While the potato crop on Prince Edward Island is looking good it will need a timely rain to put it over the top, the Aug. 3 P.E.I. Potato Agronomy Update said.
“I haven’t pulled many tops yet, but I’m hearing reports from growers of a good number of tubers per plant overall. I think that we still have the potential for a very good crop, provided that some moisture arrives soon,” Ryan Barrett, the research coordinator with the P.E.I. Potato Board said in the report.
The past week on the Island was sunny and warm. Some growers in Prince County received between five to 15 mm of rain over the weekend in thundershowers. The rains were spotty with eastern P.E.I. not receiving much at all.
“Most growers I’ve talked to this week report that the crop is not suffering due to lack of moisture just yet, but soil moisture levels are starting to hit wilting point levels and will require immediate top up with either irrigation or rainfall (or both),” Barrett said.
Overall July 2022 rainfall was close to historical averages across the province, the report noted.
Regionally, growers in west Prince are reporting higher than normal levels of Colorado potato beetles, with many having applied foliar sprays to help control populations. there have also been a few reports of white mold in the area. Provincially though there have been few reports of fungal disease.
There has been evidence of European corn borers surviving pesticide applications and making their way into stems, but the level of infestation isn’t considered to be terrible. Aphid numbers have declined significantly in the last couple of weeks.
“While most acres look good, there is the occasional field (usually planted in June) where emergence rate is not great. But majority of the crop looks very good,” Barrett said.
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