I know several of you have gardens. I have been rotating my potatoes in my smaller garden for several years but I have not been able to curb the Colorado Potato Beetle population. I have another garden I can use a few miles away, but my question is this. Do any of you raise potatoes in raised beds? If so and you live in cold climates where frost and freezing is common and deep have you noticed few problems in raised beds which would be more likely to freeze harder and maybe longer than non raised gardens or beds?

Bryce

This does not exactly answer the question, but you can dig a shallow trench to place your seed potatoes in along with fertilizer a few inches away and then cover the trench with 6-9" of sawdust or chopped straw. All of the potatoes are produced above the seed potato and since they're only in contact with the organic mulch they're cleaner, better insulated and don't get scab or nematode damage.

And since the roots are in the soil (mostly) and have access to the fertilizer you put down the plant should not be nitrogen robbed by the sawdust.

Potatoes are so cheap why even plant them?

I've not noticed frost differences in raised beds of 3 or so inches, if you left them in real late in the fall, maybe. You'd need a pretty hard freeze I think.

We grow 3, 50' beds at home, I spray with Monterey BT for beetles, works like a charm. Spray when you start seeing decent numbers of adults, follow up a couple weeks later. Straw mulch helps deter the beetles as well, have a hard time navigating it I guess.

A dish of steaming hot, buttery new potatoes and wax beans fresh from the garden is one reason. There is no comparison.

That may be true but I can go into potato country and buy 50lbs of new potatoes for a few bucks.

Thank you guys. I know I can buy spuds cheaper than raising them but I enjoy raising them. When our son lived near Hancock we would buy bags of the odd sized ones for about 5- 10 cents a lbs.
I don't have issues with scab and I have mulched most years and do the two inch trench with fert on the side for years. Just have a lot of beetles. I will try the product that was mentioned above. I have been spraying or dusting with Seven for years and it is only partially effective. I have the opportunity to make a sizable raised bed next year and was wondering if planting the taters there would be better. I don't like to plant the potatoes in the other garden as that is heavier clay and one gets more scab there. I have lighter soil and have put sand in the past so the potatoes stay firm and good.
I especially like the early baby reds which I usually get around the 4th.

Bryce

C-P beetles can fly 30 miles in dispersal and even further with trade winds like what happened this spring 2 weeks ago.
Auto correct;

Canadian way is for a case of beer for a truck load off the picking machine for the pickers fluid replacement.

Every 5 th potato should be a GMO from the fields the year before = end of beetle problem

Talked to a tater farmer, he claimes they will over winter in brush and fencerows. Think they spray these areas in spring, My wife keeps a close eye and picks them and squishes them. old243

I love watching the grandbabies pick up taters . And i realy like fried new potatoes and onions around here they get $5 a quart for fresh baby taters

My red bliss did better than the white potatoes. I like them better as well.

When I grew potatoes for our Grange County Fair display, I would have to plant them later than most people do around here, being our fair is in October. Planting them later seem to miss the first big flush of Colorado beetles. Still had a few but nothing like when I would plant them early. Buddy was surprised when he seen my plants still full of leaves. He asked how I got away without Colorado beetle damage. Said his looked like sticks. No leaves at all. Told him that I didn't have the problem with them after planting them later.

Russ

When you say you planted later what time frame are you planting the later planted potatoes? Being fairly close to Lake MI we usually don't have killing frosts here until mid- October so planting later could be another option.

Bryce

We raise potatoes in raised beds in interior Alaska. I can say they are our best crop. I plant them between 5/27 and 6/3. We barely cover the seed potato chunks with soil, sometimes a bit isn't even covered. No matter, as they sprout we cover them with more soil until they're hilled then mulch with old straw. The idea is to expose them to sun and warmth right from the start, but not let the sun touch the baby potatoes when they start to form. We dig them sometime after the first frost, typically late August or earlySeptember, but before the ground freezes hard. Some years we've dug them with snow on the ground. We have few garden pests other than moose. Nothing that eats potatoes. Our white potatoes developed scab last year, and that may be caused by soil not acidic enough. Our beds are 4' x 8' x 10-12". Our soil is well drained and gets 1-2" of compost each spring, and all mulch and crop residue is left in the beds. We rotate our crops, so no bed gets the same crop 2 years in a row. Our other crops are carrots, kale, green bean, snap peas. Squash, cukes, tomatoes, and corn are grown only in the greenhouse. We use raised beds and plant everything shallower than recommended because soil temperature is our biggest challenge

Manure and compost can cause scab because they harbor the organism. All of that stuff is fine for under the seed potato but where the new potatoes form you need scab free soil (usually light soils) or what I described above.

Here's an article about how to curb CPB that you may find interesting.

Hudson Valley Farm

they call me "tater salad"

I always learn something in a Trapperman garden post. Didnt know all potatoes would be above seed potato, or planting shallower for soil temp. This is my fifth year with a large garden, realy enjoy it. I planted red potatoes early and some blue 3 weeks later, both loo realy nice the reds are starting to flower. I haven,t had to deal with the beetle mentioned in post, but have had problems with the rose chafer beetle. Mostly on flowering and fruiting plants.



Red potatoes on left. Watermelon squash pumpkin onions dry red and black beans snow peas tomatoes cabbage lettuce radish snap beans corn brussel sprout rhubarb raspberries asparagus peppers and rabbits.