Most of my potato plants have been showing this leaf curl, but I've attributed it to the heat and dryness. Other plants have also been curling up like that, and lower temperatures and water seem to help if not alleviate the problem.

I've had problems with the Carola, though. Either it's not a very hardy variety or it simply can't take the heat. One sprouted, but after I planted it, it just barely got above the soil when it died and dried up. The other Carola lasted two months before looking pinched at the soil line, flopping over, and drying up. I won't try Carola again.

Did you do any research on potato diseases?

Try looking up "Potato Leaf Roll Virus"

*wink*

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for Potato Leaf Roll Virus Info

violet, I did do considerable research before I posted. It it were potato leaf roll virus, then it seems it would infect all the plants, not just some (I read it was spread by aphids). Also, it appears that the virus comes from infected seed potatoes. If that's the case, I should get back to the company I bought them from. I was really looking to see if someone could confirm from the pics what this *really* is. Have you had any direct experience with potato leaf roll virus? Based on the pic, do you think this is the *only* thing it could possibly be?

Doing internet research on these things can sometimes be like trying to diagnose your own illness: there are lots of things it *could* be, but nailing down what it really *is* usually takes a professional - or in the case of gardening, someone more experienced than me. :)

My potatoes are doing the same thing. They look identical to yours. Also now some of the branches are starting to fall over. I bet in another two weeks they are laying down.

I revisited my instruction sheet and it says once they fall over, you wait 2 weeks for the skins to set then you can dig them up.

So this browning and curling problem that we have, may just be what happens before they fall over.

I know for me here in PA we've been getting alot of rain so it cant be lack of water.

I dug one up and it was the size of a baseball. I planted yukon gold so I'm not sure how big they'll get. I'm happy with the baseball size for my first year of potoatoes.

I've seen it before, it can be difficult to diagnose with 100 percent certainty. Aside from infected potatoes, it can also be spread by aphids which may be why you are only seeing it on certain plants and not all. It could also be Rhizoctonia stem canker. The one way to find out for sure is to have the foliage tested by a lab.

Don't think it's Rhizoctonia.

German Butterball has been shown to have disease resistance which is why you're probably not seeing it affected.

maria - not sure about your Yukons but these Carola have only been in the ground 60+ days and they are supposed to need a min of 90 to reach maturity.

violet and jean - thanks for the follow up. I think I'll contact the seed supplier and see if they've heard from any other customers with the same problem. I don't know where else it could have come from.

Good idea, not enough people follow up with their seed supplier.... keep in mind that if any of your neighbors are growing potatoes and they're infected, then aphids likely introduced it to yours - assuming this is the problem.

All my potato plants have gone brown and fallen flat on the ground. It is too soon - I planted May13th and some have a maturity of 120 days. Yukon Gold, Russett Burbank,etc. So should I try to dig these up now? The pictures posted look good. Mine look like burnt out stems, no leaves. Any ideas?

Are your potatoes stunted in growth? Some of mine are, the ones that have the worst leaf curl. I planted certified seed potatoes in a raised bed with good bagged soil mixed with bagged compost. But all except a couple have leaves curling up like that.

Last year, I planted store bought potatoes in-ground in my moondust soil, and the leaves never curled like this. This year, I did everything right.

But not all of the potatoes have this. The Onaway and one of the All Blue are big and healthy, and they were in the same raised bed as the others.

I never saw any aphids. Flea beetles and grasshoppers, but no aphids.

What's the maturity days for Yukon Gold? My instruction sheet that came along with the seed potato does not indicate how many days to maturity. Can someone tell me please....

According to Ronniger's, Yukon Gold is an early potato. They don't give days to maturity and I wouldn't put much stock in that statistic anyway.

Potato vines around here are showing signs of maturity. They aren't collapsing but are starting to yellow and shrivel a bit. I think this is pretty normal for this stage of the season.

Potatoes are related to tomatoes and are subject to a similar assortment of foliage diseases. It's almost inevitable that some time during the summer they will succumb to something. As with tomatoes, you have to hope it won't happen before you get a crop.

I believe that fending off fungus diseases through the main part of the growing season is the most important thing you can do. A copper fungicide is good for this. It has to be used as a preventative, not a cure.

Seed certification is primarily to control viruses, which are transmitted via plant tissue (the tubers). Fungus diseases are air borne or carried by insects, so there is nothing that certification can do about that.

This information is from memory. If I have made any errors, let me know.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Ronniger's

I had the same problem and when I called my cooperatve extension I was told it was sunburn.

Sunburn???? On potato leaves???? I've never heard of such a thing. Can't imagine it ever happening.

Jim

Now some of the new leaves coming up are warped and misshapened. That happened last year with my storeboughts, which is why I didn't try the storeboughts this year.

Spuds turned out okay, though. Hopefully, they will this year, too.

Most of my Red Norland's leaves are turning brown and curling up. I dug one plant up last night for dinner and the potatos were fine, although there was a lot of very little ones. About the size of a dime. But there were also a few good size ones(about the size of a baseball). As long as the plants still have some green on them, the potatos are still growing, right? I hope so, there were much more very small ones then there were big ones. Thanks for the help.