What to Do About Hollow Potatoes? Cause Analysis and Prevention Methods
Potato, also called potato, is one of the most common vegetables in our daily lives. It is the third most important food crop in the world, with an extremely wide planting area. During cultivation, a physiological disorder appears—hollow heart, which seriously affects the yield and quality of potatoes and reduces their commercial value. What causes hollow potatoes? How should they be prevented? Let's take a look together.
1. Symptoms of hollow heart
Hollow heart in potatoes generally occurs in the pith of the tuber. When the hollow is on the inside, no symptoms can be seen from the outside; it can only be found by cutting the tuber open, and it usually occurs in larger tubers. The hollow is generally star-shaped and radiating or flat-mouthed in form, and some have several cavities joined together. The cavity walls are white or brown, and before hollowing occurs, the internal tissue becomes water-soaked or translucent. Generally, such potatoes are not fit to eat.
2. Causes of hollow heart
The main cause of hollow heart in potatoes is that the tubers expand too quickly. When the tubers expand, improper fertilizer and water management leads to excessive water, causing the tubers to expand rapidly and absorb a large amount of water; starch is then converted into sugar, resulting in large tubers but few nutrients in the internal tissue, or the nutrients in the internal tissue are transferred away or absorbed, all of which can lead to hollow heart. Another cause is that the soil was too dry in the early stage, causing the plants to lack water, and then in the late stage of fruit growth there was sudden watering or rainfall; because the plants lacked potassium fertilizer, nutrients could not be transported in time, leading to hollow heart.
3. Prevention methods
First, choose varieties with a low rate of hollow heart for planting, and also pay attention to planting density, narrow the spacing between plants, and reduce the rate of missing plants. Reasonable close planting is also one of the measures to prevent hollow heart. When potato tubers are expanding, strengthen fertilizer and water management, maintain a uniform water supply, and keep the soil at suitable moisture; do not let it stay dry for a long time or water excessively. When tubers are expanding, apply an appropriate amount of potassium fertilizer; potassium fertilizer can speed up the transport of nutrients, make the plant's nutritional area uniform, 1 promote tuber growth and expansion, and also pay attention to earthing up.
The above are the causes of hollow potatoes and the prevention methods. We hope they can help you. To learn more about potato cultivation, please keep following us.