Do you have bin management plan to support your potatoes from load-in through suberization?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked various producers exactly this question and been greeted with a look of surprise. I understand. For more than 60 years, producers have depended almost solely on CIPC for sprout control. Since CIPC can’t be applied until after suberization, producers’ plan from load-in through suberization is typically…well…not much beyond shutting the doors and going back to harvesting. Would you change your ‘close it and forget it’ mindset if you knew a different management strategy could offer real returns?
I’ve used the analogy before that a storage bin is a hotel rather than a hospital. Storage won’t improve tubers, but a well-constructed, well-ventilated, well-managed storage should successfully carry forward the quality and overall volume of stored product. The caveat in that sentence comes down to support: as producers know, tubers left to naturally age will lose both quality and weight over time.
The biggest misunderstanding amongst potato growers is when losses actually occur. Potatoes age and lose salable weight from the very first day of storage. Producers of very early varieties like Caribou or Columbus can see that reality most easily, since their tubers can literally come out of the field already sprouting. In fact, however, the storability clock starts ticking on all varieties from day one of storage.
There’s exactly one product available to slow that clock: 1,4SIGHT.
Unlike conventional CIPC, 1,4SIGHT isn’t a sprout suppressant. Rather, it’s a fully reversible dormancy enhancer. A synthetic version of a naturally-occurring potato hormone, 1,4SIGHT triggers enzymes within the potato that calm the tuber’s respiration. By actively encouraging dormancy, 1,4SIGHT reduces shrink, decreases the appearance of pressure bruise, and allows tubers to store their energy rather than sprouting.
Here’s the important part: unlike CIPC, 1,4SIGHT can be applied right at bin closure. In fact, for maximum benefit, it should be applied right at bin closure to reduce losses from the earliest part of the storage season. In a bin planned for short storage, 1,4 SIGHT can operate as a highly effective stand-alone storage enhancer. In piles that are likely to remain in storage longer, 1,4SIGHT can be applied when the doors close, then followed with post-suberization applications of 1,4SIGHT only, CIPC or a combination of the two.
I know adding one more thing to the plate at harvest can sound daunting. Applying 1,4SIGHT is a good insurance policy that’s worth the (small) effort!
