Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

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LK2020
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Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#1

Post: # 31493Unread post LK2020
Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:56 pm

This was my second year growing potatoes, in 5-gallon and 7-gallon fabric pot containers. Results have been good and delicious. Next year I might use some 18-gallon plastic tubs. This year I grew Yukon Gold, Red Gold, Purple Majesty, and LaRatte fingerlings, with yummy results.

Zero problems last year. BUT this year in one container of Yukon Gold (out of two using seed potatoes from MPL, in pots growing right next to each other), I apparently had a bad potato or somehow got scab in there. Is that what this is? It really destroyed these guys. Maybe I'll try to cut off the bad parts, but since they are small and the crud is extensive, I'm not sure they're salvageable. I'm attaching a picture of the "good" YG harvest, then one of the cruddy ones. They are really messed up.

My question is, Do I have to get rid of this soil and container, or can I grow other stuff in it?

I know scab affects other root vegetables - carrots, beets, radishes - and maybe cucumbers, squash, melons. But could I grow tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, herbs, flowers, etc. in this container in the future, or should I trash it? Will keeping it around just allow the scab bacteria to blow around to other containers and my in-ground garden? Already my friendly squirrels have been digging in the dirt, post-harvest, and jumping around into other containers. As they do.

Would pouring a 1:10 bleach solution into the soil kill the scab?

If I should just trash it, please say so ...

Thank you,
Linda

The good ones
IMG_3948.JPG
The bad ones
IMG_3945.JPG
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bower
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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#2

Post: # 31518Unread post bower
Mon Sep 28, 2020 6:52 pm

Hi Linda,
Oh my they look awful and I think you have something more than scab there, so I would be reluctant to say if the soil is reusable. Those little white spots and the deep scars look like potato blight to me, and that means remove and destroy every bit of plant and tubers, do not compost them.
Scab is a bacterial disease that only affects the skin of potatoes, you can just cut it off and they're fine to eat. But the blight will rot them to the core and they will stink and spread it to other potatoes in storage, so do get rid of every last one! The blight can overwinter and spread the following year if there is any potato part left in the field.
Blight is a fungal disease and it may remain in the soil as long as there is any plant part left for it to dwell on. You can put the soil through a compost process and it will be fine to reuse as long as you don't get any volunteer potatoes there or compost other fresh potato parts. Or if kept in the container, just make sure you removed every last little spud, and grow something else there for a year so that no trace of potato part remains. I would avoid the solanaceae family group, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers altogether, and plant something unrelated just in case.

We have a lot of scab here and it does live on in the soil. I have never seen it on other vegetables except for yellow carrots here, but we often see it on potatoes. You can reduce the incidence of scab by adding crab shell or shrimp shell to the soil, but if you don't have it elsewhere then of course, better not to spread it to any other soil! If there is really scab in that soil, you might be better off getting rid of it.

But I am pretty certain what you have there is the dreaded potato blight. Or both, it's possible. :(
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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#3

Post: # 31529Unread post Growing Coastal
Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:26 pm

The one year I had potatoes with scab I found that it scraped off the surface easily with a knife and they were the sweetest tasting potatoes. There was no depth to the scab. It did not penetrate the flesh at all.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#4

Post: # 31550Unread post brownrexx
Tue Sep 29, 2020 8:27 am

It's really hard to tell since there is soil on the potatoes but that dopes not look like just scab to me either. I see some brown areas on the potato skin in the middle potato on the left side that look like rot and scab does not cause that.

Scab is basically cosmetic and is only skin deep. It comes from spores that do live in the soil and they survive for years. This is why I grow my potatoes in straw, to keep them out of contact with the soil which I know has scab.

I had trouble with Yukon Gold two years ago and I bought certified disease free seed potatoes. I noticed wilting of the plants but it was not Late Blight which I do recognize. When I dug them out I found tubers which were black in the center and I think that it was a disease called Black Heart. I now grow Lehigh Yellow and have not had any problems.

