Friday 24 July 2009

Bugs in potatoes.

Just a quick post...I went up the allotment this evening to dig some spuds to take away with me...(after all we are going self catering so why buy horrible expensive ones when you can take your own!!) and one of the potato plants had something on it. Well it wasn't on the plant but in the potatoes when I dug the plant up. It was totally isolated to the one plant which was in the middle or a row so I don't think it was the soil and I am a little confused!!

I think I have heard people use the term 'potato blight'...although it is possible I'm imagining this!! The bugs looked like something crossed between a maggot and a caterpillar...all of the spuds on the one plant were no good!!

Does anyone have any idea what it was?? I wish I'd had my camera with me but it was packed all ready for hols so no picks for proof...I hope I don't find any more when I get back but I will make sure I have my camera ready on my next visit when I come home...just in case!!


Could it have been the soil?? Is there something I need to do so it doesn't happen again?? I am growing my stuff organically!! Also dug up an ants nest with ants ready to fly...god they are a pain...but only for me and not the potatoes so I won't grumble too much!!

9 comments:

  1. Saw this via your tweet. I'm the @Allotments you follow on Twitter by the way :) . It sounds like you may have a case of wireworm. Here is an article about it and potatoes on the Irish Gardeners forum that I run..... http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about1277.html
    Hope it is of some help.

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  2. Hi i'm sorry with your potatoes...and i am sorry too that i don't have anything to help you to solve it.because i don't know much of planting but i will pray that it will gonna be okay soon...

    khaye=)

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  3. Yes, something has bored holes into my potatoes too. I'm going to have a google to see if I can find out what!

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  4. If the potato had lots of narrow tunnels and the bug was about an inch long and shiney orange then it was wireworm. There's no treatment, but to prevent it happening lift the tubers when they're mature rather than leave them in the ground.
    Have a good holiday! Flighty

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  5. Check out this site.

    http://www.redepapa.org/wright1.pdf

    I believe what you've encountered is the larval form of potato bugs.

    The document in that link provides photographs, so you can verify if that's what you've got. It will also tell you what to do...

    (Potato Blight is a fungal growth on the leaves of the plant. )

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  6. Hi Mom

    thanks for telling me about potato blight..always good to know..I tried to look at the site you mentioned but I needed a master password to open the PDF so unfortunately it wasn't much help

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  7. Hi Flightplot...no the bugs were much smaller than that and were a milky white colour...could this have been a younger version of wireworm??

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  8. James...thanks for the referral..I now know it derfinately wasn't wireworm..it wasn't slugs either..or potato blight...any other ides??

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  9. I've just found the same thing in some of my spuds - never seen them before.

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!