Potatoes

[doc623]

Actually tried a search- without results.
Do any of you put anything in the bottom of the row before putting in the seed potatoes?
If so what and what were the results?
I have read somewhere - can't find the souurce - that if you put certain material in the row first that this will lessen or prevent potatoe bugs.

[coup]

some folk are using a new pesticide that you can spray in row or later,,,sorry i don't know the name but it is expensive,,,,,most any place that sells ag stuff should know............i move my tators a couple tengths of a mile and it takes the bugs two or three yearsto find them.......

[bajiay]

We have never used anything and have never had potatoe bugs either. We just stick them in the ground and that's it! Good luck! I LOVE POTATOES!! (We grow Daisy Golds)

[hillbillygal]

The only thing we add is 10-10-10 as a side dressing. My brother bought some of the spray stuff you all are talking about and sprayed his with it. We'll see how his does. We do have bad problems with tater bugs so I'm always looking for something that works well.

[unregistered168043]

I dont use anything. I find potatoes do best on newly turned ground, so I usually use potatoes as my 'break in crop', works great and I usually get monster spuds.

[ronbre]

some people use comfrey leave, but my comfrey leaves weren't up when I planted my potatoes..books say to cover the leaves with a bit of soil so they do not touch the potatoes

[EDDIE BUCK]

"Admire Pro" can be sprayed on the seed pieces or foliage once and will normally protect them all year. Admire Pro---Insecticides---Products---Bayer-CropScience

The "Admire Pro"is a little Too systemic to suit me.

I used spinosad last year, sprayed once and no more PBugs

I got mine from Johnny's but many places now carry it.Monterey Garden Insect Spray (OG) - 16 Oz. - Johnny's Selected Seeds

[Old Vet]

A little lime will help you with bugs and such. I used it and it sure helps.

[Paquebot]

Whatever the plant needs to grow needs to be below the seed piece since that's where the roots will be. Mine had shredded oak leaves and pine boughs tilled in deep. I don't worry about bugs until they show up. Then I patrol daily to find as many adults as I can. After that, Spinosad is used on any hatch that I find.

Martin

[Vickie44]

I vacumm the potatoe bugs off with an old vac( with a bag ) Every two weeks or so , is awesome. Takes a really long extension cord and if any one sees you they think youve lost it but NO BUGS

[Backfourty,MI.]

Not sure what zone your in so I'm not sure what month you'd plant but I know a big potato farmer here & I was having terrible problems with potato bugs & Sevin doesn't work for them & hadn't found a pesticide that works so he told me to plant my potatoes at the end of June or the first of July.

I tried it then next year & no potato bugs, I've been doing it ever since. It really works here for me.

[Paquebot]

Problem with planting late is that the infestation may be just as bad or worse if in an area where there are established populations of potato beetles. In the North, there's usually 2 generations in one season. About the time one thinks that the garden is safe from them in early summer, the second wave will show up. If no potato plants for them to eat, they'll switch to tomatoes and eggplant. Doesn't matter when I plant potatoes at home since I've only ever seen a single potato beetle in almost 50 years and that was on an eggplant over 20 years ago.

Martin

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I hear guineas like potato beetles, they go on top though, not in the hole!

[7thswan]

I put pine needles in the trench-here, NO lime,potatoes like acid. I hand pick beetles,and squish and look under the leaves for eggs and then pick the leaf.

[goatlady]

Putting comfrey leaf in the tater hole is to add potash which taters need and love. One can also add a small handful of wood ash to the hole.

[MoonShine]

My Dad is trying one of those sprays this year. I think it's called Nuprid. He sprayed it in his rows before he planted the potatoes. I'm really hoping it works for him but I didn't like the sounds of it. I understand, though, because they'll wipe out every vine and then move onto other plants quick.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Originally Posted by Paquebot

Problem with planting late is that the infestation may be just as bad or worse if in an area where there are established populations of potato beetles. In the North, there's usually 2 generations in one season. About the time one thinks that the garden is safe from them in early summer, the second wave will show up. If no potato plants for them to eat, they'll switch to tomatoes and eggplant. Doesn't matter when I plant potatoes at home since I've only ever seen a single potato beetle in almost 50 years and that was on an eggplant over 20 years ago.

Martin

This will be my 3rd year planting them late like that & so far I haven't had a problem with potato beetles on any other plants yet either. I'll keep my fingers crossed it continues to work for me.

[Paquebot]

Potato beetles are sort of an "if you build it they will come." However, they aren't real efficient fliers and don't fly for miles looking for a host plant. With nobody having planted potatoes for years on the farm where I grew them last year, I was almost 100% certain that there would have been zero beetles. Imagine my surprise when one day I found several dozen. As soon as the landowner saw them, she said that they had often been seen on the nightshade growing in their tree line. The list of host plants is long and if one isn't available for an egg-filled female then another will do. At the local community gardens, eggplant is the choice of the second generation since potatoes are usually done by the time they emerge.

Martin

[Backfourty,MI.]

Great, I'll get them for sure this year on something probably! Darn it! I hate those things too!

[elliemaeg]

Vickie sounds like a good Tightwad and frugal tip to me.