Aphids on Potatoes: Causes, Damage, and Control Tips

potato plants has many pests, but aphids are one of the most common but dangerous pest that affect potato plants and its yield very badly. The aphids seem tiny and harmless insects, but they can cause a lot of problems, including spreading harmful viruses into your potato plants.

The affects of aphids on potatoes can be seen by wilting its plants, and yellowing leaves. Aphids can spread very quickly, especially in the growing season. To protect your potatoes against aphid’s quick spreading, you need early detection, and then you can control its population with different organic or chemical methods.

I’ve been growing potatoes for almost 20 years, which makes me kinda of an expert, ‘I believe’. So, during that period, I face and treat aphids more than enough with different solutions and methods. Now allow me to share some of my expert insights with you on how to treat aphids on potatoes.

What are Aphids?

Aphids are one of the smallest insects that usually range from 1 to 3 millimeters in length. They belong to the family of Aphididae. They have more then 4,000 species, in which most of them are green, but it vary in color from green to black depending upon the species. The aphids have piercing-sucking mouthparts which help them piercing plant tissues and feed on its snap.

They grow very fast because they are parthenogenetically, which means they reproduce rapidly, and that leads to large infestations within a short period of time.

Why Aphids on Potatoes Plants:

Potatoes, also known as (Solanum tuberosum) are one of the easiest plants that aphids like to feed on because they have very soft tissues, making easy to penetrate. The feeding of aphids on potato plants alone is one problem, but it also transmits dangerous diseases like potato virus Y (PVY), which not only affects potatoes quality but also their yield by malformed smaller tubers.

Types of Aphids That Affect Potatoes:

I have been growing potatoes for more than 20 years, and all those years, they have been affected by different aphids, green, black, red, yellow, you name it. So, what I’m trying to say is that different types of aphids affect potatoes, and some of the common ones that affect potatoes are listed below.

Green Peach Aphids:

The green peach aphid (myzus persicae) is one of the most common and also one of the most dangerous aphid species for potato plants. It has green color, but some of them have a yellowish tint, which sometimes appears pinkish. As discussed, it is one of the most dangerous aphids for potatoes because it spreads different types of potato viruses, which include PLRV (potato leaf roll virus) which cause chlorosis, necrosis, and leaf curling. This type of aphid has a great impact on potato quality and yields. They are mostly mobile and don’t stay in one place, unlike other aphids.

Potato Aphids:

The potato aphid (macrosiphum euphorbiae) is one of the large aphids with long legs, cauda, and long green cornicles; some also have wings. They are basically from North America (origin) but are now spread throughout the whole world and are found almost everywhere. The has a very light green to pink colour, which mostly looks pinkish. These aphids mostly feed on potato plants’ stems (phloem), which affect the plants by stunting their growth and deforming their tubers.

Signs and Symptoms of Aphids Infestation on Potatoes:

Before treating and finding a solution for aphids on potatoes, you first need potato aphid identification and you can do the by identify signs and symptoms of infestation of aphids on your potato plants. Below, I listed some of the common signs and symptoms that you should look for and if you find any then it confirm it caused by aphids.

By Looking:

Aphids are small insects that can be seen with the naked eye if you have normal vision. So whenever your potato plant is dying or wilting, then start looking for signs of aphids on its stem and leaves. Most of the time, aphids cluster around on a leaf, under a leaf or on a stem, usually in growing season.

The Visible Damage:

You can identify aphids work if the potato plant is wilting or its leaves start to curl up, distort or drop off. Due to aphid feeding, the potato plant growth gets stunted or causes chlorosis, which also reduces its tuber size.

Sooty Mold and Honeydew:

One of the common signs of aphids is honeydew and sooty mold. If you don’t know, honeydew is a sugary substance that has been excreted from aphids during their feeding. Then those honeydew attract sooty mold, which is a fungal growth which then further damages the potato plants. So if you ever find honeydew or sooty mold on your potato plant, then it is its confirm its under aphid attack.

Virus Transmission:

As it disuse that aphids also act as vector organisms, which means they can spread potato viruses like potato virus Y (PVY). This virus result a yellow mottling on leaves of potato plants and dark brown raised circles on potato tubers. It also reduce the size of tubers.

So if you notice any sign of mottling on leaves or circles on potatoes, then know it’s because of aphids.

