Irish potato varieties: heirloom, russet, yellow, white, red, blue.
To start your potato patch, select an area where other crops in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants) were not grown in the previous year. Always order certified seed potatoes to avoid disease problems.
Conditions, Land preparations and planting Irish potatoes
-Potatoes are best grown in well-drained soil in full sun.
-Prepare your soil by double digging and incorporate at least four inches of compost to the bed.
-Potatoes are best grown in well-drained soil in full sun.
-Prepare your soil by double digging and incorporate at least four inches of compost to the bed.
-This requires digging a trench the depth of your shovel or spading fork that is at least 18 inches wide. As you dig, lay the soil adjacent to the trench.
-Put half of the compost in the bottom of the trench and spade it in.
-Then, mix the remaining compost in with the soil to the side of the trench while filling the trench in.
-The center line of the trench will become the row.
-The row centers should be about 30 to 36 inches apart.
-After your potatoes arrive, store them in a cool dark place (50-60 degrees F).
-In a week or so, they may begin to sprout.
-Cut each seed potato into five or six pieces making sure there is an eye (or sprout) in the center of each piece.
-Soil temperatures should be about 50 degrees F at the time of planting (March and April).
-To plant, dig a ten-inch trench in your row, place some phosphorus fertilizer at the bottom of the trench (about 1/8 cup of triple super phosphate or several handfuls of bone meal per ten foot row).
-Then add two more inches of soil on top of the phosphorus. This method of fertilizer application is called banding and it puts the phosphorus where it is most efficient near the roots.
-Finally, plant the pieces, eye or sprout up, at the bottom of the trench and cover with another inch of soil.
-The spacing should be about 10 inches.
-When the potato plants reach about six to eight inches, backfill the trench with about four inches of soil.
-The backfilling is called "laying-by."
-Repeat this process until you begin mounding up the soil in the middle of the row.
-This increases the amount of stem in contact with the soil which will increase yields.
-It also prevents green potatoes (these should not be eaten).
-A side dressing of manure or nitrogen fertilizer early to mid-season may also increase yields unless you used manure that is slowly releasing nitrogen during the growing season.
-Irrigate your potatoes often to maintain constant soil moisture.
-Erratic irrigation stresses the plants and can result in dry pockets (hollow heart) inside the potatoes.
-Weeds should be controlled by manually pulling.
-Hoeing could damage your potato crop.
Irish potatoes pests and diseases
1.Late blight - Irregularly shaped spreading brown lesions on leaves with distinctive white fluffy sporulation at lesion margins on the underside of the leaf in wet conditions.
2.Early blight - Dark lesions with yellow border which may form concentric rings of raised and sunken tissue on the leaves and stems; lesions initially circular but become angular; leaves become necrotic but remain attached to plant; dark, dry lesions on tubers with leathery or corky texture and watery yellow green margins.
3.Verticillium wilt -Early death of plants; leaflets dying on only one side of the petiole or branching stem; cut through the stem reveals a discoloration of the tissue; discoloration of tubers at stem-end.
4.Black scurf & Rhizoctonia canker - Flat, irregularly shaped black or dark brown fungal fruiting bodies on tuber surface; tubers may be mishapen; red-brown to black sunken lesions on sprouts; lesions may girdle the main stem causing leaves to curl and turn yellow.
5.Leak - Light tan, water soaked area around wound on tuber; internal rotting of tuber which results in internal tissue becomes spongy and possibly developing cavities; dark, watery fluid exudes from the tuber when squeezed.
6.Pink rot - Stunted plant growth; wilting leaves; dying leaves; marked tuber decay; dark brown eyes on tuber; cut tuber turns pink after 20-30 min air exposure, then turns brown and finally black.
7.Black dot - Small black dots (fungal fruiting bodies) on tubers, stolons and stems; roots may rot below ground; leaves may turn yellow and wilt; infection may cause defoliation.
8.Powdery Scab - White to brown galls on the roots and stolon; raised pustules on tuber surrounded by potato skin; shallow depressions on tuber filled with brown spores.
9.Gray mold - Flowers covered in gray, fuzzy mold; wedge shaped tan lesions on leaves; a slimy brown rot may be present on stems, originating from the petiole; infected tubers have wrinklyskin and tissue underneath is soft and wet; tubers often develop a gray fuzzy growth.
10.Common Scab - Raised brown lesions on tubers with corky texture; deep, pitted brown or black lesions on tuber with straw-colored translucent tissue underneath.
11.Blackleg (Soft rot) - Small, water-soaked lesions on base of stems originating from seed piece; lesions may enlarge to form a large extended lesion stretching from base of stem to canopy; tissue becomes soft and water-soaked and can be lighty brown to inky black in color; wilted, curled leaves which have a soft and slimy texture when wet.
