It's always difficult to diagnose over the phone (or over the Web), so I still
think that your extension agent (or a specialist at Ohio State) would be your
best bet. However, from your description, I don't think you have scurf.
(Although, as some have mentioned, I am an academic, and can't completely rule
the disease out.) The symptoms you described are not consistent with scurf
(which is usually superficial, and more important cosmetically). It may be soil
pox, although the lesions you described are again not consistent with the
disease. Soil pox (or soil rot) usually produces circular to irregularly
circular lesions usually less than 5 mm deep, but varies with cultivar?
Speaking of which. . .
What was the cultivar? Certain cultivars are more susceptible to soil pox or
the sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV). Jersey is highly susceptible
to the russet crack strain of SPFMV, while the Centennial is highly susceptible
to pox. What were the above ground symptoms (or were there significant
above-ground symptoms)? In susceptible cultivars, soil pox causes transient
wilting, bronzing and chlorosis, stunting,
It still sounds like russet crack sweet potato feathery mottle virus, but could
be nematode related, or soil pox. SPFMV-RC is mainly seen on Jersey, so if your
variety is different, then that may not be the culprit.
I realize I'm throwing alot of maybe's and could be's around, but it's hard to
say without being there. (If I was there if could _probably_ give you a more
definitive answer.) I hope that what I've said has been helpful.
Russ
-- Russ Bulluck Graduate Student Plant Pathology NCSU Box 7616 Raleigh, NC 27695 ------------------------------------------------------------- The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person, and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil economy that it must be studied. --Sir E. John Russell The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923 -------------------------------------------------------------
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