Shrews!!!! Potato eating jerks...
 

Had some people over on Friday and rooted around, pulled out a bunch of fist-sized (or larger) yukon gold, and more than half of them had been munched on by shrews, often with a very good portion of the potato missing. I have shrews all over the place so I guess I'm out of luck in terms of controlling them. I think they have also been eating my kale plants!! Something has at least, and they are in a cage so it can't be rabbits. The skins on the potatoes are still very thin and fragile (i.e. when I scrub them the skin comes off), if I pull them up now will they store well at all???

If the Yukon plant is yellowing down is ok to dig potatoes for storage. Do not wash the potatoes, dirt and all let them dry in a shaded cool area so the skin to get thicker before you dust the dirt out gently and store them.

If the plant is still with flowers I think the potatoes might not store well is better to eat them.

Never heard of shrews but glad I don't have it! Next year try growing a blue potato, little pests like it~

[QUOTE=wmontanez;425794]If the Yukon plant is yellowing down is ok to dig potatoes for storage. Do not wash the potatoes, dirt and all let them dry in a shaded cool area so the skin to get thicker before you dust the dirt out gently and store them.

If the plant is still with flowers I think the potatoes might not store well is better to eat them.

Never heard of shrews but glad I don't have it! Next year try growing a blue potato, little pests like it~[/QUOTE]

Never heard of shrews?
[url]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrew[/url]

Ever heard of the story the taming of the shrew written by William Shakespeare?
A great story.:yes:
[url]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew[/url]
I think shrews are cool and most people mistake them for mice.
The aren't mice but the smallest mammals in the world and have saw teeth.
Check this mean little devil out killing a snake.
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=20&ved=0CHMQFjAT&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.nationalgeographic.com%2Fvideo%2Fworlds-deadliest-ngs%2Fdeadliest-shrew-vs-snake&rct=j&q=shrew&ei=nyHcU8-ZKurX8AHXvIDICQ&usg=AFQjCNGX3WazrMMoVIuzzLL0NwHwj-BMJA&bvm=bv.72197243,d.b2U[/url]
Worth

Worth I always enjoy your stories~
I looked yesterday "shrew" on goggle 'cause I only new the word mole, vole , vermin etc. ( I am not a native English speaker, second language he he)

[QUOTE=wmontanez;425849]Worth I always enjoy your stories~
I looked yesterday "shrew" on goggle 'cause I only new the word mole, vole , vermin etc. ( I am not a native English speaker, second language he he)[/QUOTE]

Wendy I know where you are from.;)
I think you have done very well with your new found language, more so than many born here.
You must be very smart.

Once I had to work with a guy from Iran who could speak almost no english but was fluent in german.

So we communicated with me speaking broken German and him speaking broken English.
I learned a lot at the time but forgot because I have no one to speak Persian German English with..:lol:

Worth

correction: VOLES are eating my potatoes. SHREWS are eating all of my worms.

[QUOTE=Anthony_Toronto;425867]correction: VOLES are eating my potatoes. SHREWS are eating all of my worms.[/QUOTE]

What did you do, count their teeth? :lol:

Worth

Nope, just realized that shrews are carnivorous and voles are omnivorous, so shrews wouldn't be eating my taters. The voles explains why some of my hosta disappeared over the winter also! Time to do something about it...just pulled up one plant and it had only one potato that was not half-eaten.

[QUOTE=Anthony_Toronto;425886]Nope, just realized that shrews are carnivorous and voles are omnivorous, so shrews wouldn't be eating my taters. The voles explains why some of my hosta disappeared over the winter also! Time to do something about it...just pulled up one plant and it had only one potato that was not half-eaten.[/QUOTE]

That really blows, I know how much you were looking forward to them.:(

Worth

Sorry to hear you lost a lot of potatoes. I am giving up on growing corn because of squirrels!
Nevermind a woodchuck that keeps eating my lettuce, so no more lettuce....arugula seems to bother his taste buds so Arugula it is~ :)

Worth too funny Persian German he he
The best part is that you were able to communicate regardless of language~!

Anthony,

Could you grow potatoes in containers next time? I had good luck with containers last year... just a thought. We don't have anything furry to worry about here. There were rabbits, but the cats took care of that problem...

Robin

That's a good thought. Some pics of the damaged potatoes below. There are still some under there, pulled up another plant and got the ones pictured far below (the big one was 1-1/4 pounds).

Looks like lots of 'hollow heart' though, probably because of issues with my new soil this year which seems to have included improperly composted manure, maybe too much nitrogen etc. I have to say I really wish I'd pulled out more new potatoes this year, they were so creamy and delicious. These ones now are good, and a few months I think until plants die and I pull up potatoes with thicker skins (if any are left that is), but wow the new ones were good. I do have about 20 plants out there so way more than I can eat, but still annoying to lose so many to varmints!!! Tonight making steak with garden French fries...

Attached is a link to a web site and video that has the potential to solve both your potato and hosta problems. Best of all, it is an organic solution. Using a watering can, put in 1 teaspoon of castor oil and 1 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent and then fill it with water. Spray it over the ground to be protected. Simple enough if you only have a small area. There is a bit more detail on the web site but those are the basics.

