Kitchen Garden Forum

Quite a lot of my second early Cara have small worm holes in them, will they store ok if they are otherwise clean and dry?

CoMpO

Yes Compo!

But use them first is best, I have found in the past!

Cheers!

Thanks Lurganspade, has anyone stored Sarpo Mira before? I have a lot of these and they are in good condition....

CoMpO

The Sarpos I've had in the past have stored very well.

I make sure they are very dry before bagging them up and store them in a cool dark shed with an old summer duvet over them when it gets frosty.

I save my paper hen food bags and they are excellent for storing potatoes and you can write the variety on them.

Are these small holes eelworm? I've never had them before and over half my Maris Piper have them. If that is it I'll have to think about next year, I've only just started growing maincrop spuds. After drying them on the garage floor and rubbing most soil off with gloved hands I've graded them; several holes plus slug damage - use first, odd holes - use next, clean - most likely to keep. I'm hoping I don't have to keep emptying bags for checking like I did after blight last year.

[quote="Geoff"]Are these small holes eelworm?

Doubt if they are eelworm, as they affect the foilage and stems , leading to early dying of the foilage.

Most likely keel slugs ( small black ones).

Never had any success growing Maris Piper,always destroyed by same keel slugs.

For roasting potatoes, I now grow both Rooster and Markies, these are usually a very clean crop, unlike MP.

Hi Geoff,
Potatoes with small holes have generally been attacked by Wire Worm. Once the Wire Worm have attacked it is then that Keeled Slugs have a field day. The slugs will also attack the crop on their own
but do far more damage after the Wire Worm.
JB.

Thanks for that. How badly do they tend to rot round the small holes if they have been well dried?
I dug the plot over and composted it in the Winter but lined the planting trenches with some not very well rotted manure from rush bedding so that might be where they were lurking.

Geoff wrote:Thanks for that. How badly do they tend to rot round the small holes if they have been well dried?
I dug the plot over and composted it in the Winter but lined the planting trenches with some not very well rotted manure from rush bedding so that might be where they were lurking.

Hi Geoff
I've found that if the holes are just wireworm holes and slugs haven't got in there, then they usually store ok after drying. If slugs have got in, it's another story. The trouble with slugs is that they can get into what looks on the outside like a tiny hole, but eat their way through most of the potato, which will then quickly rot. Having said that, if a hole still looks just like a pinprick, then it's a fair bet that slugs haven't got in - not via that hole, anyway! But I think you would still be wise to play safe and use them before any clean potatoes
Good luck.

Hi Caz,
How right you are. Some of the slugs are no larger than the worm holes when they enter the spud and do the main damage on their way out.
As you say with just worm holes they store reasonably but must be graded and used up after those with slug damage leaving the pristine spuds for long term storage.
Geoff,
Wire Worm are generally at their worst if the land is just converted from old pasture but also if your spud bed is near your lawn. They generally live quite happily in uncultivated land without doing any real damage that is noticeable.
Spuds grown here suffer from worm closest the field margins. Since the margins have had to be at least 4ft the damage hasn't occurred to the same density.
JB.

Hi Johnboy

How do you tell the difference between wire worm damage and slug / earthworm damage?

CoMpO

My beds have been made for a number of years and are surrounded by concrete paths that is why I couldn't understand why I had suddenly got a problem. I think it must be either that I have only just started growing maincrop (Maris Piper to add to my usual Rocket and Charlotte) and they are more susceptible or they have come in with my last batch of manure.

Hi Geoff,
If your last batch of manure had been standing on old pasture prior to delivery I suppose that it is quite possible that the manure is the carrier of Wireworm. In terms of soil depth paths are generally not that deep and Wireworm are generally found in the top spit depth.

Compo,
Wireworm holes are generally about one eighth of an inch wide. When they have pierced the surface it is then that slugs gain easy entry to the spud.
To my knowledge Earthworms do no damage to potatoes or any other root crop. They do not feed on live tissue and if you find one in a potato it has generally gone for the dead tissue after an attack from something else.
JB.