Potatoes are a vegetatively propagated crop, and many disease organisms including several viruses and a viroid are disseminated in tubers. The important role that tubers play in virus spread is recognized by the strict requirements for foundation...

) , Colletotrichum can cause severe rotting of below-ground plant parts and early plant decline leading to discolored tubers and reduce~ yields. The same black dot organism causes anthracnose or npe-fru1t disease of tomato, and can occur on other solanaceous crops...
, the organism does not penetrate intact tuber skin, but can grow and sporulate on damaged tissue. This limited growth, however, does not appear to provide entry sites for secondary fungal or bacterial invaders in stored tubers. In a three-month greenhouse test...

rot develops slowly and may not be severe until quite late into the storage period. This decay may allow the entry of secondary organisms such as Fusarium fungi and soft rot bacteria. �CONTROL The following measures will help prevent the occurrence...
. Surface tubers infected by conidia washed from leaves. ~,'~'~:~~"~:,~~:~~,-'".~"~~~~"'~",~",~~~ ~~~~~' ~~"~ "Target" spots Early Blight Disease Cycle Adapted in part from North Dakota State University Extension Bulletin 26, 1976, 'Potato Production...