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Vegetable Gardening

harvesting potatoes near blighted tomatoes

14 years ago

My tomatoes were just hit by late blight last week. The tops of my potatoes, a few beds away, had already died(naturally, I think) when the blight came in. I have not destroyed all the infected tomato plants because some of them are still producing good fruit. I'm trying to figure out when I can dig potatoes for storage. Should I wait until the tomatoes are all gone before exposing the potatoes? Do I need to wait for several days after the tomatoes are gone? Should I wait to dig until frost has killed the blight organism? Any advice would be much appreciated.

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Comments (5)

farmerdilla
14 years ago
It should not affect your harvest. I would not however use them as seed potatoes next year if you have confirmed late blight (Phytophthora infestans).
nygardener
14 years ago
Also use them up, and scrub or discard the storage container, before you begin handling next year's seeds and transplants.
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I agree, the potatoes are fine. I dig mine when the tops die off, or just after the first frost. Frankly, they keep best in the ground, so that's where I leave them until I'm forced to move them. Store in a cool dry place and out of the sunlight, even without the blight if they stay damp there's mold, rot, etc. Annie
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m_lorne
14 years ago
Make sure all of your potato tops are gone. Cut them off even if they are still green. This will do two things:

1. It will signal the potatoes to start hardening their skin (if they have not already)

2. It will remove the main transit for the spores to get to the tubers.

If all of your vines are indeed thoroughly dead, then you need not remove them. However, that does not mean that they have already been infected. They may yet rot in storage, but hopefully not.

Best of luck! I have been struggling with the same scenario, but so far (*knock on virtual wood*) I haven't had any cross infection.

Michael
joannaqcw
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the advice. I've gotten rid of my potato tops, and know I need to wait 2 weeks between that and digging potatoes; I just don't know if I also have to delay digging until 2 weeks after the nearby infected tomatoes are removed.
bcday
14 years ago
I wouldn't dig the potatoes until at least a day or two after every last tomato plant has been pulled up and bagged and put in the trash. This is because when you dig the potatoes, you need to let them air dry for a while to dry the skins before you put the potatoes into storage. There are differing recommendations as to how long you have to leave them out in the open air, but during this time your infected tomato plants will be releasing millions of Late Blight spores into the air. Those spores are going to float around your garden on air currents and a lot of them will land on the potatoes you just dug. Then when you put the potatoes into storage with their cargo of Late Blight spores, the spores will grow and you'll have a mess of rotting potatoes. I would wait until all the tomato plants are long gone.

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