MM and Potatoes

BrotherNorm Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:01 pm

Greetings all,

I was reading some info from GrowingOrganic.com about growing spuds; specifically this part:

NO ANIMAL MANURE
Do you have access to an nice supply of chicken manure? Save it for
another crop. Animal manure, applied alone or as a component of compost,
can lead to the potato disease called “scab”. Ohio State University explains that the manure may carry the bacteria that causes scab.

--------------------------------

Since MM can contain composted manure has anyone had the problem described above? Having said that I wonder if the manure they are referring to is straight off the farm and not heated which composting would do to kill any harmful bacteria.
Thoughts??? MM and Potatoes 27650

**Furbalsmom** Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:08 pm

Brother Norm, while I am no expert at growing potatoes, I did grow a couple of varieties in Mel's Mix.

My Mel;s Mix had composted steer and chicken manure.

I did not have any problem with scab.

The worst issue I had was the flakes of vermiculite stuck onto the outer surface of the potatoes and it was a pain to remove before cooking.

**llama momma** Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:11 pm

My only experience was growing one square of potatoes last year with lots of llama manure in the compost. Here is a picture of one tater. The rest looked the same. I don't see any scab.
MM and Potatoes Gina_s24

plantoid Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:47 pm

The only reason I know for scab is poor levels of nutrients , not enough water and too much lime
Too much mushroom compost readily comes to mind .

littlejo Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:07 pm

I used chicken manure in my compost, and if I remember right, I added composted chicken manure as 1 of my 5 when I first made my beds. No scab. I think this yr I will plant my seed potatoes in MM, but as I add to the box as potatoes grow, I will use something (leaves, straw, just compost) because I did have the vermiculite sticking in the skins of last yrs. potatoes.

Jo

Squat_Johnson Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:38 pm

There is nothing wrong with using _some_ composted manure. Too much will alter the PH, and that is what encourages the scab bacteria. I think too much lime would probably do the same thing.

I have medium vermiculite. I haven't noticed it sticking to the potato skins.

jpatti Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:11 pm

The 5 years we had chickens, we threw their bedding straw right into the compost heap when we cleaned out the coop. I grew several varieties of potatoes several times during that period without problem.

BrotherNorm Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:44 pm

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It was very helpful.

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