Kitchen Garden Forum

I have four lots of potatoes,
International Kidney, (now harvested and eaten, lovely - yum-yum)
Swift first lot harvested not yet eaten but not problems
Sarpo Mira, coming up nice and bushy and green no apparent problems

However my CARA are not so good, the plants look pale green and something is eating the leaves, could it be slugs and snails, or something different, the plants are much smaller and they are behind the Sarpo in growth despite being planted at the same time.

All advice welcome

Compo

Hello Compo,

Have grown both Cara and Sarpo,cannot remember what the foilage looked like on Cara, but Sapro being a late variety with me had vey dark green foilage and was very vigerous as well.

I sometimes find large snails on mine, but they do not do all that much damage to the foilage, unlike keel slugs, but that's another story!
Cheers

Probably not slugs as they woul dgo for the new tubers underground.

Did you fertilize before planting?

Try applying a few doses of a liquid feed to the foliage. water til it runs off the leaves., Tis may give it a boost

Nah it is not poor soil as it was well manured and the international kidney and the swift on the same raised bed are fine, what ever it is has eaten holes in the leaves and left some kind of residue that has 'burnt' some of the leaves, leaving them brown and curled up at the edge, but in a different sort of way that blight appears. It has only affected some leaves, the tubers that are growing under neath are fine.

Its a puzzles me, gonna look in my RHS Book

Compo

I still am no wiser as to what has attacked these plants, however, I dug a load up today, brilliant yeild and condition, not sure that the haulms even flowered? Amazing,,,

Dear Compo, looks as if you have beat us all.

The only thing i could think of is, i wonder if they are being attacked by Cara-pillars, sorry.

OH my sides are splitting with giggledom!!

Compo

It could be aphid damage. I had something similar. Look closely at the underside of the leaves and you may be able to spot them. Can you see any evidence of ants (tending the aphids)?