Othello, Wash. — The potato field presented a conundrum to the grower—one section of it was flourishing; another was not. One row was growing normally, but the next row, not so much. The grower consulted the experts at Washington State University’s Grant-Adams County extension office. The extension office staff had an easily accessible reference tool.
Carrie Wohleb, regional specialist for potato, vegetable and seed crops, consulted the WSU commercial potato seed lot and found the answer. The seed potatoes were grown in a field that had an unfortunate encounter with herbicides, and even though they looked okay when harvested, they were indeed damaged.
That’s the goal of the commercial potato seed trials, Wohleb said: give growers a reference when they encounter a seed problem. Seed potatoes are being accepted for trial and planting through April 4 for the second planting, April 18 for the third planting and May 2 for the fourth planting. Samples will be picked up at 2 p.m. on those dates.
Samples can be submitted to the WSU Othello Research Unit on Booker Road, one-quarter mile south of Highway 26. In the Quincy-Ephrata area, samples can be dropped off at the Qualls Ag Lab, at the corner of Dodson Road and Road 4.
“It’s just a service for potato growers,” Wohleb said. Growers submit seed potatoes, which are subsequently planted in a field near Othello. The field becomes a reference library for extension employees and potato growers looking for potential disease among the seed potatoes.
“It’s been going on for a long time,” Wohleb said, dating back to the early 1970s or late 1960s. Growers who want to participate must submit 50 pounds of potato seed. A press release from WSU Extension emphasized the need for a “representative sample. Sampling the first (or last) seed from the truck is not likely to provide a representative sample of the lot. If applicable, include a representative amount of rotten tubers.”
The trials use what’s called single-drop seed, Wohleb said. Most seed potatoes are cut into pieces for planting, but that’s not done for the seed trials.
“We’re just planting little samples of what you have in your field,” Wohleb said. The in-field laboratory shows helps determine whether diseases affecting potatoes are in the seeds or soil, she said.
People who want to participate can contact Mark Pavek at (509) 335-6861 or Zach Holden at (509) 335-3452, for alternate drop-off locations.
Source: Columbia Basin Herald