Potatoes ravaged by blister beetles

My potato plants have been strong all season.  In fact, they've stayed green and healthy looking longer than in previous summers thanks to frequent watering.  However, I fear the pest load of margined blister beetles is about to turn the tide on them.  They are eating all the leaves down to the stems, leaving frass on all the leaves not yet eaten, and probably only have a week or two left until the plants are defoliated completely.  I know the plants have been blossoming periodically for a couple weeks, and are probably about done anyway, but I was hoping to see some berries for TPS saving before I did.  

For anyone here with blister beetle/potato experience, can I leave the potatoes in the hill until the fall, or will the tubers deplete themselves by trying to fight/grow foliage?

I considered overwintering them in place (covered with straw for insulation) and let the ones that didn't rot start over on their own next year for a potentially larger harvest, but my concern is that the pests/larvae will overwinter in the soil and be a problem again next year if I do.

How many potato plants do you have? Is it possible to hand kill the beetles to control the numbers? They are voracious eaters and after they defoliate the potato leaves, they will move on to other plants, like tomatoes. I just killed a dozen on my potatoes but the plants are about done anyway. If a potato plant no longer have leaves for photosynthesis the tubers can keep on growing but I don't think they will reverse the process and be depleted. They will just stay small. Have you tried digging one up and see how big are they? Won't they be too crowded if you leave them all in ground to grow back next year?

May Lotito,

Yes, I have maybe 40 plants or so.  I ended up bringing some needle nose pliers out to my garden to deal with the blister beetles (since you don't want to squish them by hand), & have found that they are equally useful in snatching squash bugs as well.  Fortunately for me, the blister beetles are so fat & swollen from eating my potato leaves, that they are easy to catch.  

Cy Cobb wrote:May Lotito,

Yes, I have maybe 40 plants or so.  I ended up bringing some needle nose pliers out to my garden to deal with the blister beetles (since you don't want to squish them by hand), & have found that they are equally useful in snatching squash bugs as well.  Fortunately for me, the blister beetles are so fat & swollen from eating my potato leaves, that they are easy to catch.  

I don't have issues with blister beetles, but I do have Colorado Potato Beetles every year, and I have taken to just using a cheap pair of gloves for daily bug squishing duty. You could leave the potatoes in the ground for as long as you want, but I definitely would recommend digging them up to replant in a fresh spot next year to avoid pest and disease carry-over as well as over-crowding as mentioned.

Ezra,

This is my first time experiencing the blister beetles.  I had to look them up & found they get their name because if you squish them & their fluids contact your skin, your skin will blister, hence the pliers.  I'm learning more every year I do this, lol.  

I'm not certain if I'll grow potatoes next year or not yet, but if I do, I'll definitely relocate the spot.  I think I've settled on digging them up in the fall when I do my winter squash harvest.  

Potato update for any interested:

I just harvested the potatoes last week, & ended up with half a 5 gallon bucket full.  I did incur a heavy toll of about 25% from bug damage to the potatoes themselves (carrots too, but those I grew for seeds, which finally matured).  I did have a ton of wood chips, tree bark, hubbard squash shells, & the previous years' corn stalks/other organic matter in the row/hill that I placed potato slips on & covered with straw.  When I dug them, there was so much bug activity it's not surprising I had damage.  In this instance, harvesting at the right time would've likely helped a bit.  Lesson learned.