Potato planting Question

[Anonymous-0]

Can anyone tell me if it is OK to plant potatoes on last years tomato ground? A friend told me it's not a good idea.

 

[Allan in NE]

Don't know 'bout the 'mater ground, but taters on taters will produce scab.

Allan

 

[OH Boy]

I think I read somewhere they are very closely related in their family tree so are susceptible to disease problems when planted on the same ground like that.

 

[mazemeister]

depends. they are in the same family, and share many diseases and insect pests. if it's just a hobby garden, not too much area we're talking about, and the ground was rotated to unrelated crops for the previous few years, I wouldn't worry about it. when we were growing potatoes commercially, our rotation was 2 years potatoes, 1 year grain. "ideally" longer rotations are in general better- so if you can, give the tomato ground a year or 2 or 3 off before going back to nightshade family.

course it also depends on how much disease was there for tomatoes- if they were super clean, might not be too bad.

 

[JBruce]

I've heard that too and don't doubt it but must depend on the ground. Planted potatoes on site of barn that burnt for 15 plus years and always had very good potatoes. Only casualty was when we turned the big boar hog in to clean up the small potatoes he started eating a row of green tomatoes on one side of the patch-got about two thirds to the other end and keeled over dead.

 

[Matt from CT]

+1

It's not like the pathogens that build up in one part of my garden can't migrate a whole 12' on their own to a different part if I "rotate" stuff. A critter that couldn't do that on it's own sure wouldn't survive in nature very long.

Not everything that is a problem and a good solution for a commercial grower is the a problem and solution for a home gardener, and vice-versa.

 

[Anonymous-0]

There are potatoes that resist scab infection.Satina is a yellow potato that has been scab free for me.