Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

This is my first year growing potatoes. I built a
2 1/2 ft x 6 ft x 3 ft high frame covered
by 1/2 wire mesh. I mulched with straw as they
grew. Today I took a peek down into the straw
and found a grayish blackish layer of what I can
only describe as some type of mold :(
I started these after the early season rains
the plagued the Northeast.
Something tells me this is not good.

zone 6

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

On 16 Jul 2003 11:33:43 GMT, (KK
from NJ) wrote:

This is my first year growing potatoes. I built a
2 1/2 ft x 6 ft x 3 ft high frame covered
by 1/2 wire mesh. I mulched with straw as they
grew. Today I took a peek down into the straw
and found a grayish blackish layer of what I can
only describe as some type of mold :(
I started these after the early season rains
the plagued the Northeast.
Something tells me this is not good.


Doesn't sound good to me either.

If anything was *EVER* going to mold and/or rot, this spring
in the northeastern USA certainly gave it the ideal
conditions for so doing.

Pat - In Zone 5

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

I'm having trouble picturing this. I think you mean you built a box
to hold the straw, right?

Sorry I wasn't clear. The mold is in the straw. Its full of it :(

the cage
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/cage.jpg/

and if you can see it, the mold
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/mold.jpg/

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

KK from NJ said:

I'm having trouble picturing this. I think you mean you built a box
to hold the straw, right?

Sorry I wasn't clear. The mold is in the straw. Its full of it :(

the cage
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/cage.jpg/

and if you can see it, the mold
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/mold.jpg/

I couldn't see the pictures (pages of weird characters in the browsers I use),
but taking Aaron's word for it that the plants are healthy, you may have nothing
to worry about.

I plant my seed potatoes in the soil and mulch with chopped straw as they grow.
(In fact, I think I ought to top off the mulch this weekend.) The mulch usually gets
a bit rotten at the bottom, sometimes with weird ear-shaped fungus thingees on
it. The potatoes underneath are fine though (unless they've been nibbled by
voles, which is a whole 'nother problem).
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

(Pat Kiewicz) writes:

http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/cage.jpg/

and if you can see it, the mold
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/mold.jpg/

I couldn't see the pictures (pages of weird characters in the
browsers I use),

Remove the trailing slash, and they should display okay.


--
Aaron

Are my Potatoes Mush?
 

Aaron Baugher said:

(Pat Kiewicz) writes:

http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/cage.jpg/

and if you can see it, the mold
http://members.aol.com/kkfromnj/mold.jpg/

I couldn't see the pictures (pages of weird characters in the
browsers I use),

Remove the trailing slash, and they should display okay.

Ah, nice healthy foliage. The spuds should be OK if they are buried slightly
under the straw.

I use a frame of 12" boards to contain the straw mulch on my potatoes. It's more
than enough, usually, to keep the spuds from going green. They generally form
on or slightly below the soil surface.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Are my Potatoes Mush?