Content
Why Potatoes Rotting Right in the Ground: Few People Know That Watering Has Nothing to Do With It
09.01.2023 16:02
Updated: 13.04.2023 09:00
When digging up rotten potatoes, summer residents curse the rainy summer or improper watering. Few people know that the problem is an infectious disease, not the amount of water.
Let's try to figure out what caused the infection of root crops and whether the harvest can be saved.
Fungal rots
The new potato crop can be affected by last year's tubers infected with bacterial rot. The same thing happens if diseased tops are left in the soil to overwinter or if they are put into compost and then used as contaminated fertilizer.
How to fight
Unfortunately, farmers have not yet come up with anything effective in this regard, so the most practical advice is to remove infected bushes and carry out preventive treatment. It is worth keeping in mind that the fungus can affect neighboring crops at a distance of up to 1 meter.
Prevention
1. In this case, without observing crop rotation, agricultural technology rules, and proper storage of seed material, nothing will work.
2. If the potatoes have started to rot, it makes sense to choose a variety that is resistant to this type of disease.
3. Before planting, the soil is treated with a solution of copper sulfate (50-100 g per 10 liters of water) or Bordeaux mixture (100-200 g per 10 liters of water). Of the fungicides, copper-based preparations are chosen - "Ordan", "Hom".
