Maximize Potato Yields By Feeding Your Soil First

Few crops impact soil like potatoes. Between fumigation, hilling during the growing season and harvest – soil is regularly disturbed. Which means the beneficial microbes in the soil are also regularly disturbed. 

That’s why we created a soil amendment to help potato farmers support their native and added microbiology. PhycoTerra® Soil Amendment feeds bacteria and fungi in your soil, so you can achieve your best growing season yet. 

Unique Challenges of Potato Farming 

As a potato farmer, you know that potatoes present unique challenges. As previously mentioned, potato farming greatly disrupts the soil. Often, farmers must use heavy fertilizer and pesticide applications. These crops also have a high nutrient uptake, which can greatly diminish soil fertility and vitality. 

While crop rotations are a good idea in general, it’s essential when potato farming to repair damage to the soil. 

Equally as important is supporting the beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere. There are between 100 million to 1 billion soil microbes in a teaspoon of soil, including beneficial fungi and bacteria. These microscopic organisms play an essential role in unlocking nutrient availability, improving soil health and structure, maximizing water productivity and creating disease-resistant soil. 

Maximize Your Potato Yields 

Improving Soil Health and Structure 

Soil that is too compact can also impact tuber yield and quality, so improving soil aggregation and health throughout the year is essential for increasing potato yields. Beneficial microbes create soil aggregates through nets and glues that create space for water and air to get to potato roots.   

Unlocking Nutrient Availability

Given potatoes’ shallow root system, they’re especially susceptible to the impacts of soil microbiology, which is most heavily concentrated in the top 10cm of the soil. While they may have a limited reach when it comes to their root systems, when they’re planted in soil with an active microbiome they’re able to access nutrients well beyond their reach. For example mycorrhizal fungi transports nutrients to plants from up to miles away.

Maximizing Water Productivity

When soil has good aggregates, pore space is available, allowing for ideal water infiltration and retention. By improving the soil’s overall water holding capacity, growers can make the most of their water throughout the season, regardless of weather conditions. 

Creating Disease Resistant Soil

Beneficial soil microbes don’t only support your plants, they also protect them. For example, a healthy and active microbiome can create disease-resistant soil to fight off pathogens that grow in warm, moist environments. 

Feed Beneficial Microbes in your Soil

To help your potatoes reach their full yield potential, you need to:

• Improve soil quality
• Increase water holding capacity
• Optimize NPK availability
• Reduce abiotic stress
• Boost yields and ROI
• Create disease-resistant soil

The best way to do this is by leveraging the beneficial microbes that are already living in your soil. The bad news is, 75% of microbes in your soil are starving and dormant. To put them to work, they need a well-balanced meal, like PhycoTerra® Soil Amendment. 

Our trials, done in-furrow on potato farms across the United States and Canada, found a notable 11:1 ROI and an increase in yields by +3,057 lbs/acre. 

All thanks to a well-fed and active soil microbiome. 

Soil Microbes are a Potato’s Best Spud

PhycoTerra® Soil Amendment and offer a diverse food source that feeds many different types of microbes at each stage of the growing process to maximize potato yields. When growers partner with the microbiology on their farm, they work with nature rather than against it. 

But, you don’t have to take our word for it. In 2024, our products were nominated for the Spud Smart’s Top Innovations by Spudsmart. 

Ready to improve your soil for your potatoes this season? Fill out a contact form to speak with one of our experts on how PhycoTerra® could support your yield goals. 

Learn about how PhycoTerra® can support your crops at each of the four spheres.