Potatoes are a staple crop, but their tubers and leafy tops attract various animals, from insects to mammals. Protecting your crop requires understanding which creatures cause damage and how to identify their presence, enabling effective protective measures and a bountiful yield.
Mammal Pests of Potatoes
Several mammals consider potato plants a desirable food source, often targeting different parts. Voles, small rodents, primarily consume potato tubers by gnawing on them underground. Gophers also threaten tubers, creating extensive tunnel systems to access them.
Rabbits and deer feed on potato foliage. Rabbits can quickly defoliate young plants, while deer strip leaves from more mature plants. Raccoons and skunks are opportunistic omnivores that may dig up and eat potato tubers. Groundhogs are herbivores that readily consume potato foliage.
Insect and Other Small Pests
Potatoes are vulnerable to various insect pests and other small invertebrates. Colorado potato beetles, both adults and larvae, feed on potato leaves and stems. Wireworms dwell in the soil and tunnel into potato tubers, creating holes and narrow pathways.
Slugs create irregular holes and cavities in potato tubers and may also chew on foliage. Flea beetles chew numerous tiny holes in potato leaves, giving them a “shot-hole” appearance. Their larvae can also damage tubers by creating pimpled surfaces and shallow tunnels. Aphids feed by sucking sap from potato leaves, causing distortion, wilting, and potentially transmitting plant viruses.
Signs of Potato Pest Damage
Observing specific signs of damage helps identify the pest affecting your potato crop. Chewed leaves and stems indicate various culprits; ragged bites often point to slugs or rabbits, while clean cuts on stems suggest deer. Small, round holes in leaves are characteristic of flea beetle feeding. Extensive defoliation, sometimes leaving only leaf veins, indicates Colorado potato beetle activity.
Missing tubers or those with gnaw marks suggest mammal activity; voles and gophers leave irregular chew marks. Tunnels and burrows near plants, especially those leading directly to tubers, are clear signs of gophers or voles. Slime trails confirm the presence of slugs or snails. Stunted growth or wilting can result from root or tuber feeding by pests like wireworms or gophers. The presence of insect frass or dark droppings on leaves or around the base of plants also helps pinpoint the pest.
Protecting Your Potato Crop
Protecting potato crops involves preventative strategies and direct interventions. Physical barriers offer effective defense; fencing deters larger mammals like deer and rabbits, while fine mesh row covers exclude insect pests such as Colorado potato beetles and flea beetles. Burying fence edges or using underground wire mesh prevents burrowing animals like voles and gophers from reaching tubers.
Cultural practices are fundamental to pest management, reducing pest populations and improving plant health. Practicing crop rotation disrupts pest life cycles and prevents soil-borne pests like wireworms from building up. Maintaining garden hygiene by removing plant debris and weeds eliminates hiding spots and food sources. Harvesting potatoes promptly when mature reduces the risk of slug and wireworm damage.
Repellents offer a temporary deterrent, though effectiveness varies and reapplication is often required. For insect pests, encouraging beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings, which prey on aphids and Colorado potato beetle eggs, provides natural control. Regular monitoring for early pest activity allows for timely intervention, such as hand-picking larger pests or setting traps for slugs.