Late blight, scab and Colorado potato beetle threaten the potato harvest. They attack plants and tubers, inhibit growth and, in the worst case, lead to crop failure. Once the diseases have been identified, they can often be remedied.

Colorado potato beetle

You can recognize the potato beetle by its brown and white striped shell. Beetles and larvae eat through the foliage, damaging the plant's metabolism until it stops growing bulbs.

Colorado potato beetles overwinter in the ground. If they appear in large numbers, entire potato beds can be eaten up within a few days, which can lead to total crop failure.

Remedy:

  • Collect and destroy every single bug
  • spraying with biological and chemical agents is most effective in the larval stage,
    call in a specialist

late blight

Curled leaves and brown spots starting from the leaf edges indicate late blight. This is due to a fungal disease that destroys the herb and inhibits tuber growth.

The fungus can also spread to the tubers via the stalk and falling spores, leading to tuber blight. The tubers become mushy, brown and inedible.

Remedy:

  • Do not grow potatoes in the same bed every year to avoid contamination from infected tubers
    to avoid from the previous year
  • Pull out the cabbage and stalks and let the tubers ripen for another 2 to 3 weeks
  • discard affected tubers
  • do not use seed potatoes from this crop

potato scab

If dark, scab-like spots appear on the potatoes, the tubers are infected with potato scab, a fungal disease. Some of the affected areas reach into the inside of the potato. Affected tubers cannot be stored for long.

Prevention:

  • ensure sufficient moisture in dry, sandy soils
  • do not lime

Blackness

Blackleg is caused by bacteria and often appears in damp, cold weather.
The black-brown rot spreads from the base over the stem. Blackleg cannot be fought.

wireworms, cutworms, grubs and snails

  • The plants cope well with feeding spots on leaves and stems
  • if the tubers are infested with pests, they must no longer be eaten
  • Affected tubers are also susceptible to diseases

tips and tricks

In order to prevent infection, affected potato haulm is disposed of immediately, the rest after harvest. They are disposed of with organic waste or, where permitted, by burning garden waste. Under no circumstances does potato cabbage belong in the compost!

Category:

Vegetable garden