Polonia: Frosts hit young potato crops. "It can’t be saved"
On the night of 7 to 8 May in the Łódź province, ground temperatures in some places dropped to around -1°C. Although the scale of the phenomenon was not large, the effects of light frosts may leave their mark on this year’s crops of young potatoes.
Losses in potato crops
Plantations where farmers had already managed to uncover potatoes from protective fleece suffered particularly. Where the plants remained covered, no damage was observed. In the uncovered fields, some leaves were clearly damaged - they are dark green, and in some places even brown, which indicates that the tissues were frozen.
- These are not total losses, but they will definitely have an impact on growth. The leaves are burnt, and the tops of the bushes suffered the most - says a farmer from near Sieradz. - We planned to dig up next week, now some of the digging may be postponed. Fortunately, we did not uncover potatoes in all the fields, only in some.
Although the full scale of losses is not yet visible, some farmers expect delays in plant development and even lower yields.
Young and early imported potatoes are not the same. How to recognize them and avoid being fooled?
- We are not panicking for now. We have to wait a few days for the plant to react. If the weather improves, the potato should regenerate. We will probably know more in two or three days, when the changes in the haulms will be more visible. But everything will really become clear only during harvest - we hear. - The worst thing is that they are predicting another cold night. If frost comes again, it could be worse, so today we will probably have to cover uncovered crops just for this one uncertain night that is coming. If the same potatoes are not covered and a solid frost comes, there will be no recovery.
Some farmers have noticed that potatoes that were not covered at all coped better with the sudden cooling.
- I have fields where potatoes were not covered at all - the plants look better there than those under the fleece. They have simply hardened off more, but also because they are much smaller than those covered.
The last frosts of this spring?
Meteorological forecasts predict that the night of May 8-9 may bring even lower temperatures. These will probably be the last, but also the coldest frosts of this spring, although some forecasts show that low temperatures will persist until the beginning of next week.
Young potatoes are particularly sensitive to temperature drops, especially during the phase of intensive growth of the above-ground part of the plant. Frosts can disrupt the photosynthesis process and slow down tuber development, which consequently affects the yield and quality of the harvest.
Fuente: .sadyogrody.pl
