in irises: _Erwinia carotovora._ Apparently, the soil here is loaded with it, because I've been battling iris rot like never before since we moved here. Lovely.


I've seen those white "warts" on potatoes over the years and always they were associated with wet weather. I've also seen what you mention but on carrots. Supposedly it will affect both carrots and potatoes but I have never seen enough pictures and information about them to point at a potato and say that it has Erwinia carotovora. There was not a single example of it on any of my potatoes this year but I'm running into some rot in the Atomic Red carrots. Five carrot varieties in close proximity but only the one affected.

Martin


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## Phantomfyre (Jul 1, 2004)

Oh, I'm sorry - I didn't mean the warts were Erwinia carotovora, just the rot. Whatever the warts are seems to corrolate with less/no rot, so though they look weird, I think they're a good thing! I wish some of my irises would get those warts, LOL.

I made it out of the Kennebecs this afternoon and into the Russet Burbanks, and am happy to report that only 30-40% of those are affected, even though they are just as wet - if not wetter - than the Kennebecs. Lost most all the Kennebecs last year, too. Starting to think I should either forego that variety or plant them someplace else...

Still have half the Russet Burbanks, half the Norland Reds, all the Yukon Golds, and a small section of mixed leftover spuds from last year to dig. 

My chickens are pretty happy with this operation; as I'm digging, I've been finding lots of grubs (guessing Japanese beetle larva) so I've been picking them out and putting them in a container for the girls. Mmm, grubs.

Haven't seen any posts from Pony anywhere the past few days - I hope she wasn't overcome by rotting potato fumes!


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