[url]http://www.nhhostas.com/organic-vole-control.htm[/url]

I have had problems in the past with my beets being eaten by a vole and they looked very similar to your potatoes (half eaten). I tried this treatment for the first time this year and it appears to work.

Unfortunately, I did not treat the ground right beside it for my snow peas and the vole has moved on to them. At least I will know for next year.

Thanks Gardensup, I did find that solution, hoping that it works. I'd also be ok with live traps, but I don't really want to kill them at this point, despite the fact that I just found a huge ripe Cherokee purple tomato that was half eaten, presumably by these little jerks! I'll research that solution a little more, and might have about 1000 sq ft or more to cover, including the area of the hostas.

Well, the voles continued to eat...had one huge potato that was 24 ounces with about 20% of it missing from those hungry little jerks. But managed to pick lots that were undamaged also, and made some delicious fries and potato chips yesterday.

Glad to hear they didn't get them all.

Actually it seems like they packed up and moved off, most of them at least. I haven't seen one for more than a week now, though some of my tomatoes continue to be nibbled. I did leave all of the nibbled potatoes and tomatoes out in the open, but I don't think they have touched them. I still plan to trap them before the winter comes, if I can...I don't want to lose any more of my hostas, lost some really nice ones. Whatever I trap I'll release a few miles away in a field. I did get about 30 pounds or so, and half of the plants (planted a few weeks later than the ones I pulled) are still lush. Lots of hollow heart...probably a problem of my new soil with improperly mixed triplemix or improperly composted manure being a little too fertile, but hopefully things will calm down next year, after I rototill in several cubic yards of peat. And although they are very tasty, next year I will be pulling up a lot more new potatoes, might even pack more plants in just to be able to harvest these tasty goodies.

Glad to hear you still enjoy some. Nothing beats taste of new potatoes. One single potato of Yukon ~24 onz? Wow that is impressive! If you get your hands on Kennebec try too...those are large as well and great for french fries~!

24 ounce, after being partially eaten, but it had hollow heart so would have been largely unusable even without the critter nibbling. And I don't know what diseases voles carry if any but I elected not to save any of the nibbled taters. I do want to try some other varieties next year, will add Kennebec to the list, though not sure what kind of selection I'll have up here!!

What causes hollw heart?

Worth

More on hollow heart
[url]http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs197[/url]

My understanding is too rapid growth.You said you added PEAT to your soil. Could it be the cause?
I got one year the same idea but Peat and compost but it seems as I got too much N and my plants grew lush foliage not so many tubers.

Nope I have to add peat at the end of the season to have some organic material that lightens up the soil, and I don't think its very nutrient rich either. The 'triplemix' I ordered this year seemed to be mostly clay and manure, very heavy, and appears to be too nitrogen rich. Some of the potatoes were the size of my fist after about 4 or 5 weeks. Some worked but many are just too big, and I can tell when I pick them up that they are a little lighter than they should be, and are hollow inside :(

[QUOTE=wmontanez;428468]More on hollow heart
[url]http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs197[/url]

My understanding is too rapid growth.You said you added PEAT to your soil. Could it be the cause?
I got one year the same idea but Peat and compost but it seems as I got too much N and my plants grew lush foliage not so many tubers.[/QUOTE]

Thanks so it is plant stress basically.
Thanks.

Worth

I thought it was more due to excessive fertilization or conditions that lead to unusual growth. Whatever it is, I don't like it!

I have those little buggers nestling away around my garden too, never knew they were so into potatoes. They never bothered my carrots yet (knock on wood).

Let us know how you take care of this issue, hope all goes well.

They have been gnawing on my squash and in some cases have eaten almost entire squash (buttercup/kobocha...one is completely gone, just a bit of shell remains). Eating my tomatoes. Ate ALL of my kale. I'm making one attempt with humane traps, if that doesn't work then snap traps or poison.

[QUOTE=Anthony_Toronto;428756]They have been gnawing on my squash and in some cases have eaten almost entire squash (buttercup/kobocha...one is completely gone, just a bit of shell remains). Eating my tomatoes. Ate ALL of my kale. I'm making one attempt with humane traps, if that doesn't work then snap traps or poison.[/QUOTE]

Wow, really sorry to hear it, Anthony.

For some reason I may be lucking out now - could be that the little guys are full from something else, but they haven't messed with my kale....that being said, my squashes were obliterated by beetles this year.

For some reason I liked the little guys, but if they were eating my garden up I would be agitated with em too.

The shrews didn't really bother me even though they ate all of the worms and made my composters useless. But these voles have caused too many problems, and after looking like they had calmed down for a week or so they seem to be back going strong and everywhere, I see them every time I go out in the garden. They are cute, but they are relentless...pulled up two purple potato plants yesterday after I saw some more vole holes at the base, most of the potatoes were ruined. Japanese beetles are also a complete nightmare, i've killed about 1,000 of them so far but they have pretty much defoliated some of my grape plants. I did see a chipmunk stealing a ripe cherry tomato today, but that didn't bother me :)

Anthony, don't you have some netting you can put over your crops? this may be a start....

I will next year for the grapes, once they get pollenized, to protect against the beetles. Traps will be out at the end of this year and throughout next to deal with the voles. Now I just need to deal with my soil problems!!