Keep an eye open for blight

[Penellype]

The warm and damp weather is providing ideal conditions for potato/tomato blight and there have already been some reports of it in the south west. For those who are new to this forum you may not be aware that you can get email alerts when the conditions are right for blight in your area from Home - Blightwatch. You can also see where blight incidents have been reported at Fight Against Blight - Blight Incidents | AHDB Potatoes.

The blightwatch site has been improved since last year and now predicts Smith periods during the next day or 2 as well as reporting ones that are actually happening. Conditions here in York are such that we will have a full Smith period by tomorrow.

[Scoot]

What's a Smith period?

[Penellype]

Smith period is defined as a period of 2 consecutive days when the temperature is above 10C and the relative humidity is above 90% for at least 11 hours. These are the conditions that favour the spread of blight.

What are Smith Periods - Blightwatch

[vixylix]

I've not had any notifications but it definitely feels like blight conditions here!

[Penellype]

I haven't had a notification yet but checked the blightwatch site as it felt so muggy, and there is a warning on there for my postcode.

[JaniceH]

What should you do if a Smiths period is predicted for your area?

[Thelma Sanders]

I've had no smith's warning - but I had black patches on the toms outside in the garden - stripped all the affected leaves and i'm hoping for the best!

[greenmagpie]

A Smiths period is basically any few days in a British summer ...

[Penellype]

What should you do if a Smiths period is predicted for your area?

Really all you can do is be vigilant and remove any leaves that look like they have blight immediately. Some people say that spraying with aspirin helps, whether this would work if the plant was already infected I don't know.

[muddled]

Oh the irony!

My tomatoes that seem so LATE are at risk of EARLY blight....

[Penellype]

For those who don't know what blight looks like, there is a long but useful thread here: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ght_33866.html

[maverick451]

I was quite surprised, it feels very much like blight conditions with warm humid air but looking at blight watch there has only been one smith period for my area a while back.

[Ryez]

Just looking at the weather forecast, it feels like is going to be a near-smith weekend here in the Cheshire countryside...

[Bigmallly]

A bit of info for anybody new to blight:

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/how...n-your-garden/

[Nicos]

Blightwatch was originally set up for farmers if I recall correctly?
For them to spray their spuds with Bordeaux mixture to prevent blight.
It had to be applied regularly... every 2 weeks I think?
Once the blight appears in the leaves it's already been in the plant for about 2 weeks.

Having said that, there are so many other fungi spores which try to get a hold in this weather.......it can be very confusing initially until they get a hold.

Thanks for the heads up Penellype...and the links BM