Is this Potato Blight :(

[norscot]

Just had an unpleasant surprise when I checked my potato patch yesterday, what had previously looked perfectly green and healthy are now full of black and brown leaves that look as if they are dying.

Not come across this ever before, and are wondering what the collective wisdom here thinks it is.

It appears to have affected the whole patch in only 2 to 3 days. First earlies, 2nd earlies, main crop, are all showing the same signs.

It looks like Blight from googling, but is this not very early in the year for that??

The ground has not been planted for several years, and there are no other potatoes near, so I am unclear how this hits them. Is it just bad luck, or bad seed, or ??

Is it worth trying to remove the brown bits, best left alone, or is the whole thing a total loss. They have only been in the ground for around 5 weeks. To say I am disappointed after the effort of turning the ground for the first time in years, and planting 15kg of seed potatoes, is an understatement...

[happyhumph]

Looks like it to me but j haven't grown potatoes in years - an expert will be along in a bit.

[veggiechicken]

I wouldn't like to say - are the stems black?
Where do you live? You may be able to check whether blight has been recorded locally at https://blight.ahdb.org.uk/blight-report/

[norscot]

better pic..

not sure what I'm doing wrong but I only seem to be showing a very low resolution thumbnail of the pic.

The stems are still green, seems to be mainly the top third of the leaves affected, although variable.

[veggiechicken]

Have you had bad weather - hail or anything that could damage the leaves?
Has anything been sprayed nearby?

[norscot]

I'm up in Scotland, weather hasn't been too great here recently, wet and windy, but nothing particularly extreme.

Must admit my first thought was wondering about somebody spraying something, but I'm quite a distance from the neighbours and nothing seems affected but the potatoes. I've got cabbages and strawberries in an adjoining plot and they seem OK.

I'm a bit baffled, I was hoping for good results by moving the potatoes to fresh ground this year. Think I'm just going to have to watch and see what happens, recovery or continuing spread of the leaves blackening. I pulled the discoloured leaves off three of the plants to see how they compare with the rest that I've not done anything to for the moment..

[Mr Bones]

Hi Norscot and welcome to the vine. It doesn't look like blight to me but every year can be a bit different. Usually blight produces yellow spots on the leaves that have grey halos on the underside. Do you live near the coast, if so could it be salt burn.

[Snoop Puss]

Very odd. Could you have had frost one night? I know it's late for that...

[the beadle]

Don't know what it is, but it doesn't look like blight. It is a bit early for blight but three years ago I spent the 17th of June (the day before my 60th birthday) chopping all the haulms down as we had a very bad attack down our lotties. Off down there in a minute, hope it's not back:-)

[burnie]

What area of Scotland are you?

[Thelma Sanders]

Looks more like frost damage to me tbh.

I would think that the plants would be collapsed and slimy by now with that much damage, if it was blight.

[Penellype]

I agree it looks more like frost than blight. We did have an unusually cold night right at the beginning of June, although I would have expected to see damage within a couple of days if that had been the cause.

Look for the grey mould under the brown bits - if you can't see it then blight is unlikely as with the plants as badly affected as that the fungus would certainly have got to the spore producing stage.

[Nicos]

I'd go with not blight either,..the brown areas look too crisp and pale brown from what I can see?
Blight looks like the plant is rotting.
The fact there are no dark patches spreading on the main stems also suggests it's not blight.

I have been known to be wrong before though!

Oh....and sorry, where are my manners?
Welcome to the Vine

[Potstubsdustbins]

If there are no signs of pests, I to would go along with frost damage. It would be very early for blight but no impossible, do the checks recommended and let us know.

Welcome by the way...