Potato Blight :(

[SlugLobber]

Got it for the first time. I started clearing the earlies yesterday evening when I spotted it (and put foliage on the bonfire pile). Clearing the rest this evening. I have Aran Pilot, Kestrel and King Edwards. They all went in during late March. Will I even have a decent King Edward in there?

The tubers so far haven't been affected. I don't suppose if I trim the foliage below the affected levels (leaves only at this point) that some will grow back???

Peed off. My July has been really pooey.

So, I know what I'm not growing down there NEXT year...

[The Large One]

don't be put off, its the weather this year thats caused all this
iv'e managed to get very good crops the past 3 years and this year the whole site looks like its been clobbered so i have cut the halums down and will harvest what i have and look forward to next year

[shona_b]

I took advice and cut back all of the foliage to gound level on the maincrop bed. I'll leave te spuds in the ground for a week or too longer to try to harden off the skin somewhat. The second easriles I simply dug up and I was pleasantly surprised - some real decent sized ones in amongst them. It might not be as bad as you think! We're not allowed bonfired on our allotment but I was told its OK to compost the haulms anyway.

[Vince G]

Got it last year 2nd week of July just before we went on hols. 3 x 20ft rows of Maris Pipers. Came back off hols and dug them up and got a surprisingly good crop which lasted me and Mrs Vince until March this year. Quite a few tiddlers but they were big enough to make a roast potato, plus a few beauties the size of my fist. Leaving them in as long as I can this year so hopefully have some big enough for baking!

[binley100]

I've cut down the haulms on my second earlies as the leaves had all gone yellow and looked like they were dying off and have taken any yellowing leaves off my mains. I've been getting blight warnings everyday but no obvious signs as yet . First sign and they'll be chopped down too . You can leave the mains in for a couple of weeks after chopping them down .....

[SlugLobber]

I thought leaves dying off and yellowing was just a mineral deficiency (nitrogen with spuds, isn't it?).

Thankfully FIL was very understanding - although my OH owns all the land, his father has farmed it since the 70s and has lots of toms in his greenhouses, so I wasn't sure if he'd go into grumpy-old-man mode, as this is my first year on this plot. Apparently our neighbour also has blight, so I'm suffering in experienced company.

I was going to leave the mains in for a couple of weeks anyway (easier storage in the ground!), while we try and use up the little spuds. OH will be really peeved when he sees them, though. He's a skin hater, odd little man...

New potatoes, anyone???

[northepaul]

Yep all my pots have blight....including second earlies...average size potato is about 4 inches long!!
The rest of the allotment is the same
Tis the weather

[sally fran]

After a deeply depressing day yesterday destroying all my blighty tomatoes, I dug up all my charlottes this morning, just in case. I've never had blight before so I'm not entirely sure whether it had got them - the leaves always look pretty manky by this stage anyway what with the snails, flea beetles, leafhoppers and all - but there were a few leaves that might have been blighty.

So I dug up my best charlotte harvest ever, only to then think - I wonder if the tubers might be infected even though they look perfect at the moment? And looking on line discovered that I should have cut down the haulms and left the tatties in the ground for a couple of weeks! Aargh! Is there any hope or is there a strong chance that they'll start to rot?

[Barking Postlethwaite]

Blight very evident in the foliage of the maincrop Maris Pipers, so it was off with their heads today in the hope it may not yet have spread to the tubers yet. There is a decent crop underneath, so I'm leaving them in as long as I can - there is probably too much slug damage for there to be any hope of long-term storage, so there is little point in lifting them unless they start to rot in the ground.

The Rocket earlies are also showing early signs so those haulms have been cut off too. I'm hoping that this prompt action and an application of bordeaux mixture will save the Pink Firs, which so far look to be OK.

[piskieinboots]

My spuds went down with blight too - darn annoying isn't it

[Paulottie]

So I dug up my best charlotte harvest ever, only to then think - I wonder if the tubers might be infected even though they look perfect at the moment? And looking on line discovered that I should have cut down the haulms and left the tatties in the ground for a couple of weeks! Aargh! Is there any hope or is there a strong chance that they'll start to rot?

Ok don't panic. Charlotte being a salady, waxy sort of spud are not really keepers anyway...not like your maincrops anyway. Part of the leaving them in the ground thing is to 'set' the skins (they toughen up a bit to store but spoils the fresh new spud thing a bit)

IMHO the quicker you get the blighty haulm off and away the better.....the spores multiply on the plant material. It makes very little difference the time you dig them after that as to whether they have it......but the slugs will still be munching!

I dug mine yesterday...fine harvest given the eelworm and blight and weather and slugs. I washed them all at the lottie. I barrowed them home laid the whole lot on newspaper and carefully inspected each spud. Anything with ANY damage from slugs, forks, sunlight had the best cut for boiling up immediately.(spanish omlette and patatas bravas on menu this week!) the best were laid out to dry in blue bakets and will go into the bag today. The bag will be checked weekly for a while just to make sure.

If a potato shows any slight bruising...purple /black not associated with slug damage it may have blight. DO NOT PUT IT IN STORE.

[sally fran]

Thanks for your advice Paul - I've done as you suggested and so far they seem fine. I'll keep checking them regularly and hope for the best. In the meantime, we're eating a lot of potatoes! And tomorrow my husband (the baker in our household) is going to try making German potato bread...