Fingerlings

Amarosa - Red skin red flesh fingerling Banana - yellow fingerling, industry standard Austrian Crescent - early season, high yielding yellow fingerling
French Fingerling - Red skinned yellow flesh with red swirl, nutty favor Rose Finn Apple also known as Ruby Crescent - Pink skinned yellow flesh fingerling Purple Peruvian - Purple skinned purple flesh fingerling, very late season

Fingerlings Fingerlings come in many colors but generally have a long thin shape. The French fingerling is the only one in this list that has problems getting too fat. The rest just get longer as they grow. Fingerlings generally are easy to grow and have big wild type plants. They have few disease problems. They have good taste and textures and are often marketed in mixed fresh packs.



Plant/roots Fingrlings are all fast emerging with a medium to large vines. Fingerlings has a indeterminate growth habit and a moderate to deep, wide root systems.



Yields potential 150 to 300 cwt. range. The biggest challenge with fingerlings is getting them to the cellar as many fall out of the harvestor chains.

GROWING SEASON MANAGEMENT

Pre-planting considerations Tubers have a medium to long dormancy; either single drop or cut seed is acceptable. Seed is best if bigger tubers are cut. Plant seed at 10 to 11" seed spacing which may help optimize yield and tuber size. Plants set very heavy so spread the seed out. Plant seed 4 inches deep with a good hill cover.

Fertility (soil test basis; lbs/acre)

Apply total fertilizer in the following range: N(l40-190#), P( 20-200#), K(O-60#). Performance in alkaline soils is good. Pre-plant incorporated N should be from 90 to 100#. Early season N applications do not adversely affect the timing of tuberization. The plants grow very fast with upright vines. Sprinkler applied N should be in the 30 to 90# range at a rate of 20# per application. Over fertilization of Nitrogen will just result in huge vines.

Irrigation

Irrigation interval at the maximum ET is 3 days. Drought tolerance is excellent. Many fingerlings always seen dry around the rootball but don't overwater them as this is worse. The Rose Finn Apple, Austrian Crescent and Purple Peruvian dry out fast just below the plant, but will do fine. The other are easier to overwater. Since they are often grown together find a unhappy medium in watering.

Pest control

Weeds Competition against weeds is excellent. Fingerlings is tolerant to metribuzin and post emerge applications of Dual.

Insects: Standard insect control measures generally are effective.

Fungicides Control of foliar early blight usually requires zero to four fungicide applications.

Tuber/bulking Tuber set good and in the center of the hill in some varieties but often very spread out.. Tuberization occurs early and tubers bulk at a even rate thoughout the season. Most mature early but the pueple peruvian is very late season. Tubers are resistant to second growth except for the Rose Finn Apple.

Vine kill Average days from planting to vine kill vary from 90 days to 150. Vine killing is always required in most years and can be a problem if plants are not mature. A Second killing operation may be necessary. Adequate skin set occurs within 21 days on most varieties except the French Fingerling which requires 30 days at least. Tubers do not have much problems with shatter bruise, but can be injured easily so care should be taken in handling.

STORAGE MANAGEMENT

Fingerlings stores well as long as they are cured well with few problems and sprouting is minimal. They have a long storage life possible up to 6 months. Make piles lower so storage ventilation can get though smaller tubers

DISEASE REACTION

Overall disease problems are minimal. Bananas and Rose Finn Apples are susceptible to mosaic. The table below is an average of the fingerlings.
Field Storage
Foliar early blight: Moderate Tuber early blight Resistant
Verticillium wilt: Resistant Bacterial soft rot Moderately Susceptible
Blackleg Moderately Susceptible Fusarium dry rot Moderately Susceptible
Seedpiece decay Moderate Leak (Pythium) Moderately resistant
Leafroll virus Resistant Pink rot (Phytophthora) Moderately Resistant
Leafroll Net necrosis Resistant Silver scurf Moderately Resistant
PVY, PVX Susceptable to Resistant Rhizoctonia scurf Resistant
Bacterial ring rot Moderate Powdery Scab Susceptible
Common Scab Susceptible


Disease reaction ratings susceptible, moderately susceptible, moderate, moderately resistant and resistant.

Note: This information should only be used as a guide. Adjustments for local conditions must always be made.