Topic: Planting stored potatoes?

[philcooper]

Jennym,

Blight may be changing, but like influenza, the effect and the treatments remain the same - I hope we don't get avian blight  ;)

The point on treating tubers is that if the spores ore on them or the disease is within the tuber then treatment is a little late.

If it isn't then where would the spores come from as commercially potatoes are stored in controlled envronments?

Phil

This is probably something that would not affect (or interest) allotment holders

[jennym]

Jennym,
Blight may be changing, but like influenza, the effect and the treatments remain the same - I hope we don't get avian blight  ;)
The point on treating tubers is that if the spores ore on them or the disease is within the tuber then treatment is a little late.
If it isn't then where would the spores come from as commercially potatoes are stored in controlled envronments?
Phil
This is probably something that would not affect (or interest) allotment holders

Phil, What I’m trying to say is that if you wanted to select tubers which may or may not have come in contact with the spores, then you would apply a fungicide to all of them. This helps to prevent any uninfected potatoes becoming infected. This is standard practice. SAC Technical Note No.486 explains it. http://www1.sac.ac.uk/info/External/About/publicns/TN/TN486.pdf
I’m a bit sad when you say: This is probably something that would not affect (or interest) allotment holders. I really do enjoy the exchange of information on the site, have learned so much from other people and would hope that most find the same delight that I do in gaining knowledge and understanding of the way that these things operate. For me, this helps me to make decisions on sourcing stock and growing.

[philcooper]

As someone who thinks of himself as an organic gardener, the last thing I would do to any produce of mine is to coat it with chemicals having spent the whole of its life protecting it from contamination

"Nasty" (imho) commercial practices should not be used by amateur growers

Phil

Is it possible to stop this conversation now please?

[jennym]

Ooops Phil, sorry if I have offended you in any way at all, as I said, I really do enjoy the exchange of information on the site and that includes from you of course :)

[philcooper]

Not offended - pm sent to explain

Phil

Keep growing the potatoes! ;)

[newtona2]

Thanks all, for the replies and further information re blight.

I wil take the advice and not plant out my "saved seed" - but I must say, my potatoes have suffered badly from blight in the past two seasons, and in both case they were all from certified seed potatoes. All my neighbouring plot holders did the same (can't speak for the whole allottment) and yet we ALL got blight anyway.

So, buying certified seed didn't help much - so why bother?

Tony

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's obviously spreading by cross-infection from one plot to another. So don't save anything from this year, and be careful about digging out accidentals just in case. I had blight in my tomatoes next year, so I certainly won't be re-using any spuds from last year. An old partwork I have half of from the 70's (I think) recommends saving your own seed in alternate years. That seems fair enough to me, though I'd add the caveat that nothing should be saved after an outbreak of blight.

[philcooper]

Newtona2

All potatoes are susceptible to blight from whatever stock you raise them.

Buying certified seed means that you start off without blight potentially being already inside the plants you are growing. This will ruin your crop before you start.

Blight is spread by 2 means:

a. Windborne spores, the protection against which is copper based sprays which prevent the spores gaining a foothold on the foliage. The spores come from infected plants with the visible signs of blight

b. Aphids, principally the Peach-Potato Aphid, which carries the disease within its body having eaten diseased material. As it is a "messy eater" the disease is then spread to anything it feeds on.

So by growing non-certified seed you are raising potentially infected plants ie you are providing your own source of infected plant material for the aphids to feed on before the disease is visible in the plants and a source of spores when the typical yellow-brown blotches break out on the foliage.

Each year the potato industry plots outbreaks of blight and the vast majority are started by volunteers or last years tubers that weren't cleared away.

Phil

PS there are other diseases that certified stock should not carry such as blackleg adn eelworm which again can be carried forward in your own seed