How to Maintain Potato Health
Plant nutrients are predominantly associated with increasing yield and quality through ensuring no mineral deficiency is restricting growth and development.
However plant nutrients can also help the plant protect itself from disease. A well balanced nutrition programme will ensure that the plants cellular structure is robust and resilient, whilst avoiding excessive nutrient build up that can also be detrimental to plant health. There are numerous examples of nutrients being cited for their role in plant health, with nitrogen, potassium, manganese, zinc, copper and molybdenum being examples.
Foliar diseases
Nitrogen applications can have the effect of encouraging foliar diseases, particularly applications later in the season which delay maturity and increase the risk of blight infection.
Tuber diseases
Calcium is an important nutrient for preventing tuber diseases since by strengthening cell walls it also strengthens tuber skins so providing better resistance to many diseases. Boron enhances the effect of Calcium by improving uptake and so and can reduce levels of common scab and other tuber diseases, Zinc can minimise powdery scab Sulfur may reduce both powdery and common scab infection.
Recommended Yara fertilisers for potatoes
Related articles
How to Reduce Potato Foliar Diseases
Nitrogen applications can have the effect of encouraging foliar diseases.
How to Reduce the Incidence of Potato Soft Rots
Soft rots are a range of warm weather bacterial diseases, usually Erwinia spp, that enter the tubers through mechanical damage and rots the tubers in storage.
Potato Fertilizer Programmes
Yara's crop nutrition programmes for potatoes can help you to achieve excellent crop performance and maximise the yield and quality of all potato crops.
