Potato diseases: photos, descriptions, and treatments

When growing potatoes, to ensure a superb harvest, you need to follow some tips. These include: maintaining crop rotation, choosing disease-resistant varieties, and following planting techniques to boost plant immunity, which in turn will strengthen them against pests and disease. Let's look at potato diseases: photos, descriptions, and treatments, so you can identify the ailment based on the plants' appearance and provide immediate assistance to your green crops.
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What is needed for a good harvest?

• Selecting quality potatoes for planting
• Control of virus carriers (cicadas, aphids, and mites)
• Timely removal of weeds and potato debris
• Do not return potatoes to the garden bed before 3-4 years
• Isolate from cabbage, do not plant after nightshades
• Conduct preventive treatment of tubers and soil

Virus-resistant varieties include Pamir, Rosetta, Zekura, Maidas, and Lugovskoy. However, it's important to remember that young plants are most vulnerable to various diseases—as they mature, they become stronger and are less susceptible to viruses. Early potato varieties are also advantageous because they have time to mature before the onset of widespread insect infestations, making them less susceptible to disease. The same applies to late blight, which potato plants, like tomatoes, don't have time to become infected with. It's also important to remove potato tops promptly to prevent pests from breeding in them, and to sprout potatoes when planting. This will reduce the time they remain in the ground and reduce damage to the tubers during harvesting and soil loosening, as wounds on potatoes allow bacteria and viruses to penetrate.

Potato late blight

This fungal disease can ruin up to 70% of the harvest. Therefore, keep an eye out for brown spots on the lower leaves during flowering—be wary. If a white coating appears under the leaves during wet weather, your bushes are infected with late blight. Take action quickly, as the disease's very name suggests its effects—late blight, in Greek, means "plant destroyer."

Phytophthora fungus develops on potato and tomato plant debris, overwinters there, and parasitizes living plants as mycelium. If a tuber is infected, the fungus quickly migrates to the stem. The sunken spots on the tuber gradually darken, infecting the stems and spreading to the entire plantation. While the mycelium had previously remained in the soil for only a short time, the infection now progresses and can persist for several years, infecting all planted tubers.

How to treat: Using mineral fertilizers can almost halve the risk of late blight. Tubers should also be inspected, discarding any infected ones, and treated with polycarbacin or nitrafen before planting. At the first sign of disease, apply Acrobat MC three times. Revus and Shirlan can be used, and Ditan M-45 and Bravo are also effective.
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Potato cancer

A dangerous disease that damages all parts of the potato plant, both above and below ground. Bumps appear near the buds, which over time develop into larger growths, and the surface becomes lumpy.

How to fight: Only crop rotation and the acquisition of resistant varieties can help; there is no cure.

Fomoz

Spots form on the stems, which then develop pycnidia, and the tubers are affected by dry rot after harvesting, becoming covered with dark spots pressed into the root crop.

To prevent this, it is necessary to follow the storage regime, treat the tubers before storing them for the winter, observe crop rotation, and protect the tubers from damage.

Potato scab

This disease can be common, black, powdery, or silvery. The tubers lose flavor, their shelf life is reduced, they become spotted, and the sprouts can die when the mycelium penetrates the tubers from the soil.

Control measuresDrying the tubers before storing them for the winter, as well as treating them with copper sulfate, helps. Before planting, treat with pesticides such as Kofugo or Fenofram Super, and maintain crop rotation. Quadris is effective against black and silver scab.

Fusarium wilt

Extreme heat and intense moisture evaporation are prime times for this disease, also known as dry rot, which can affect up to 40% of the crop and lead to its death. Stems turn brown, leaves droop, bushes wilt, and dry out, easily pulling out when pulled. The infection quickly spreads to nearby plants, persists in seed, can easily overwinter in plant debris, and survives the winter quite well in the soil.

Preventive measures: Before harvesting, it is advisable to mow down the tops, observe crop rotation and select healthy tubers for planting.

Alternaria

So-called "dry spot" attacks the tubers along with the leaves and stems, causing large brown spots to appear. The stems die, and on potatoes, the spots are noticeably darker than the skin and may be wrinkled.

Control measures: spraying with Skor, Quadris, Shirlan, Ditan helps.

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Bacterial rot

If the plant wilts and the leaves turn yellow and curl, your tubers are affected by brown rot.
The same appearance, but yellow slime comes out when you squeeze the stem—this is ring rot attacking your plants. Crop rotation and resistant potato varieties can improve the situation.

Blackleg

Potatoes are especially susceptible if cabbage is planted nearby. This bacterial disease causes stems to rot, leaves to turn yellow and curl, and stems to be torn off at the root collar without effort. The tubers soften, becoming increasingly soft over time, and begin to emit an unpleasant odor. Crop losses can reach up to 76% per season.

Control measures: treating tubers with the drug "Maxim" before storing them for the winter.

Potato mosaic

There are several types of this viral disease, all of which can damage up to 30-40% of the crop. Heat is particularly conducive to the disease, shortening the growing season, preventing tubers from developing, and resulting in crop losses. Leaves become wrinkled, may appear corrugated, die, and hang on the stems without falling.

Destroy infected bushes and observe crop rotation.

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