Carrot leaf Blight

[frogga]

Morning,

It appears my carrots and parsnips have carrot leaf Blight.

Does it affect the crop at all, or should I bite the bullet and lift the whole crop and freeze?

It's very frustrating as only a couple of weeks ago they were lush and green.

Andrew

[ameno]

Do you have pictures?
It may well not actually be a blight. My carrots are sometimes hit by something which makes the leaves gradually turn brown, and it's actually tiny insects which are causing it (I forget whether it was tiny caterpillars or some sort of leaf miner).

[frogga]

[Nicos]

Gosh - I hadn’t realised carrots could get blight!

[Snoop Puss]

Are those the only leaves the plants had?

[frogga]

Yes they were, I dug the whole crop up earlier, considering how small the tops were it was a fairly decent crop.

The carrots and parsnips were a fair size, I can't complain as it's the first year I've been growing at my new house, and the veg patch wasn't ready until the first week of May.

Andrew

[Snoop Puss]

Very odd. I know that some of my carrot plants have very few leaves, but that's because the others have been stripped by snails.

Interesting that the veg should have been of a decent size. I'd have expected more leaves would be required to produce a better sized result.

Anyway, satisfactory outcome by the look of it, but a bit of a mystery.

[ameno]

Yep, that's definitely what I had. It's insects, not a disease. Some sort of tiny caterpillar or fly larva, I believe. Those tiny black specks you can see are its poo, and you can even see a pupa on one of the leaves
It won't harm the roots, but obviously the roots won't get any larger if all the leaves die.

Gosh - I hadn’t realised carrots could get blight!

"Blight" is a very generic term for basically any disease (especially leaf diseases, and especially ones which cause black or dark brown blotches) of a plant. Carrots can get something called "blight", that doesn't mean it's the same disease as potato blight.
Only tomatoes and potatoes can get potato blight, but other plants have their own "blights", caused by different fungi or bacteria.
Carrot leaf blight is caused by a specific species of Alternaria fungus, and causes leaf yellowing following by dark brown or grey blotches, and in severe cases leaf loss. It does not harm the roots.

[frogga]

Yep, that's definitely what I had. It's insects, not a disease. Some sort of tiny caterpillar or fly larva, I believe. Those tiny black specks you can see are its poo, and you can even see a pupa on one of the leaves
It won't harm the roots, but obviously the roots won't get any larger if all the leaves die.




"Blight" is a very generic term for basically any disease (especially leaf diseases, and especially ones which cause black or dark brown blotches) of a plant. Carrots can get something called "blight", that doesn't mean it's the same disease as potato blight.
Only tomatoes and potatoes can get potato blight, but other plants have their own "blights", caused by different fungi or bacteria.
Carrot leaf blight is caused by a specific species of Alternaria fungus, and causes leaf yellowing following by dark brown or grey blotches, and in severe cases leaf loss. It does not harm the roots.

Many Thanks for the information. I better do some research on how to protect from them, I don't want losses 2 years running.
Andrew