December 2024 - 54
VEG CONNECTIONS
Winters are not cold enough to
reduce risk of volunteer potatoes
BY ABIGAIL COHEN AND ZSOFIA
SZENDREI
P
otatoes are an important crop
to Michigan's economy so
it might come as a surprise
to some that not all potatoes are
desirable. Volunteer potatoes are
a unique type of weed: they are
potatoes left in the soil after a
potato crop is harvested.
Volunteer potatoes emerge in the
spring and become weeds for corn,
soybean and rotational crops. When
winters were sufficiently cold in the
past, volunteers were not an issue.
The leftover potatoes would freeze
in the soil. With warming winters,
unwanted potato plants have become
an issue almost every year. Leftover
tubers in the ground produce new
daughter tubers and can continue
to emerge years after the initial
planting, which can be problematic.
A. MEAN RISK ACROSS 2000-2004
The re-emergence not only poses
a contamination risk and competes
with other field crops for resources,
but can also act as a reservoir for
pests and pathogens of potato.
A new analysis of soil temperature
over a 25-year period reveals that
the risk of volunteer potato growth
is high in most areas of Michigan
(Fig. 1). The probability of volunteer
emergence is determined by
the amount and depth of tubers
remaining in the soil after harvest.
With sufficient cold exposure, the
tuber will not survive the winter,
and tubers closer to the surface
have more cold exposure than those
deeper in the soil.
For the potatoes closer to the
surface, there is a model developed
by researchers at Michigan State
University that considers the variation
in soil temperature by depth. That
model was used to estimate the
risk of volunteer survival using soil
temperatures at 2- and 4- inches,
and the number of hours when soil
temperature is under 27° F between
A low risk (1) of potatoes surviving the winter is defined as
>120 frost hours at both 2- and 4-inch depth and a high risk
(3) for having potato volunteers is <120 frost hours at both 2
and 4 inches. " Frost hours " are the number of hours when soil
temperature is under 27° F between November 1st and March
31st. Red color on the map indicates high risk of having potato
volunteers survive the winter and blue a low risk.
B. SELECT YEARS WITH LOW RISK
Figure 1. Image courtesy of Abigail Cohen and Zsofia Szendrei.
54 | DECEMBER 2024
December 2024
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2024
Editor’s Letter
Talking Tech
Investing in your plant health
Watermelon tests
From farm to can
Cucumber powerhouse
Maximizing crop yield, sustainability at the Great Lakes EXPO
Introducing the 40 Under 40 Class of 2024
2025 VGN Buyers Guide
Veg Connections
Farm Market & Agritourism
Ag Labor Review
Business
Industry News
Events
Classifieds
Ad Index
December 2024 - 1
December 2024 - 2
December 2024 - 3
December 2024 - Editor’s Letter
December 2024 - 5
December 2024 - Talking Tech
December 2024 - 7
December 2024 - Investing in your plant health
December 2024 - 9
December 2024 - Watermelon tests
December 2024 - 11
December 2024 - 12
December 2024 - 13
December 2024 - From farm to can
December 2024 - 15
December 2024 - 16
December 2024 - 17
December 2024 - Cucumber powerhouse
December 2024 - 19
December 2024 - 20
December 2024 - 21
December 2024 - 22
December 2024 - 23
December 2024 - Maximizing crop yield, sustainability at the Great Lakes EXPO
December 2024 - 25
December 2024 - 26
December 2024 - Introducing the 40 Under 40 Class of 2024
December 2024 - 28
December 2024 - 29
December 2024 - 30
December 2024 - 31
December 2024 - 32
December 2024 - 33
December 2024 - 34
December 2024 - 2025 VGN Buyers Guide
December 2024 - 36
December 2024 - 37
December 2024 - 38
December 2024 - 39
December 2024 - 40
December 2024 - 41
December 2024 - 42
December 2024 - 43
December 2024 - 44
December 2024 - 45
December 2024 - 46
December 2024 - 47
December 2024 - 48
December 2024 - 49
December 2024 - 50
December 2024 - 51
December 2024 - 52
December 2024 - 53
December 2024 - Veg Connections
December 2024 - 55
December 2024 - Farm Market & Agritourism
December 2024 - 57
December 2024 - Ag Labor Review
December 2024 - 59
December 2024 - Business
December 2024 - 61
December 2024 - Industry News
December 2024 - Events
December 2024 - Classifieds
December 2024 - 65
December 2024 - Ad Index
December 2024 - 67
December 2024 - 68
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