In case you never get to visit The Canadian Potato Museum on Prince Edward Island, here are photographs from the excellent exhibit on diseases and pests of potatoes. I’ve included all the accompanying interpretive signs in case you want the gruesome details but it’s really all about the adorable coffins. Poor little spuds. RIP.
Bacterial soft rot is primarily caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum (aka Erwinia carotovora).
Bacterial ring rot is caused by Clavibacter sepedonicus (formerly called Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus). Note that the potato has fallen off its attachment point higher up in the coffin.
Blackleg is caused by Pectobacterium atrosepticum.
Fusarium dry rot is caused by several species of Fusarium, of course. But also by Gibberella pulicaris, which was formerly in the genus, I gather).
Skin spot is caused by the fungus, Polyscytalum pustulans.
Potato wart is caused by the chytrid fungus, Synchytrium endobioticum. Lesions make the potatoes unmarketable, which is bad, but also result in fields being quarantined and potentially never farmed again.
Many types of slugs eat potatoes.
The potato-rot nematode is Ditylenchus destructor. As in several other coffins, the potato seems to have become unglued.
White grubs are the larvae of scarab beetles (Scarabidae) in the genus Phyllophaga (May beetles, June bugs, … and sometimes even July beetles). Fun fact: they crawl on their backs.
Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles (Elateridae).
Potato scab is caused by the potato scab gnat (Pnyxia scabiei), a member of the Sciaridae. Fun fact: the females are wingless (and have no halteres!)
The flea beetle most associated with potato is Epitrix cucumeris.
The most common millipede in potato fields is the spotted snake millipede (Blaniulus guttulatus).
Blackheart is not a disease but rather a physiological response to low oxygen during growth or storage. High temperatures during transport and storage are the main culprits. Blossom-end rot is caused by the same conditions.
In case you are curious, the coffins were designed by Meredith and Tom Hughes for the “The Amazing Potato” exhibit (1991-1994) at Canada’s Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa. There are, apparently, undisplayed coffins because the O’Leary building was too small to house them all.
But you should definitely visit. You can pose in front of the 14-foot potato out front, stroll through the world’s largest exhibit of potato-related farm machinery, shop for trinkets such as squishy stress potatoes, and dine in the Potato Country Kitchen (don’t skip the seaweed pie made with Chondrus crispus, a red alga; it’s a recipe from Ireland). It’s open from May 12 to October 10.
