[Benandbill]

How disappointing.  This is the 2nd year running our potatoes have been decimated by worms, or wire worms or something and I planted them somewhere completely different.  I haven't grown them in the same place 2 years running ever.  I wonder if it could be the ground has been too well manured and has lots of worms living in it?  I didn't even wait for the leaves to die back as I thought by getting them up earlier and having the younger ones the worms would have less time to have a pop at them.  Does anyone have a similar problem?




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[Salmo]

The holes will almost certainly be wireworm. Earthworms that build up with heavy manuring will not damage crops and are to be encouraged. Often slugs take advantage of the wireworm holes and burrow in.

Normally wireworms will reduce in numbers when ground has been cultivated for a few years. They are the lavae of click beetles. The beetles lay their eggs on grass and their lavae can be 3/4 years in the soil before they hatch into beetles.

Possible sources in your plot could be grass paths, grass weeds not weeded out or the muck heap where your muck came from had been allowed to get infested with grass. Click beetles may have laid their eggs in any of these.

[GrowinGrowinGone]

I had the same problem last year, lost most of mine in the same way.  So this year I decided to do them in potato bags, silly of me for not even thinking about it, but I put the potato bags in the same spot as I planted them last year lol.  But the few bags I have harvested so far out of the 22 bags, not had 1 potato with holes in    I will only do them this way from now on, and so much easier to harvest.  I got my potato bags from Wilkinsons, 2x46ltr bags for £0.75.  Cheap as chips! 

[mumofstig]

what do you fill the bags with? - if you buy compost this can be an expensive way of growing them 

[m1ckz]

holey..bless them..wholey dump them   

[Asherweef]

holey..bless them..wholey dump them   

  You got there before me!

[mumofstig]

if they were whole(y) they would have no holes in   

[devonbarmygardener]

Slugs will also tunnel into spuds (I found this literally when I sliced a baby slug in half when I chopped the tater tonight for tea )

Some bits will be usable - depends on the extent of the damage.
My Vales Sovereign taters have a few holes and were grown in a lottie bed - they have done better than other varieties of potato.

However, when I've grown taters ( including these last year) in bags of compost, I get no holes whatsoever BUT I end up spending more money!

[GrowinGrowinGone]

I fill my bags with compost, this year I used Verve 125ltr bags from B&Q £5.98 a bag.  A sprinkling of BFB, and the odd feed with some tomato feed with seaweed extract in.  This may seem expensive buying all that compost, but it's not like you're not going to get anymore use out of that compost.  Dan on youtube "allotmentdiary" channel re-uses his compost he just grew potatoes in, to grow his Christmas potatoes in Gs3R5XcXVLI and it seems to work well for him.  At worst, the compost that's left from your potatoes you can add it to allotment. 

[Yorkie]

There's a risk in re-using the same compost for later spuds, in that a) there may be diseases which you can't spot, and b) nutrient depletion.

However, the compost is fine for carrots or salads the following year.  Just don't empty it where you plan to grow spuds or tomatoes the following year.

[devonbarmygardener]

There's a risk in re-using the same compost for later spuds, in that a) there may be diseases which you can't spot, and b) nutrient depletion.

However, the compost is fine for carrots or salads the following year.  Just don't empty it where you plan to grow spuds or tomatoes the following year.

Actually, where my maincrop potatoes are the soil, once I've dug the tatos over, is beautifully tilled and carrot ready - a good fine tilth