Topic: potato - blight ?please help as about to dig all up!

[marcusexeter]

hi
I have two sorts of potatoes - pink fir ( nice and healthy ) and anya which have got little spots on them , gone yellow and a re shrivelling up suddenly after being really healthy - the two sorts of salad pota are planted in beds side by side - leaves touching but it's only the Anya that is bad. I've looked up blight pics. and the blight brown spots are much bigger - these are like lots of tiny broen spots on completely yellow plants ? looks like next door has got it too, any info much appreciated.

[Tee Gee]

Do you have some way of testing the pH of your soil? I get the feeling yours might be a bit too alkaline (chalky)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Blight's unmistakeablel; the whole plant rots overninght. No need to worry too much about small spots. It's very early for blight, but I just had a text warning of a Smith period, so we do need to be alert.

[Deb P]

I've just had a 'full smith' period warning by email too.............what should I be doing about it, ? covering up the tatties? :-\

A few of my Anya potatoes have a yellower leaf than other varieties too, some got frosted a bit too, so a few brown edges and spots.? similar problems?

[Robert_Brenchley]

It might be worth spraying with Bordeaux mix, but not until it stops raining or it'll be washed straight off the leaves. It's early yet so I'm not worrying too much.

[sarah]

whats a smith period?

[Robert_Brenchley]

two successive days with over 90% humidity and the temperature over 10 Centigrade. These provide ideal conditions for the airborne fungal spores to germinate and penetrate a potato leaf. Once it gets that far, the plant's had it.

[jennym]

Could be the symptoms of potato cyst eelworm. Try digging one up gently and looking at the roots, if there are really tiny yellowish or white ball-shaped eelworms attached to the roots, that's what it is. Anya happens to be very prone to suffering form this pest if it's in the soil.
It's a bit early for blight IMHO.