Potatoes not doing well

[PleaseW84myRX8]

Made some fresh soil last year by ordering several different components ranging from rock dust to worm gold and micro/macronutrients. Bought a bag of fertilizer all-purpose mix from Home Depot as a filler but I baked the soil in my oven as I found it to have bugs in it. Mixed everything together and got to planting.

My son and I took some sprouting potatoes (Idaho Spuds) and put them in our indoor greenhouse with sun lamps. It took almost 2 days for the potato to shoot up almost 9 inches. Then, after that it just stopped growing. Then, about a week later, the oldest leaf stems and leaves started dying out. They wilt but don't seem to dry up. I checked to see if there is too much water and the soil seems properly moist. Unless they need really dry soil, I didn't think this was an issue.

I don't know my pH levels but doing a quick home test it seems to be a bit acidic around 6.0. Possibly lower. But I was told potatoes like it between 5 and 6 so I don't see how this would cause it harm.

I grew tomatoes in this soil last year and the same problem was occurring to the tomatoes. Additionally, pumpkin seeds, cucumbers, thyme, and bell peppers don't seem to take to the soil very well. They sprout, do really well at first, but then they all start to slow down or stop growing at a certain point. The tomatoes grew very well and so fast that I actually had a problem keeping up. BUT I still had an issue where the oldest leaves would slowly wilt away and just fall off.

Could I get some help on this? I will respond to questions.

 

[Thomas Gannon]

that sounds peculiar. It might be an over watering problem, but that doesn't sound like thats the problem. What color are the leaves when they die back? How often are you watering them? Do you put in fertilizer?

 

[Chuck]

Made some fresh soil last year by ordering several different components ranging from rock dust to worm gold and micro/macronutrients. Bought a bag of fertilizer all-purpose mix from Home Depot as a filler but I baked the soil in my oven as I found it to have bugs in it. Mixed everything together and got to planting.

My son and I took some sprouting potatoes (Idaho Spuds) and put them in our indoor greenhouse with sun lamps. It took almost 2 days for the potato to shoot up almost 9 inches. Then, after that it just stopped growing. Then, about a week later, the oldest leaf stems and leaves started dying out. They wilt but don't seem to dry up. I checked to see if there is too much water and the soil seems properly moist. Unless they need really dry soil, I didn't think this was an issue.

I don't know my pH levels but doing a quick home test it seems to be a bit acidic around 6.0. Possibly lower. But I was told potatoes like it between 5 and 6 so I don't see how this would cause it harm.

I grew tomatoes in this soil last year and the same problem was occurring to the tomatoes. Additionally, pumpkin seeds, cucumbers, thyme, and bell peppers don't seem to take to the soil very well. They sprout, do really well at first, but then they all start to slow down or stop growing at a certain point. The tomatoes grew very well and so fast that I actually had a problem keeping up. BUT I still had an issue where the oldest leaves would slowly wilt away and just fall off.

Could I get some help on this? I will respond to questions.

Are there any roots you can examine? You mentioned bugs. Were they insects or grubs?. On you tomatoes last year. That sounds like blight or possibly a virus and could it be that, if it was blight or virus it transferred to your potatoes through the soil?

I have had a similar thing happen to potatoes and it ended up being cutworms eating the roots

 

[PleaseW84myRX8]

I water maybe once every 4 days. I generally check the top 5 inches of soil to see if it is moist or getting loose before I water. There are times where I will only water once a week, though, as the soil still seems moist. I have coconut coir inside so it retains the water fairly well. I used a 7-2-1 fertilizer and some Organic Kelogg's potting mix which I think was 9-9-9. So my initial Nitrogen was probably a bit high and burning?

I have had the soil tested for blight, and it came up negative but I am going to make a trip tomorrow to check again, just in case. I can dig up the roots of one of the plants to check and see what their condition is. I'll take a picture and post it. As for bugs, I believe they are fruit flies. I put a garlic mixture in with my water, so I have seen very few of them this year so far, but they are still there in small numbers. I'll check on those worms.

Another thing to note, I suppose, is that my Spinach, Green Onions, and Cilantro all do really well. No problems. My cilantro is off to a very slow start this year, though. Usually they sprout up like weeds but it has been a full week and they have only just made it past 1 inch tall. May be another issue in the soil?

 

[Chuck]

I thinik the problem might be a lack of phosphorous which is needed for root developement. Potatoes need more phosphorous than nitrogen early on whereas spinach and onions need more nitrogen. Anyway send a pic of the roots and the plant itself. Maybe they will show something

 

[Corzhens]

Gee, that is a hard one. When we had potatoes in the backyard, I find it so delicate that watering should be regular, not excessive nor insufficient. And it thrives in the sun here. And since you said that it was growing fast on the first 2 days so I guess there is a problem with the soil, may be pests like the micro-organisms that ruin the roots. I'm sorry if I have no clear diagnosis.

 

[PleaseW84myRX8]

Here are some photos. Dug up one of them. I have 3 more growing showing the same symptoms so if this one dies I guess it will be for the great good

 

[Chuck]

Here are some photos. Dug up one of them. I have 3 more growing showing the same symptoms so if this one dies I guess it will be for the great good

Your roots look OK. Why haven't you hilled them up to just below the start of the leaves? Just replant it but plant almost up to the leaves and hill up the others

 

[PleaseW84myRX8]

Your roots look OK. Why haven't you hilled them up to just below the start of the leaves? Just replant it but plant almost up to the leaves and hill up the others

I'll give that a shot. Thanks.

 

[remnant]

Looking at your growth medium and other variants necessary for growth, it looks that your potatoes have the right conditions for growth including sun lamps. So what follows from deductive reasoning is that the only physiological cause for their morbidity is excess watering. Other than that, the other possibility would be infectious diseases or bugs since potatoes are very susceptible plants.