Year-Round IPM Program Pages
This year-round IPM program covers the major pests of both commercial and seed potato production fields in California.
About Maturation and Harvest
- Mitigate pesticide effects on air and water quality.
What should you be doing during this time?
Where tuberworm can be a problem, use hilling as needed to keep tubers covered.
Monitor for late blight and early blight. Apply fungicide or vine-killing agent as needed (according to the Pest Management Guidelines) to control late blight before harvest and prevent tuber infections.
Look for Sclerotium stem rot and consider early harvest if present.
Irrigate as needed. Manage water for late-season weed control and to avoid disease.
Apply contact herbicide or desiccant as needed for complete vinekill and control of nutsedge and other weeds.
Allow tubers to mature and set skin after vine kill and before harvest.
Harvest at proper soil moisture and temperature.
Use careful harvesting and handling procedures to reduce bruising.
After harvest, observe crop for tuber rots, nematodes, and insect damage. Use these observations to decide how stored tubers will be handled and to assess the effectiveness of the season's pest management program before planning the next season's program.