How to Get Rid of Aphids on Potato Plants:

After discussing the signs of aphids, now it’s time to treat and control aphids on your potatoes plants. Below I’m sharing some of my both organic and inorganic methods of controlling aphids on potatoes, so use whatever methods suits you.

Organic Methods:

There are different organic methods in which some are given below.

Neem Oil:

One of the first organic pesticide solutions that I used, was neem oil spray, which is made from neem tree. It basically disrupt the process of aphids’ feeding and reproduction. The spray made from neem oil and other ingredients that can control the aphids population on potatoes.

Insecticidal Soap:

If you want to kill aphids but in an organic way, then you should use insecticidal soap. According to uconn insecticidal soap on pest like aphids, which treat and control aphids from your potatoes without harming the environments.

Horticultural Oils:

There are oils like canola oil or mineral oil, which can create a very good solution for smothering aphids from potato plants. I often use these oils, especially when their population or infestations are in small numbers.

Homemade Spray:

If you can’t get those things mentioned in the above blog, then you can make a homemade spray for aphids on your potato plants. For this, you will need chilli or pepper soap, and mix it with water with a little bit of dish soap. Now mix it very well, and you can use it as a pesticide on your potato plants for aphids. It actually repels aphids very efficiently.

Inorganic methods:

So, there are a few chemical solutions that you can use to prevent aphids from your potato plants.

Pyrethroids:

The pyrethroids, which are very commonly used for aphids, come from chrysanthemum flowers. They are very effective against aphids, but they can also affect other beneficial insects. So, I advise you to spray it with caution and use only areas with aphids.

Systemic Insecticides:

There are insecticides which can be absorbed by the plant instead of sprayed on it. When they get absorbed, they make the plant toxic for aphids to feed on. The one used for aphids is known as imidacloprid. Any of the systemic insecticides should be used according to local regulations.

How to Prevent Aphids Infestation on Potatoes:

Now, let’s discuss methods to prevent potatoes from being infested by aphids. There are a couple of ways to do that, and I have personal experience in all of them, and I am still using most of them.

Crop Rotation:

Crop rotation is one of the effective ways to prevent aphids from your potatoes. In crop rotation, you just have to change the location of your potato plants each year, which not only protects your crops from aphids but also other common diseases. I’m still doing it for almost every crop that I grew, including potatoes.

Resistant Varieties:

Using Resistant varieties is another possible and effective way to prevent aphids from your potatoes. The resistant potato varieties prevent the aphids from feeding, which automatically prevents them from transmitting different diseases to potato plants.

Getting Natural Predators:

Getting natural aphid predators is another possible and organic method to prevent aphids from spreading. There are insects like lacewings, hoverflies, ladybugs, and ants which feed on aphids which automatically help you control its population. It looks different, but you can attract these beneficial insects by planting different flowers to attract them to your garden.

Companion Planting:

Companion planting is a must-have techniques which has a lot of benefits to the main plant, but most people ignoring it. Potatoes also have list of companion plants like garlic and chives, which help them repel aphids by their smell.

Case Study:

Let me share a case study of a beginner gardener, Joseph, from Arizona; you can think of him as my student. He approached me and said that he had issues with aphids on his potatoes plant in past year and that why he needed help to grow healthy potatoes this year. So, I give him a couple of advices, which are,

• Rotate your crop and planting it on the other side of your garden.
• Secondly, plant different flowers as companions along with potato plants and other parts of the garden to attract different beneficial insects which not only help you against aphids but also help you in pollination process. And if you have space around your plant, then plant some companion plants like garlic, which will also help you against aphids.
• And the last one, I told him to use neem oil or insecticidal soap on your aphids as soon as you noticed it on your potato plants.

So, after some time, he told me that by following your tips, the crop damage caused by aphids is reduced to 60%, which is quite a lot for a new gardener. I wish I had some of the pictures he send me so I could share it with you right here. Anyway, it was one of the good stories that I wanna to share with you guys.

Conclusion:

Aphids are one of the dangerous pests that can affect your potato plant very badly. So you need is first to detect it early by its signs and symptoms. Then find solution and treatment which could either be organic or chemical. We also explain the process of preventing it from happening in the first place.

I hope you understand the topic, but if you still have any questions, then ask them in the comment section.