Hill Shape Effect on Yield, Quality, Stolon Length and Tuber Orientation of Two Potato Cultivars

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars are mostly planted using similar seed piece planting depths and hill shapes even though cultivars have unique tuber and stolon characteristics. A hill-shape study was conducted at Aberdeen, Idaho to determine the effects of hill shape on yield and field-green tuber yields and quality along with stolon length and tuber spatial orientation for two potato cultivars, 'Defender' and 'Summit Russet.' Plots were planted in late April to early May. Prior to emergence four hill shapes were formed: 1) plant-and-drag, 2) broad, 3) normal, and 4) peaked. Defender had higher total yield with the broad hill, but there were no differences among the remaining three hill shapes. For Defender, U.S. No. 1 yield was lower with the plant-and-drag hill shape, and the normal and peaked hills produced lower field-green tuber yield. Hill shape had no effect on total, U.S. No. 1, or field-green tuber yields of Summit Russet. The peaked hill resulted in a deeper uppermost tuber for Defender, while the uppermost tuber was deeper in the normal and peaked hills for Summit Russet. The broad hill resulted in a larger average tuber size for Defender, but hill shape had no effect on tuber size for Summit Russet. Total number of tubers per plant, stolon length and tuber spatial orientation were not affected by hill shape for either cultivar. Hill shape and height are important considerations in maximizing yield of saleable tubers, so needs to be customized according to cultivar-dependent stolon length and tuber orientation characteristics.