Potato Harvest Issues - What Went Wrong?

sujsuj

I planted potatoes in May and harvested them on September 1st, but I’ve run into some problems. All the larger potatoes have holes, possibly from worms or pests getting inside, and there are also a lot of small, tiny potatoes.

I’m not sure where things went wrong—did I plant them too early or harvest too late? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve attached some photos for reference.

Thanks in advance!

FreeBear

Slugs and/or cockchaffer grubs have been at work. Not a lot you can do about that I'm afraid. But at least you have a way better crop than I got - Be lucky if I had more than a kilo or two.

stuart45

I always grow them in tyres nowadays. You can start them off in better soil, and add more tyres to earth them up. No need to dig them up, just pull the tyres apart. You don't seem to get the same pest issues as planting in the ground, apart from ant nests. 
There are some people that say tyres shouldn't be used because of the rubber, and proper growing boxes used instead.
If they're spaced out properly, get plenty of sunshine, the right soil, nutrition, water and drainage you should get a decent crop, even using old ones from Tescos that have got too old to cook.

fatbelly

That doesn't look to bad but I suspect you have a thriving colony of slugs.

The many small potatoes I think is due to high rainfall later in the growing season. Not a lot you can do about that

Were these a maincrop variety? Were the tops still green when you harvested?

Eldi_Dos

If my memory serves me well it used to be common practice to dig in the ash from wood burners to the area you intended to plant next seasons potatoes. It was said to cut down on pests that would affect the patch.Ash from coal fires was disposed of through the waste system.

fatbelly

It would be a source of potash too - feeds root growth

MattMattMattUK

Are you monocropping? Planting flowering plants around the edges can make a huge difference, it encourages other insects which can then feed on some pests, it can mean birds will also eat the slugs, so certainly worth thinking about.

The lots of small potatoes can be a multitude of different things, issues others have pointed out above, the rain especially, drainage is hard to improve. The other issue can be planting too densely, were you planting at the recommended distance for the variety you chose? 

sujsuj

FreeBear said:

Slugs and/or cockchaffer grubs have been at work. Not a lot you can do about that I'm afraid. But at least you have a way better crop than I got - Be lucky if I had more than a kilo or two.

This year, I harvested more than 25kg of potatoes, excluding the rotten and infested ones. However, I had over 50 plants.

sujsuj

fatbelly said:

That doesn't look to bad but I suspect you have a thriving colony of slugs.

The many small potatoes I think is due to high rainfall later in the growing season. Not a lot you can do about that

Were these a maincrop variety? Were the tops still green when you harvested?

fatbelly said:

That doesn't look to bad but I suspect you have a thriving colony of slugs.

The many small potatoes I think is due to high rainfall later in the growing season. Not a lot you can do about that

Were these a maincrop variety? Were the tops still green when you harvested?

I harvested the potatoes after all the stems had rotted and the leaves had disappeared, so I thought I might have been a bit late in harvesting thinking that caused so many rotten/infested potatoes. However, after seeing so many tiny potatoes, I started to think otherwise.

From the comments I've read, I can now understand the reasons for both. Thanks!

sujsuj

Eldi_Dos said:

If my memory serves me well it used to be common practice to dig in the ash from wood burners to the area you intended to plant next seasons potatoes. It was said to cut down on pests that would affect the patch.Ash from coal fires was disposed of through the waste system.

I should have deposited wood burner ash in potato area then. Thanks for this input.

sujsuj

MattMattMattUK said:

Are you monocropping? Planting flowering plants around the edges can make a huge difference, it encourages other insects which can then feed on some pests, it can mean birds will also eat the slugs, so certainly worth thinking about.

The lots of small potatoes can be a multitude of different things, issues others have pointed out above, the rain especially, drainage is hard to improve. The other issue can be planting too densely, were you planting at the recommended distance for the variety you chose? 

I think I need to start with the basics and figure out what variety of potatoes I planted. I treated all the plants the same way without paying attention to the variety, so that’s something to learn for next year. Thanks.

For the last three years, I’ve been growing potatoes in this area. Before that, the previous owner also planted potatoes here. The potato plot is bordered on two sides by grass and dwarf apple trees, and on the other two sides by small strawberry plants area and a large raspberry section.