I dug my russets this weekend. By weight, it was a good yield, and I got a lot of big baker size, which is what I want. But so many knobby tubers! Really grotesque
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Several years ago I had this happen to some Bintje potatoes.
I think it is caused by high levels of phosphates - which is one of the things that can also cause carrots to fork.
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I’ve heard it could be be nitrogen
But I’m suspecting the heaviness of my soil, which seems much worse than normal this year
Many fertilizers contain Ammonium Phosphate which is N and phosphate but the phosphate is what I’d be looking at (also sold as triple and super phosphate).
Way back my soil tests showed VERY deficient in phosphates and that year I must have added too much (I never use N ferts so I’m thinkin’ it was the Phos.) That’s the only time I had knobby spuds.
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Lois, what did you fertilize with? Kryptonite?
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Important question is: can you make people out of any of them?
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What I’m wondering is: is there a way to find if these have hollow heart w/o cutting them open?
Apparently the conditions may be related
Do they float in water…the ones that float higher may be hollow. Try a spud you got from the store, cut it open to make sure it’s not hollow and float the pieces with your mutant spuds. If your float with more of the spud at the surface or even above, they might be hollow.
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Good idea - that works with cherries, I know
What info are you looking for when you float the cherries?
If curculio larvae are inside - if they are, they leave a hollow, and the cherry floats
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Update on the knobby potatoes - I cut them into normal potato sizes and let them cure, which they did very well. The cut skin callused to the point where I could bake them, and none have rotted.
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