Mechanical vine killing of potatoes

Abstract

Six chemical and mechanical vine killing methods were compared for their effects during tuber maturation and subsequent harvesting of commercially-produced Russet Burbank potatoes. Pulling of vines resulted in tuber specific gravities which were equal to those of other vine killing treatments even though pulling terminated plant growth more abruptly. Dehydration tests show no significant difference among treatments and that the tuber maturation period could be less than the customary 21 days. Overall results suggest that pulling of vines might be done several days later than for other vine killing methods. An experimental vine puller placed pulled vines between adjacent rows to entirely eliminate subsequent harvester pickup. Pulling increased the amount of vine fragments in the harvested tubers compared to chemical vine killing methods. The number of tubers exposed to light was greatest for the vine pulling treatments.