Vegetable growers - potato help please!

[BCBG]

I have a lovely established veg garden with no real problems apart from my potatoes . they are grown in raised beds (Nicola, Lady Christobel, Duke of York and Charlotte) and have cropped/are cropped well, but are so infested with wireworm as to make them inedible ...where have I gone wrong? It happened last year so I deliberately chose varieties that said they were resistant but this is terrible! I am going to chuck the whole crop on the bonfire and never grow them again unless some kindly allotment MNer can tell me how to cure the problem

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I think maybe you'd do better to grow them in pots if wireworm is a problem.

[werewolf]

For wireworm, I'd get some nematodes from somewhere like Green Gardener.

Put wireworm in the search box.

[BCBG]

Thankyou! I had never heard of Green Gardener but have just ordered the nematodes so here goes - Armageddon

[serin]

I would give the ground a couple of years break from spuds and take badbadkittens advice and grow in pots or big eco bags.

[BCBG]

Yes, I agree: pots it is... but we grow about 3 square yards of potatos for our family so that is a lot of pots to find room for if it is one plant per pot?

[Chatelaine]

You should rotate potatoes, grow them somewhere else next time.

[Horshamchildminder]

I used dustbins for my potatoes and it has worked brilliantly. I have 4 old dustbins, all from freecycle. If you search it on you tube it shows you extactly how, with creating the correct drainage etc. We have loads. I put about 5 seed potatoes in each bin. They are growing really well and I don't think we will be buying potatoes for a while! I find the bins easier to use as you can keep adding soil every few days to keep building it up, till you get to the top, to maximise growth.

[funtimewincies]

Not much to add, all good suggestions. Nemetodes also available from WigglyWigglers and Harrod Horticulture (I'm also trying the ones for carrot fly this year).

Another 'trick' is to plant half potatoes (any random odd ones) in holes and mark the spot. Dig them up every few weeks and repeat through the growing season. 'Open' potatoes are supposed to be more tempting (easier to burrow).

Never tried it myself, but might be worth a go!

[BCBG]

We do rotate, all crops, and the potatos were bad last year but this year is terrible. .... and the bed they are in this year didn't have any root crops last year, just peas and mange tout. 'Tis a mystery...

[funtimewincies]

Might be worth doing your potatoes in bags/bins next year and see what happens. If you've had grass growing in the beds at all, that can encourage wireworms, but it sounds unlikely in your case. I'm surprised that the suppliers are claiming resistance. I thought that a resistant variety had yet to be found, or maybe I'm horribly out of date .

Are you completely sure that it is wireworms and not slugs? The holes I had in some of mine last year were shocking!

[BCBG]

Deffo wireworms [vomit emoticon] ...they are still wriggling!

[hobbittoes]

We covered our patch with tarpauline one winter and the wireworm flourished - best to dig over and expose to birds. Also used funtimes trick of potatoes on sticks, removing every few days, killing WW and replacing. Quite effective.