2023-2024 Winter Soil Temperatures for Volunteer Potato Management
— Developed by I. Kutay Ozturk, Ph.D., UMaine Extension Potato Pathologist
Temperatures below 27°F for five days or more at 4 inches is required for efficient elimination of most volunteer potatoes.
Between 2023-2024 winter season, the soil temperatures at 6 inches in Aroostook Research Farm in Presque Isle reached below 27°F threshold for a total of 41 days, taking the average recorded soil temperatures and ignoring short dips below 27°F (excluding any timeframe below 27°F for less than 24 hours).
Conservative estimates were made by using the maximum recorded temperatures. Even with the conservative estimates, soil temperatures were below 27°F for a total of 15 days.
Overall, these indicate that the volunteer potato risk is low. However, in southern fields or in fields with different cover crops, soil temperatures might have been different, which might have aided survival of some of the volunteer potatoes.
For further information on management of volunteer potatoes, please refer to Bulletin #1090, Management of Volunteer Potatoes in Maine.