Topic: Blight Warning LE13

[Ishard]

I have had 2 blight warnings now guys so check your spuds and toms.

Remove leaves that look infected and earth up spuds to prevent the spores reaching the spuds.

Dithane 945 is suggested to help so Im off to buy some today :(

[Mr Smith]

I've been digging my earlies and the spuds are in fine condiction but I will keep an eye on the rest of them, :)

[torquil]

just come back from allotment there are five or six allotments all have some blight at this time.we are in county durham.

[muddylou]

just come back from allotment there are five or six allotments all have some blight at this time.we are in county durham.

I'm in Acton (London) and have had problems also, I've had to cut the tops off three plants. Leaves going yellow with brown spots on them. I'm certainly not the only one as all the other plot holders have some plants with the same discolourations.
      This my first year so not sure what the problem is, but from the things I've read, if it was full blown blight then the spuds would all be dead now. I first noticed this around a week ago. My first and second earlies are unaffected, my mains (Roma) are the ones suffering, though all my potato plants are next to each other.   

[ceres]

I think a lot of people are panicking unnecessarily.  Blight Alerts are just alerts put out when the weather conditions are conducive for the development of blight.  They don't mean that blight is everywhere.

The Potato Council posts blight maps that show confirmed cases of blight in commercial crops (data is gathered daily by hundreds of field walkers).  Today, there are only 4 confirmed cases in the whole of the UK.  2 are in SW Cornwall, 1 in Margate and 1 in Ipswich and they are scattered small patches.

If everyone who has posted on A4A that they have blight actually had blight, I suspect the blight map would look a bit different.

All potatoes die down when they've run out of steam.  The leaves go yellow then brown then wither and die.  It doesn't mean they've got blight and you don't need to cut them down or lift the potatoes.

[muddylou]

I think a lot of people are panicking unnecessarily.  Blight Alerts are just alerts put out when the weather conditions are conducive for the development of blight.  They don't mean that blight is everywhere.

The Potato Council posts blight maps that show confirmed cases of blight in commercial crops (data is gathered daily by hundreds of field walkers).  Today, there are only 4 confirmed cases in the whole of the UK.  2 are in SW Cornwall, 1 in Margate and 1 in Ipswich and they are scattered small patches.

If everyone who has posted on A4A that they have blight actually had blight, I suspect the blight map would look a bit different.

All potatoes die down when they've run out of steam.  The leaves go yellow then brown then wither and die.  It doesn't mean they've got blight and you don't need to cut them down or lift the potatoes.

[/b]

OK Ceres, point taken  :) Im a panicky sort of bloke. Thanks for the info.  ;)

[Ishard]

Last year I too didnt panic (or react) and lost my whole crop of pots and toms and I can tell you it is soul destroying.
Its too late to do much once you see half your plot infected.

This year I am taking notice of the blight warnings.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Keep an eye on the situation; the last two years have been exceptional. You need to act if you have blight, and keep calm if you don't!

[Kepouros]

Ceres is quite right.  We have already had quite a few false alarms about blight, and I`ve no doubt that there will be quite a few more.  The important thing is that before you do anything you make sure that you do indeed have blight.  Unless you have seen enough blight to be absolutely sure of being right then post pictures of top and reverse side of affected leaves.  There are enough people here who can then tell you with some certainty whether you have it or not.

Above all DON`T PANIC.  Contrary to some of the scare stories you may hear Blight does not destroy your crop overnight, and provided that you take action within 24 hours or so of it`s first appearance you can keep it in check long enough to give your plants time to bulk up their tubers before you have to remove the tops.  These are two threads on the subject which I posted a couple of years ago:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,33814.msg337848.html#msg337848

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,34759.msg346982.html#msg346982


It does work, and I don`t lose my crop to blight either in the ground or in storage

[muddylou]

Ceres is quite right.  We have already had quite a few false alarms about blight, and I`ve no doubt that there will be quite a few more.  The important thing is that before you do anything you make sure that you do indeed have blight.  Unless you have seen enough blight to be absolutely sure of being right then post pictures of top and reverse side of affected leaves.  There are enough people here who can then tell you with some certainty whether you have it or not.

Above all DON`T PANIC.  Contrary to some of the scare stories you may hear Blight does not destroy your crop overnight, and provided that you take action within 24 hours or so of it`s first appearance you can keep it in check long enough to give your plants time to bulk up their tubers before you have to remove the tops.  These are two threads on the subject which I posted a couple of years ago:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,33814.msg337848.html#msg337848

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,34759.msg346982.html#msg346982


It does work, and I don`t lose my crop to blight either in the ground or in storage

That's just what I wanted to know, great info for a beginner like myself. I have some potatoes slowly turning but as I said earlier, only in my Roma crop. At least I know what to do now.