The potato crop on Prince Edward Island has been slow to emerge up to the Canada Day long weekend, the July 7 P.E.I. Potato Agronomy update from Ryan Barrett said. There hasn’t been many report of set rot or drown outs, but since the Canada Day weekend when it rained, these issues have increased particularly in West Prince.
Barrett noted there has been a lot of worry about the amount of potato virus Y (PVY) inoculum this year.
“Growers are advised to be very diligent with oil and aphicide applications very soon after emergence and consistently through the rapid growth phase,” Barrett said in the report. Many growers have reported fully emerged potatoes are growing quickly, so oil application every four to five days is needed.
While there aren’t complete results from the first week of Aphid Alert, reports so far have total aphid numbers low. Barrett noted some of the first collections were compromised by recent rains.
There have been a few reports of adult Colorado Potato Beetles here and there, but no reports of significant damage so far. Barrett said one person reported large number of click beetles being evident in the last week, but beetle egg-laying may have been delayed somewhat this year by some of the cooler conditions in April and May.
Barrett noted there have been lots of issues with weeds this year, particularly grasses, with people needing to get grass herbicides on. There have also been several reports of volunteer potatoes, specifically near hedgerows and sheltered areas.
These updates were provided during the first Crop Update Meeting of the season which was held July 4 in Kensington, P.E.I.
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