What causes potato skin cracking? Causes and preventive measures

Potatoes are one of the foods many people love, and they are also an important food and vegetable crop in China, grown on a large scale in the southern regions of the country. Anyone with experience growing potatoes probably knows that cracking can occur during cultivation, so why does cracking happen? Qinnong Wang introduces it for everyone today.

I. Causes of potato cracking

1. Excessive sand and gravel content

When the sand and gravel content in the soil is too high, scratches easily form on the surface of potato tubers. The scratches gradually deepen as the tubers expand, and once they reach a certain degree, skin cracking appears. In addition, when temperatures are high, sudden heavy watering after a sustained drought, or rainfall, can also cause it: during drought the roots and stems form periderm and expand slowly, while in moist conditions the plant absorbs more water and the tubers expand quickly, causing the periderm to rupture.

2. Temperature effects

The suitable temperature for potato tuber formation and expansion is 15-18°C. When the temperature is suitable, potato tubers expand rapidly, but if high temperatures or a temperature drop occur, the division rate of the outer layer cells of the potato tuber slows down while the inner cells are still dividing and growing rapidly. This creates an imbalance in the growth rate between the outer and inner cell layers of the tuber, very easily causing the appearance of skin cracking on potato tubers.

3. Pest and disease effects

Potato nematode disease is also one of the main causes of skin cracking. The disease is caused by nematodes infecting and damaging the tubers; after being damaged, the skin shows brown cracking, and the interior develops dot-like voids or a pithy, hollowed texture. Affected plants above ground usually show no obvious symptoms in the early stages of damage, sprouting slowly, being thin and weak, or growing slowly and staying short, similar to the symptoms of water or fertilizer deficiency. As the damage gradually worsens, the affected plants develop small spots, which keep expanding, and sometimes they show wilting at midday or die prematurely.

Potato nematodes spread through diseased seed potatoes, diseased soil, diseased fertilizer, water flow, routine farming operations and other means, meaning that replanting potatoes provides favorable conditions for nematode damage. However, in recent years, due to the constraints of traditional planting patterns and arable land area, the multiple cropping index for potatoes has generally been on the high side, and combined with farmers' low awareness of potato nematode control, potato nematode disease has spread very rapidly.

II. Preventive and control measures for potato cracking

The prevention and control of potato cracking mainly involves carrying out good routine cultivation management for potatoes, including the choice of planting soil, maintaining a stable temperature, and so on. For the control of potato nematodes, experts advise that farmers should emphasize prevention over treatment, with prevention as the priority. In addition to adopting agricultural and physical control measures, it is also necessary to combine Yinghui nematicides to control the nematode population in the soil. Among Yinghui nematicides, products such as Ligensha, Yinghui Kuaixian, Tiandixian and Wuxian all come in both granular and liquid formulations, suitable for use at different growth stages of potatoes. Before transplanting potatoes, farmers can apply Yinghui nematicide granules in furrows, in planting holes, or broadcast them over the whole field, with a duration of up to 2-3 months. If potatoes are damaged by nematode disease during the growing period, Yinghui nematicide liquid formulation can be diluted with water for root drenching or flushing application.

The above is Qinnong Wang's introduction to the causes of potato cracking and the related preventive and control measures. Potato cracking greatly harms farmers' economic interests and has become a problem that has troubled many farmers for a long time. We hope this article can provide some help to the many farmers growing potatoes.