I planted sweet potatoes for the first time this year. There was one white potato plant in the bed and those potatoes were eaten as well. This is what most of the harvest looks like.
What does this, and what is the remedy, pref. organic?
ps, I plan to plant garlic in that bed sometime this week. Is that a problem?
I can't believe no one has had a suggestion. I've decided it's likely voles.
Well, I would have suggested gophers, but I don't know if you have them there. Those are some big tooth marks!
Yep, big teeth marks, which makes me question voles. If those hadn't been apparent at the moment of digging, I'd have had ideas of an above-ground critter.
oh my gosh, thats a huge bite! i don't think moles really do that type of thing. deer? i don't know
The damage was done underground... and was evident the moment I dug them.
darius, do you have groundhogs in your area? That's the only critter I can think of that will feed underground that is big enough to make those tooth marks, with the exception of pocket gophers. I suppose it could be voles, if those aren't seperate tooth marks.
Wouldn't a groundhog have to make an opening in the ground to access the sp's? There weren't any. I don't know what a pocket gopher is...
I've seen an occasional groundhog but none even close to my road... too many hunting dogs.
All I know about groundhogs is that they are a burrowing rodent, and according to the internet, will sometimes feed on tree roots. Gophers, on the other hand, I'm all too familiar with! LOL!
I love a garden mystery as well as any one! So, Darius, some questions...
Can you give some size perspective on those chewed sweet potatoes? Length/diameter? What kind of soil? Loose and easy to dig? Raised bed? Fenced? Edge of woods? Near a building or wood pile or compost heap or storage? (These all give cover to critters) Was your patch neat and tidy, mulched, wild?
And, because I really don't know, how deep do sweet potatoes grow and do you mound up soil around them as they grow like regular spuds?
Thanks, Judy
The SP shown above with the toothed marks was about 7" long, maybe a little more... and at least 2-1/2" in diameter.
Soil was newly-brought in topsoil on top of the old garden bed, loose, not compacted by my walking on it, hilled into 3 rows at least a foot deep. Just a bed out in the open. Nothing near it but grass which was kept nicely trimmed.
In retrospect, my rows were much too close, which produced a very thick cover of vines... easy for a small critter to hide in there.
I don't know how deep on average SP's grow; some of these had their lower tips over a foot deep. They are not mounded as they grow as are regular potatoes.
lol so you may have inadvertently created
"The Whistle (pig) Stop Cabana"
replete with cool shade from the summer sun and sweet potato vines to munch and the young potatoes just a quick reach through hills of soft soil...no tunnel necessary...to chew. What a lovely way to spend a summer day. And when you are done just pop up between the vines and see if the coast is clear for a scurry across some open space. Ahhhh.
But maybe that's not it at all.
Anyway, nice size on those SPs And, those bite marks look healed over rather than fresh.
Time to call in forensics! See if we can match teeth imprints for ID.
They look healed over because I was so disgusted that I didn't take the photo(s) until the next day after I dug them.
I'm going to go with voles as you first suspected. Seems an alternate name for them is "potato mice" !
Here is a link I found with pics of damage to compare.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2920061778_fd19ce796e.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pgjennielove.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/harvesting-sweet-potatoes/&usg=__OiAuzS_InHO3_Vsxmh9-kii_QXM=&h=333&w=500&sz=190&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=0s2kyQiw3qOhFM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&ei=fWShToUyzquwAtPkyKYF&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvole%2Bdamage%2Bto%2Bpotato%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1
Yup, that looks like my damage... and the text about the bed compares, too (except the deer part). Thanks!
So sad. Will you be able to salvage any of your harvest?
How will you use them as they probably won't keep very well...I know you are a really creative gardener.
Good luck
Judy
Nope, don't think I can salvage ANY. However, I'm going to throw the intact fingerliings into the root cellar in hopes they may last until spring and grow some slips.
Plant some Daffodils around them. Everyone claims Daffs keep the Voles at bay. I think that may work for gophers too, as I haven't had any problems with them in a few years.
Thanks, I had heard that about daffs, and also alliums. If I grow them next year, it WILL be in a new and protected bed~
Rags soaked in Ammonia will keep Gophers away from anywhere you want. Even their dens--if you
can find the openings. Just stuff the rags into them and the Gophers should not return. You may need to
refresh with new Ammonia every 3-4 days.
I do not know if this would have any effect on your crops though...
Gita
Hmm. Sound "labor intensive". A lot of ferral cats helps, but it only takes one brave gopher to destroy your garden.LOL!
Okay, just saw a photo of a dead pocket gopher, 5-6" long. I've never seen one (that I know, anyway) but from the looks of the front teeth, this must be the creature that ate my sweet potatoes!
The photo isn't mine, I snatched it from someone using the name Gwen Lynn on the Permies forum. MY THANKS to her for the photo!
I would think that you would know it if you have them. They create extensive tunnels, holes, and mounds, and will eat most plants. I have stood and watched newly planted shrubs slowly disappear into the ground. I've also spent uncountable hours repairing irrigation pipe that they chewed through. They are a major pest in this part of the country.
Truthfully, I sense tunnels all over the yard when I walk barefoot. I see a lot of small critters my cats have gifted to me, just never took a close look, assuming they were voles. Whatever is making the tunnels is new to the yard in the last year.
Darius, I just found this thread. I find sweet potatoes every now and again just like that. I have only rabbits and mice in the garden or maybe an occaisional palm rat. I also have rhinocerous beetle grubs which eat on the potatoes from time to time. I am still trying to figure out what eats them. I find mouse tunnels, but no pocket gophers here.
Peaceful Valley sells a bait called Agrid, no secondary poisoning to cats, dogs or birds that eat the dead animal. It is OMRI approved for organic farm use.The only bad part, the o'possums love the bait and I don't want to kill them (nature's clean up crew). Glue traps and rat traps are out because of the frogs, toads and lizards that call the garden home.
A bobcat came in the other day and ate some of the rabbits. A great horned owl flies over the garden every night, I hope he eats the mice. Once the vines are dug, they should have less hiding places.
Thanks. There have been more dead small critters around the yard since I pulled the vines. My 2 cats are really having a "field day"! I haven't examined any of the kills to see what they are because my sis picked them up (along with the trash her dog brings in from the road) so I could mow.
Found out from neighbor, if I accidentally catch a reptile on a sticky trap, just spray the whole thing with Pam and put in the shade. The Pam frees the animal from the glue without damage. He didn't know if this worked with furry animals.
Great Tip, Suzie. Thanks!