12.Bacterial ring rot - Wilting stems and leaves; dying leaves; lower leaves wilting first; ring of creamy yellow to brown rot visible when tuber is cut crossways.
13.Potato leaf roll - Young leaves rolled and yellow or pink; lower leaves have leathery texture and roll upward;necrotic netting in vascular tissue of tuber may be present; plant exhibits an upright growth habit and growth may be stunted.
14.Wireworms - Death of seedlings; reduced stand; girdled stems and white heads; wireworm larvae canbe found in soil when dug round the stem; larvae are yellow-brown, thin worms with shiny skin.
15.Aphids (Peach aphid, Potato aphid) - Small soft bodied insects on underside of leaves and/or stems of plant; usually green or yellow in color, but may be pink, brown, red or black depending on species and host plant; if aphid infestation is heavy it may cause leaves to yellow and/or distorted, necrotic spots on leaves and/or stunted shoots; aphids secrete a sticky, sugary substance called honeydew which encourages the growth of sooty mold on the plants.
1.Late blight - Irregularly shaped spreading brown lesions on leaves with distinctive white fluffy sporulation at lesion margins on the underside of the leaf in wet conditions.
2.Early blight - Dark lesions with yellow border which may form concentric rings of raised and sunken tissue on the leaves and stems; lesions initially circular but become angular; leaves become necrotic but remain attached to plant; dark, dry lesions on tubers with leathery or corky texture and watery yellow green margins.
3.Verticillium wilt -Early death of plants; leaflets dying on only one side of the petiole or branching stem; cut through the stem reveals a discoloration of the tissue; discoloration of tubers at stem-end.
4.Black scurf & Rhizoctonia canker - Flat, irregularly shaped black or dark brown fungal fruiting bodies on tuber surface; tubers may be mishapen; red-brown to black sunken lesions on sprouts; lesions may girdle the main stem causing leaves to curl and turn yellow.
5.Leak - Light tan, water soaked area around wound on tuber; internal rotting of tuber which results in internal tissue becomes spongy and possibly developing cavities; dark, watery fluid exudes from the tuber when squeezed.
6.Pink rot - Stunted plant growth; wilting leaves; dying leaves; marked tuber decay; dark brown eyes on tuber; cut tuber turns pink after 20-30 min air exposure, then turns brown and finally black.
7.Black dot - Small black dots (fungal fruiting bodies) on tubers, stolons and stems; roots may rot below ground; leaves may turn yellow and wilt; infection may cause defoliation.
8.Powdery Scab - White to brown galls on the roots and stolon; raised pustules on tuber surrounded by potato skin; shallow depressions on tuber filled with brown spores.
9.Gray mold - Flowers covered in gray, fuzzy mold; wedge shaped tan lesions on leaves; a slimy brown rot may be present on stems, originating from the petiole; infected tubers have wrinklyskin and tissue underneath is soft and wet; tubers often develop a gray fuzzy growth.
10.Common Scab - Raised brown lesions on tubers with corky texture; deep, pitted brown or black lesions on tuber with straw-colored translucent tissue underneath.
11.Blackleg (Soft rot) - Small, water-soaked lesions on base of stems originating from seed piece; lesions may enlarge to form a large extended lesion stretching from base of stem to canopy; tissue becomes soft and water-soaked and can be lighty brown to inky black in color; wilted, curled leaves which have a soft and slimy texture when wet.
12.Bacterial ring rot - Wilting stems and leaves; dying leaves; lower leaves wilting first; ring of creamy yellow to brown rot visible when tuber is cut crossways.
13.Potato leaf roll - Young leaves rolled and yellow or pink; lower leaves have leathery texture and roll upward;necrotic netting in vascular tissue of tuber may be present; plant exhibits an upright growth habit and growth may be stunted.
14.Wireworms - Death of seedlings; reduced stand; girdled stems and white heads; wireworm larvae canbe found in soil when dug round the stem; larvae are yellow-brown, thin worms with shiny skin.
15.Aphids (Peach aphid, Potato aphid) - Small soft bodied insects on underside of leaves and/or stems of plant; usually green or yellow in color, but may be pink, brown, red or black depending on species and host plant; if aphid infestation is heavy it may cause leaves to yellow and/or distorted, necrotic spots on leaves and/or stunted shoots; aphids secrete a sticky, sugary substance called honeydew which encourages the growth of sooty mold on the plants.
Harvesting Irish potatoes - Just poke around the soil and see how big they are to see. Some growers artificially kill the vines by breaking or cutting them off at the soil surface. Others let fall frosts kill the vines. Dig them gently to avoid damage and store in a dark location at 38 to 40 degrees F.
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