Cultural control of potato scabs

There are a number of ways to control potato scabs in the garden:

- Purchase seed and sets from reputable sellers. Do not plant seed potatoes with any visible sign of scab.

- Do not allow the soil to dry out when tubers are developing. 

- Add organic matter to the soil to help improve soil water retention. 

- Practice crop rotation. Rotate potatoes with other vegetables, waiting 3 years before planting potatoes again.

- Common scab infections are worse in alkaline soil. Add lime to soil after potatoes are harvested and before a new, non-potatoe crop is plants.

- Choose scab-resistant cultivars. 'Accent', 'Arran Pilot', 'Golden Wonder', 'Juliette', 'King Edward', 'Pentland Crown', and 'Pentland Javelin' have some resistance to common scab. 'Desiree', 'Hermes', 'King Edward', 'Pixie', and 'Sante' demonstrate some resistance to powdery scab.

- When selecting potatoes to plant in the UK, consider consulting The British Potato Variety Database. This database lists the disease resistance of many potato cultivars.