Common Problems and Countermeasures in Autumn Potato Planting

The autumn potato growing period is very short, management is relatively simple, and the economic benefit is relatively high, making it a crop favored by vegetable growers in many potato-producing areas. However, some problems currently puzzle producers.

1. Low yield Autumn potatoes generally yield about 1000 kg per mu, and high-yielding ones can reach more than 1500 kg. Apart from weather reasons, the low yield is mainly due to viruses carried by the seed. Most autumn potatoes use edible commercial potatoes from spring production fields as seed potatoes, and many seed potatoes have already clearly been infected with viruses. In the hot autumn, such seed potatoes quickly show symptoms of viral disease: yellow spots and shriveling on the leaves, short plants, and of course low yield. In addition, cultivated land is mostly plowed with a rotary tiller, and the plowing depth generally does not exceed 10 cm. Coupled with excessive application of chemical fertilizers year after year, the soil compaction is extremely serious. After hilling, all the loose soil is hilled onto the ridges, and the potato roots can only penetrate into the hard plow pan. The roots cannot go deep, which affects the growth and development of the root system. At the same time, in the hard, compacted soil, the normal enlargement of the tubers is also affected, so the yield is naturally not high. The prevention method is: for autumn seed potatoes, use virus-free cold-frame potatoes as much as possible. If spring-produced potatoes are used, select plants that grow robustly and show no viral symptoms in the field for seed use. The cultivated land should be deeply plowed, or a no-deep-plowing soil conditioner should be sprayed before sowing to promote loosening and aeration of the deeper soil and break up compaction.

2. Serious greening phenomenon Because the loose soil layer is too thin, the ridges after hilling cannot be very wide and thick. Therefore, as soon as the tubers expand, they are very likely to be exposed outside the soil, and under the irradiation of light, the tubers turn green. After potatoes turn green, they are toxic, cannot be eaten, and cannot be used as feed, so they can only be discarded. This not only reduces yield but also affects commodity quality. The preventive measure is: deeply plow the soil, or spray a no-deep-plowing soil conditioner before sowing to promote loosening and aeration of the deeper soil and break up compaction, and when hilling, make the hills as wide and thorough as possible to avoid exposure of the tubers.