Common Pests of Potatoes

Common Pests of Potatoes

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Utah State University Vegetable IPM Winter Webinar Series (January 20, 2021). Nick Volesky and I talked about common insect and disease problems of potatoes. It wasn’t possible to discuss all diseases, or spend a lot of time on the diseases we did discuss, but we were able to give a thumbnail view of some common diseases. We briefly covered the following topics:

  • The role of seed certification
  • The importance of quarantines, eradication, sanitation, fertility, and proper irrigation
  • Fusarium dry rot
  • Rhizoctonia canker and black scurf
  • Late blight
  • Early blight
  • White mold
  • Pink rot
  • Pythium leak

A handout of the meeting slides is available here: Common_Pests_of_Potato_Diseases

The video of the meeting is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A9sey8av5k

Potato Disease Quiz

Potato Disease Quiz

Thank you to all who participated in the Potato Disease Quiz at the Idaho Potato Conference on January 22 and 23, 2020 in Pocatello, ID. Two people achieved a perfect score! Congratulations to Alan Malek and Shelbie Anderson and they were the winners of the Cabela’s gift cards sponsored by Gowan. Thank you to our sponsor and thanks to all those who participated!

2020 Idaho Potato Conference Disease Quiz

Answers to the quiz

Handouts from the Miller Research Potato Pest Management Seminar

Miller Research LLC held its annual potato pest management seminar on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at the Historic Wilson Theater in Rupert, ID. Thank you to all who attended!

Disease Susceptibility in Russet Potato Cultivars
Eight varieties were evaluated for susceptibility to Fusarium dry rot, Rhizoctonia canker, powdery scab, early blight/brown spot, white mold, pink rot, and Pythium leak both with and without fungicides. This presentation shares the results collected to date.

Fungicides for Foliar Disease Management
This presentation showed results from 2019 fungicide trials targeting early blight, brown spot, white mold, and black dot. The current status of resistance to these fungicides an Alternaria solani was addressed.

Everyone Loses from Potato Bruises
What management practices contribute most to reducing bruise? Dr. Nora Olsen discussed field, tuber, and impact contributors to blackspot and shatter bruise and the implications on disease development (e.g. Pythium leak and Fusarium dry rot) and quality issues.

Late Blight – The Irish Potato Famine is Still with Us!
Late blight was reported in 2019. What are the chances we will see it in 2020? This presentation discussed the impact of the 2019 outbreak and measures to avoid disease in 2020.

Pink Rot Management
Some relatively new fungicides have been labeled for pink rot control. This presentation shared results from 2019 trials, provided the results of fungicide resistance monitoring in 2019, and showed how the interval between phosphite application and irrigation can affect phosphite fungicide performance.