I would not re-use that soil if it were me.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#5

Post: # 31580Unread post LK2020
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:23 pm

Bower wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 6:52 pm Hi Linda,
Oh my they look awful and I think you have something more than scab there, so I would be reluctant to say if the soil is reusable. Those little white spots and the deep scars look like potato blight to me, and that means remove and destroy every bit of plant and tubers, do not compost them.
Scab is a bacterial disease that only affects the skin of potatoes, you can just cut it off and they're fine to eat. But the blight will rot them to the core and they will stink and spread it to other potatoes in storage, so do get rid of every last one! The blight can overwinter and spread the following year if there is any potato part left in the field.
Blight is a fungal disease and it may remain in the soil as long as there is any plant part left for it to dwell on. You can put the soil through a compost process and it will be fine to reuse as long as you don't get any volunteer potatoes there or compost other fresh potato parts. Or if kept in the container, just make sure you removed every last little spud, and grow something else there for a year so that no trace of potato part remains. I would avoid the solanaceae family group, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers altogether, and plant something unrelated just in case.

We have a lot of scab here and it does live on in the soil. I have never seen it on other vegetables except for yellow carrots here, but we often see it on potatoes. You can reduce the incidence of scab by adding crab shell or shrimp shell to the soil, but if you don't have it elsewhere then of course, better not to spread it to any other soil! If there is really scab in that soil, you might be better off getting rid of it.

But I am pretty certain what you have there is the dreaded potato blight. Or both, it's possible. :(
Right? They look AWFUL!!! Everyone was saying scab can be cut off, but these do look like there is some rot going on there. That's why I originally just wanted to chuck them right away. I guess I should have. Potato blight! Wow, I'm glad I put them on the other side of the basement, away from my other spuds. They're going out now! I should throw away the whole thing - soil, fabric pot, and all, it sounds like. I HATE throwing things away - it's lovely peat based soil from a farm store that's gone out of business - but it's just a 5-gallon pot, and I've never had this problem anywhere else. I'm thinking that must have been one really bad potato!

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#6

Post: # 31581Unread post LK2020
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:24 pm

Growing Coastal wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:26 pm The one year I had potatoes with scab I found that it scraped off the surface easily with a knife and they were the sweetest tasting potatoes. There was no depth to the scab. It did not penetrate the flesh at all.
Hmm, that doesn't sound so bad. But this does look more intrusive into the potatoes themselves.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#7

Post: # 31583Unread post LK2020
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:30 pm

brownrexx wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 8:27 am It's really hard to tell since there is soil on the potatoes but that dopes not look like just scab to me either. I see some brown areas on the potato skin in the middle potato on the left side that look like rot and scab does not cause that.

Scab is basically cosmetic and is only skin deep. It comes from spores that do live in the soil and they survive for years. This is why I grow my potatoes in straw, to keep them out of contact with the soil which I know has scab.

I had trouble with Yukon Gold two years ago and I bought certified disease free seed potatoes. I noticed wilting of the plants but it was not Late Blight which I do recognize. When I dug them out I found tubers which were black in the center and I think that it was a disease called Black Heart. I now grow Lehigh Yellow and have not had any problems.

I would not re-use that soil if it were me.
I have seen your pictures of your beautiful straw-grown potatoes. Yes, I think I have a rotten situation. I had no idea there was trouble brewing. The Yukon Gold plants looked fabulous. My Red Gold potatoes had kind of crummy looking plants b/c I had these little white leafhoppers that really liked sucking the sap from the leaves. But my Red Gold potatoes were fine. That Black Heart sounds awful. Well, I knew my perfect potato year last year had to be beginner's luck. I think the soil goes in the trash.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#8

Post: # 31584Unread post bower
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:31 pm

If it was only scab, you could use the soil for something else, just keep it in container.
Then again, if it's blight, the soil would also be okay for something else (but not tomatoes!!) only as long as you get rid of every tuber and plant part, grow something unrelated.
I'm the same way about hating to throw things out. Soil is soil, it will clean itself up as new things live there. That is my attitude, in general.
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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#9

Post: # 31585Unread post LK2020
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:39 pm

Bower wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:31 pm If it was only scab, you could use the soil for something else, just keep it in container.
Then again, if it's blight, the soil would also be okay for something else (but not tomatoes!!) only as long as you get rid of every tuber and plant part, grow something unrelated.
I'm the same way about hating to throw things out. Soil is soil, it will clean itself up as new things live there. That is my attitude, in general.
Ha ha, maybe I'll plant some lettuce or bok choy in it. I have it placed far away from most other stuff right now, and I could go through it and make sure there aren't any potato bits.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#10

Post: # 31586Unread post LK2020
Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:39 pm

Thank you all, Growing Coastal, Bower, and brownrexx, for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate it!

