Florida potato crop escapes major damage

Earlier this week we reported on the frost affecting potato growers in Florida.

According to a more recent article in the Packer, Florida grower-shippers for the most part escaped serious damage from the cold front that brought near-freezing temperatures in Florida.

Most grower-shippers in the central and southern regions didn’t report any losses from the low temperatures in the overnight hours of Feb. 17.

Southern, central and northern Florida remained under freeze warnings as temperatures fell into the mid-30s.

In north Florida, the thermometer dropped into the mid-20s and burned some of that region’s potatoes. Danny Johns, owner of Blue Sky Farms in Hastings, Fla., said growers were assessing damage but said the younger plantings should rebound.

“If the grower did a good job of covering the plants, there are nice, green vines out there today,” he said Feb. 20. “Some of the warmest ground along the river got burned tops. The younger plants are more vigorous, so they can come back faster.”