Potatoes - something is eating them

All fine until recently, but now find a few plants where leaves are eaten (holes)
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx351/Tafflad/garden/leaf.jpg

and on the underside of leaves what looks like shiny metallic patches.
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx351/Tafflad/garden/rear.jpg

On some leaves there are almost through holes - but they are thin brown/sliver patches / blotches

On front of a few leaves it is almost like burn marks .. as if chemical drops have been at it.
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx351/Tafflad/garden/splodges.jpg


May be more than one problem I guess ...... know there are knowledgeable people here, so advice appreciated.

 

Hi Sargen,

The holes look more like catterpillar damage than slugs, you might be lucky and have a Deaths Head Hawk Moth on them If the catterpillar is big enough to shove you over on the sofa and wrestle the remote of you then its probably that.

The spots look like scorch marks, sun coming out after the rain & the droplets lensing the light, nothing to worry about.

 

Both problems are the result of scorching. You will find that the brown patches will, eventually become holes. Purely physiological and nothing to worry about.

 

I wouldn't worry about the leaves on tatties, Sargan.
You're not going to eat them :D

 

Alice has a good point there.:D:D

 

erm.. respectfully, I disagree - it's not uncommon for poptato crops to fail utterly because something's eaten them, OR they've been attacked by a fungus (this happens a lot, especially from August onwards when nights get cooler).

I'm not an expert and not sure if yours is the case, but the NO. 1 MOST FEARED SPUD ENEMY is the larvae of the Colorado beetle. If left unchecked, it can devastate potato plants leaving nothing but stalks in the same way as locusts do, in which case you'll get no crop as the photosynthesis will stop, no sugars will be produced and there'll be nothing to store in the tubers.

The holes in your potato's leaves do look to me like they could be the Colorado bug work. Look it up, I'd post a link but afraid that'll flag up as spam. The beetles are about the size of your little finger nail, with distinctive black and yellow stripes on the wings. The larvae are brick-red with a black head.

If you do find the larvae on your plants (they sometimes drop to the ground and hide so you may not notice them until there's a lot of them, also they are quite small when very young), they can be hand-picked as they're rather slow fellas, but a pesticide might be more useful, especially against the beetles themselves as they'll continue to lay eggs.

Best of luck!

 

Oh. According to DEFRA, they aren't well etablished in the UK but i'm telling you, if there's a tato plant, the Colorads will find it! They're an absolute nightmare for potato growers. Look up the defra leaflet, I'll post a link in the next post but it may get help up by the forum security settiings

 

http://fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/publications/documents/factsheets/col.pdf

 

some info on different forms of control here, including non-pesticide methods
Colorado Potato Beetle

 

You are just scare mongering. The damage is definitely not Colarado Beetle damage.

 

Well. I may be. But I spent 15 years of my childhood and youth hepling my parents fight Colorado beetle EVERY. SINGLE. SUMMER. They have a sizeable allotment and the potato patch was a good 3-4 sq m. My whole family depended on the crop for our food in winter so you can imagine the scale of the work.

That first photo looks to me like it could perfectly well be Colorado beetle damage. If it's not, all the better, but that pic is certainly the work of a pest.

BUT as I say I've discovered Colorado beetle aren't well established in the UK so consider yourselves lucky folks because they are a no.1 threat to potato crops all other the world.

They apparently also like to munch on other plants of the same genus, Solanaceae. But I personally never saw them on my parents' tomatoes or aubergines. Maybe they only go for those in hotter climates where they are yummmier :D. Or maybe only if there's so many of them they're desperate. Maybe they just don't like British spuds :WINK1:

 

Hi Idig,

Been aware of the colorado beetle for a long while, fortunately never seen one.

Aways pays to be vigilant.

Funily enough, the blight took out my tomatoes and potatoes last year but left the peppers that were next to them, would have thought it would take out all the solancea

 

I live in FIFE surrounded by potato seed growers

If a colarado beetle is found it has to be reported, we get leaflets on this

I have not been a gardener until this Spring so have never seen one and apparently they are very rare in the UK

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Us soft southerners rely on your vigilance Jack