We have just left June with over 13 inches of rain to our credit. Great if you are a mushroom, although I must say that I have seen few mushrooms growing despite the water and the heat that is present. Lesson one, water and heat don't necessarily mean great growing conditions. You need a balance of both. At one point last week, there was that balance and most of the crops looked good despite the amount of water they were facing. It would be wet over night but a southwest wind and good drying conditions would prevail to keep the balance of the two in check. The last few days here not so much. It has been overcast and wet along with humid and that spells danger for the growth of fungal diseases. I have been diligent in my treatment of that condition and so far I cannot see a difference.
Lesson two has been the potatoes. We have grown those fingerling potatoes for about five or six years, maybe longer. Yet I learned more yesterday in talking to the gentleman at Ronaningers in Colorado in 15 minutes than I did in my experience in the field.
It started with our concern that the excessive amount of water would damage the crop. Should we harvest the potatoes and put them in storage now or wait and see what happens? Well, I don't have a storage shed that cools to 45-50 degrees and is dark, so that option is out. But what if they are left in the ground with this heat and moisture? Won't they want to sprout and grow new tubers? I found out that a potato goes dormant for up to six weeks once it is done growing and by then I should have them all harvested and sold.
On top of that information I learned that we have been harvesting them "green". I noticed that the skins have been easy to peel. That's what is known as green. It's OK to harvest and sell but the potato doesn't have time to toughen its skin and so it will not store for very long. I don't know; for dinner last night I ate potatoes that have been sitting in my crisper for about a week and they were fine. However, to store for months, that potato skin needs to be thicker and ours definitely is not at that stage, which means that the plant has to be dead which they are not at this time. If I do wait that long, because of all of the water, I run the risk of phytophra (sorry spelling is wrong but it is an airborne disease that can sit in the soil for a long time). As I have harvested the potatoes I have noticed that small white nodules have appeared. This is a condition in which the plant's pores have opened and it is now exposed to the dangers of soil and airborne diseases including my dear friend late blight. What to do? Harvest as soon as possible. Which brings me back to my first problem which is no adequate storage for potatoes that are still green! Now you know why farming is not a top five occupation.
So for next year we have to decide if it is worth investing in a storage place and extend the selling season of the potatoes or continue to harvest them at this stage and sell them. My thought now is to stay the course because if you can move them as you harvest them it is going to be better than chancing them sitting around and possibly rotting which leaves you with nothing.
