Local Potato Crop Looking Good After Slow Start

After a cool wet spring to start the 2017, it appears that the local potato crop has rebound nicely.  Washington State University's Tim Waters says thanks to the hot weather for the past two weeks, the area is very close to on schedule for degree days.  But after days of above average heat, there are some new concerns that have developed.

“Evapotranspiration rates are very high, so one of the things that we worry about is that these vines start to crash, a lot of the varieties the vines will start to ceness a little bit, and you get these hill with a lot of heat sitting on them, so I worry a bit about having a few quality issues with the heat that we’ve had recently.”

Waters told the Washington Ag Network it’s important that vegetable growers across the Columbia Basin maintain an appropriate watering schedule.

“Onions and potatoes do slowdown their growth a little bit when you get to these 100 degree days, so it’s important to keep up with your water because we’ll start to see an increase in diseases if we start to over water.”

Waters said for the most part, the yields of this year’s potato crop look good, and he’s expecting a good harvest.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com