Black Heart and Hollow Heart in potatoes occur due to

✏️Symptoms of black heart:
-Black heart is characterised by black colouration at the centre of the tuber.
-The affected tissues form clearly delineated spots, irregular in pattern, that remain quite firm and sometimes contain small cavities.
-With seed potato tubers, the diseased plants germinate badly and produce weak plants.
-It occurs when the soil is saturated with water or during very hot temperatures.
-A long exposure to temperatures of around 0°C can also cause the damage.
-Black heart is caused by a lack of oxygen or an excess of CO2
 

✏️Control:
-Avoid badly drained soil and over irrigation.
-Avoid harvesting in extreme heat (30°C) and low temperature (0°C).
-Avoid storing tubers in tightly closed places.
 

✏️Symptoms of hollow heart:
-Hollow heart manifests itself by a longitudinal cavity usually around the centre of the pith and sometimes situated near the rose-end or the heel-end.
-Necrosis normally develops very little and remains at the brown heart stage, whereas in adverse conditions the tubers enlarge too rapidly causing the medullary (pith) tissue to rupture.
-The walls of the cavity become brown due to the formation of healing cork.
-Hollow heart occurs because of uneven amounts of moisture during tuber development.

✏️​Control:
-​Use moderate fertilization.
-Ensure a good tuber initiation by keeping the soil moist during this phase.