When the potatoes have been harvested, graded and put into storage a great weight has been lifted. The spuds aren’t going to be stuck in the ground due to late season rain. Grubs and bugs aren’t going to start affecting the tubers, and it looks like most of the disease issues have been avoided. They’re safe. Except there is another consideration, and that is storage diseases, discussed in this PotatoLink magazine article.

Three successive La Niña seasons have left prime potato growing areas waterlogged. Challenges for growers are evident at every stage, from managing seed, planting, crop management and storage. Paulette Baumbartl covers all the key points in this article in Issue 8 of PotatoLink magazine.

This webinar, delivered by Dr Robert Tegg from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, at The University of Tasmania, focused on pink rot of potatoes. Dr Tegg provided an overview of the pathogen causing pink rot, highlighted the characteristics most favourable for the disease and its symptoms in potatoes.

Dr Phillip Wharton from Idaho University delivered this webinar on rot diseases in potatoes including Pink Rot, Leak (Pythium), Dry Rot and Soft Rot. It looked at the biology of the pathogens, symptoms and management options.

In Issue 04 of PotatoLink magazine, the Spud GP answers the question: Why are the insides of some of my tubers brown and soft? The helpful response includes a list of some of the common conditions that illustrate similarities between some tuber physiological disorders and diseases.

Pink rot is an important soil-borne disease caused by Phytophthora erythroseptica. It can cause rots at all parts of the growing cycle. Read this factsheet to know what to look for, how it spreads, and what you can do about it.