Archive for the ‘root rot’ Category

Time to Harvest Summer Potatoes Before They Rot!

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Now that the rains are back in force, its time to get the last potatoes harvested. Some will say that leaving potatoes in the ground for winter keeps them protected and fresh. In my experience it leads to a potato patch that gets out of control and a bunch of diseased, sloppy rotten potatoes in otherwise great vegie beds. In my own garden, as I’ve mentioned before, I keep my potatoes growing in containers. Usually this works well though I’ll admit I had less than ideal crops this year, and I think I know why. I didn’t use certified, disease-free organic seed potato. That’s going to change next time. My regular farmer’s market veggie supplier turned me onto a seed potato supplier that I’m going to try out for 2009, and I’ll share the results here of course.

So, what about the potatoes in the garden right now? Well, since the rains are back its time to get the last potatoes out of the pots and stored for winter or they’re going to rot in the pots.

If you have a root cellar or a cool basement, this is a great place to store your potatoes for the duration. I have mine in breathable cardboard covered with a beach towel that won’t see use again until summer. This keeps out the light and allows air circulation.

I have heard of others putting potatoes in brown paper bags and storing them in the fridge. I always find refrigerated potatoes taste odd, and frankly I don’t have room to keep a winter’s worth of potatoes in my fridge anyway, especially if they’re dirty!

I’ve got some washed potatoes and some I left dirty. I haven’t stored dirty potatoes in the past, but word has it that they’ll keep longer this way, which makes sense. When a freshly harvested potato is washed the skin takes a beating, so maybe this will help. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.

So, if you’re choosing which fall clean up project is next in the garden, I’m encouraging my garden coaching clients to focus on clearing out the summer veggies. In Western Washington, there’s still time to get fall/winter starts in the ground to keep your greens flowing in all winter. Its just a matter of dodging rain showers these days!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags:
Posted in Container Garden, Edible Gardens, Food, garden coach, root rot, seasons, vegetable gardening, vegetable starts | 3 Comments »

Root Rot Roundup

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Today I attended a lecture with internationally renowned plant pathologist Olaf Ribeiro. And, boy did I learn a lot. Mainly I learned that my strong belief in continuing education means that I attend lectures like this in order to learn how much I really don’t know.

Okay, so I do know a few things about plants and their environment. However, there is so very much to know.

Today’s lecture was to help people in the field have a better understanding and diagnostic capabilities for plant failures and infestations with root rots. Yes, I learned more ways to identify problems like Phytophthera, but I also learned that there is a huge number of different varieties of Phytophthera out there. How do you know which one you’re dealing with? Basically, find a plant & soil lab and have someone look at samples under a microscope.  How do you treat it? Well, there are a variety of ways, but without knowing which one you have, exactly, your treatment may not work. And, its easy to confuse one root rot with another. And, treatment for one may cause another one to thrive.

Yes, its frustrating.

Am I going to get out a black light and go hunting glowing armellaria? Probably not. (Well, maybe. It kind of sounds like fun.)

I will continue to encourage clients to avoid fast release fertilizers if for no other reason than that it seems they encourage the growth of these root rots. Yes, there are other reasons, but isn’t that enough?

When I hear that Armellaria may be the largest living organism on the planet, I wonder what would happen if it met up with the behemoth of the giant Aspen colonies in Colorado. Which is larger? And which would win in a battle of the plant titans?

Will I do a better job reinforcing to clients that to fully diagnose their problems they need soil/root sample/shoot sample testing. Yes, I will. I’ve been encouraging people to test, but I’m realizing that more tests may answer more questions better.

Sure, we’ve all been to the doctor and had batteries of tests done when maybe they weren’t necessary. What I’ve found with these tests is that you never come away without some bit of valuable information. You may diagnose a fungal (or fungal-like infection) or you may diagnose a nutrient deficiency (or excess). In any case, you will know more and do better at caring for your garden in the end.

 As well, I will be more selective and investigative about my mulch purchases. Many mulch producers test their products, but as I learned today some are cagey about sharing results. And, some don’t test consistently. And, it doesn’t sound like many (any?) test for soil pathogens like these fungi (and fungus-like) problems.

So, what can I do about this? I can start calling the manufacturers and ask for soil test results. I can refuse to buy from them unless they divulge their test results (or start testing in the first place). I can order tests of my own (ouch; at ~$50/each test that gets expensive).

So, the roundup is that we need to be more vigilant about knowing what we’re putting in the garden and why we’re putting it in. In past posts I’ve mentioned this in regards to random spraying. Today I’m putting forth that we need to be vigilant about what amendments we add and what we take away (diseased stumps, chips, logs, standing water, etc…) in order to maintain strong, healthy gardens.

  • Share/Bookmark

Posted in Gardening, Horticulture, IPM, root rot | 2 Comments »