potato blight

[Billy's lad]

I planted some kestrel spuds which were doing ok until a week ago I noticed some spots on leaves
on further investigation on the internet I put it down to blight
Before it spread across the whole patch I have removed all the foliage and intend to dispose of

The spuds are still in the ground , do I leave them there for a couple of weeks or harvest straightaway

Please excuse my lack of knowledge

[mcdood]

If you've taken the leaves off they won't grow anymore so I'd lift them, hopefully the blight hasn't reached the tubers. They are 2nd earlies and about due to come out around now anyway assuming you planted at normal time. I will be lifting my Kestrel this week.

[Billy's lad]

so once i lift them do I leave them on top to dry off or anything or into paper bags and into the dark ?

[ameno]

If they are neat, round brown spots then that is early blight, which is actually completely unrelated to what most people call "blight", which is more properly called late blight.
Early blight is much less devastating. It only really strikes in hot, dry weather, tends not to spread very quickly, and very rarely affects the tubers themselves, so most of the time you can safely just leave the plants to grow through it.

Late blight, the proper blight, causes blackish-brown irregular blotches, which quickly expand into ever larger black areas, which then just rot and collapse.
For late blight, cut off at ground level then leave them for two weeks. This ensures that any spores which fell to the ground have rotted (late blight spores can't live long without a host) and so the tubers should hopefully not be infected. Then lift and store as normal.

[Can the Man]

If you have cut down The foliage or loom as they call it over here, make sure you burn it. Do not put it in your compost heap, and you can leave the spuds in the ground for a few weeks for the skins to toughen up a bit and are better for storage, but as they are 2nd earlies they won’t store for too long - you will be to busy eating them

[Aberdeenplotter]

If you've got the tops off and the foliage removed from site they will be fine underground, They will continue to grow for up to a couple of weeks as they absorb the goodness left in the shaws as we call them but otherwise haulms. The skins will also harden off which is good as otherwise they can suffer some damage when being lifted.

[Billy's lad]

Thanks everyone

I have removed the tops and will leave in the now very dry ground for a couple of weeks and burn the stalks

[Forage420]

If you have cut down The foliage or loom as they call it over here, make sure you burn it. Do not put it in your compost heap, and you can leave the spuds in the ground for a few weeks for the skins to toughen up a bit and are better for storage, but as they are 2nd earlies they won’t store for too long - you will be to busy eating them

That's a bit of a myth really as blight spores can only live on live vegetation and not in the soil so there really is no need to burn blighted leaves.

[Can the Man]

That's a bit of a myth really as blight spores can only live on live vegetation and not in the soil so there really is no need to burn blighted leaves.

That may be the case but better safe than sorry.

[Mark_Riga]

And, if leaving in ground, be aware that they are more liable there for slug damage than in store if left too long.