Potato Tuber Diseases

A number of fungi, fungal-like organisms and bacteria are capable of causing disease in potato tubers. Symptoms may be present at harvest, some diseases spread through stored tubers and some will only develop significantly during storage. The most serious are the tuber rots, but there are also economically damaging “blemish” diseases.

The links below provide a guide to the visual symptoms of many of the diseases. At Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research we use a combination of techniques to provide a very accurate identification of the cause of tuber disease – please contact us for further advice or information.

The principal tuber rots include:

• Blackleg/bacterial soft rot (Pectobacterium atrosepticum, P. carotovorum, Dickeya sp.)
• Blight (Phytophthora infestans)
• Dry rot (Fusarium sp.)
• Gangrene (Phoma exigua var. foveata)
• Pink rot (Phytophthora erythroseptica)

The principal blemish diseases include:

• Black Dot
• Black Scurf
• Common Scab
• Powdery Scab
• Silver Scurf
• Skin Spot