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#11

Post: # 31596Unread post brownrexx
Tue Sep 29, 2020 6:51 pm

[mention]LK2020[/mention] I also wonder if, being in containers that you may have kept the soil too wet which encouraged some rot. I rarely water my potatoes and sometimes they get quite dry. Other than that Black Heart problem and scab when I planted directly in the soil, I have never had any potato disease problems. When I had that Black Heart I removed the plants and all of the soil touching the potatoes.

Some varieties are more susceptible to scab that others too. I always had ugly scab on my Norland Red potatoes so 2 years ago I tried some other red variety and even though it was in straw, it had bad scab and I discarded the entire crop but it was only a small row so not a big loss. I have not grown red potatoes since then except that I did grow some reddish fingerlings which were OK.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#12

Post: # 31625Unread post LK2020
Wed Sep 30, 2020 11:27 am

brownrexx wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 6:51 pm @LK2020 I also wonder if, being in containers that you may have kept the soil too wet which encouraged some rot. I rarely water my potatoes and sometimes they get quite dry. Other than that Black Heart problem and scab when I planted directly in the soil, I have never had any potato disease problems. When I had that Black Heart I removed the plants and all of the soil touching the potatoes.

Some varieties are more susceptible to scab that others too. I always had ugly scab on my Norland Red potatoes so 2 years ago I tried some other red variety and even though it was in straw, it had bad scab and I discarded the entire crop but it was only a small row so not a big loss. I have not grown red potatoes since then except that I did grow some reddish fingerlings which were OK.
It's possible the soil was too wet in that one container. We had very little rain so at some point I added saucers under some of the potatoes to catch what little rain we did have. Of the two Yukon Gold containers, the "bad' one had a saucer and the "good" one did not. Other varieties with saucers or not were fine. The "bad" YG container is also a little smaller - it was 7-gallon originally but the squirrels ate the felt of my fabric pots to the point that this one is 5-gallon at best now. So if it was wet, it would be worse.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#13

Post: # 31627Unread post LK2020
Wed Sep 30, 2020 11:56 am

I read up on potato blight. It sounds like my "bad" potatoes should be a rotten stinking mess by now if blight was the culprit. I harvested them a month ago, on August 29 2020, and they have been sitting in my basement.

I checked them out today. Not much change except they look drier. So I washed one. It is small, quite warty surface, shriveled, dark, looks dreadful. I cut it open.

Hmm. The potato looks okay. At least, not horrible. One darkish spot. Maybe a little soft, but so are my Red Golds, and they have been delicious.

I'm really surprised the interior looks this good. Does that still seem like blight or rot?

I'm going to post some pictures. Also some of the plant. It's the 2nd potato plant from the left in all the pics, marked by yellow lines/arrows. The 2 potatoes on the left are both of the YG's, the left-most one had potatoes that looked fine, the one 2nd from the left is the "scabby/blighty" one. To me, the leaves look no different from the other YG.

Warty outside
IMG_4192.JPG
Cut open
IMG_4194.JPG
June 2 2020
IMG_3557 crop potatoes June 2 2020 p.jpg
June 10 2020
IMG_3577 crop potatoes June 10 2020 p.jpg
July 23 2020
IMG_3732 crop potatoes July 23 2020 p.jpg
August 12 2020
IMG_3805 crop potatoes August 12 2020 p.jpg
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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#14

Post: # 31637Unread post Growing Coastal
Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:31 pm

Nice the way you have them growing up off the ground like that.
I grew some random potatoes in pots on the ground this year. It worked better than when I tried growing them among tree roots that never let them have enough water.

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Re: Scab in container - can I grow other stuff in there or should I trash the soil?

#15

Post: # 31643Unread post LK2020
Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:09 pm

Growing Coastal wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:31 pm Nice the way you have them growing up off the ground like that.
I grew some random potatoes in pots on the ground this year. It worked better than when I tried growing them among tree roots that never let them have enough water.
Thank you! It's a lot easier on my back. The squirrels enjoy it too, makes it very easy to patrol right down the row, jumping into one pot after the other. They especially love the potato pots right after harvest when the soil is all stirred up and soft.

And they can eye the eggplants better and steal the fruits. That's why there's a sock on the plant, so far it's keeping the rascals away long enough for me to actually harvest a few.

DSC_0095 crop squirrel.jpg
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