Topic: Well, that's it then!

[tim]

Lucky it's on the last of the Earlies - down the other end of the garden.

[Digeroo]

I hope it does not spread.  We have not had any Full Smith periods yet.  I am not that bothered about my potatoes but do not want to loose my tomatoes.  Haven't even had one yet. 

My desiree looking a bit sad but think they have decided to be an early.  PFA a few inches away looking very strong - pity about the lack of potatoes.

[staris]

are you saying thats blight ?, my earlies look like that i thought it was just the tops dying off.

[tim]

That's Blight!

Tubers going to mush underneath.

[Hector]

Sorry to see this Tim. Here's hoping you have a bumper year with your other crops :(

[ceres]

Can you post pictures please Tim?

[lewic]

Mine are also going like that and I thought it was just the tops dying off!

Did dig up some yesterday and the tubers looked OK though..

[tim]

Ceres - of...??

Tubers - amazing how quickly it's gone into them.

[ceres]

The tubers.

[Digeroo]

Sorry to hear you have lost tubers as well.  Though that it left them alone.  Lost all mine to blight last year, but underground things mostly ok, still got lots of volunteers this year.

Does this depend on the variety? 

[lushy86]

What shame tim, I'm a bit worried now, like  lewic I thought my charlottes were just dying off, they look like that, dug a couple up yesterday and they looked good, how do I tell the difference between blight and dying off? 

Lushy x

[Robert_Brenchley]

Charlotte won't die off yet, it's a second early which can be treated as a maincrop.

[tonybloke]

Sorry to hear you have lost tubers as well.  Though that it left them alone.  Lost all mine to blight last year, but underground things mostly ok, still got lots of volunteers this year.

Does this depend on the variety? 

it's in the volunteers that blight lives from season to season !!
you are re-infecting your spuds with blight!!

[lushy86]

Oh no, not good news then.  My PFA are next to them and are fine so far and I thought they were prone to blight.

Lushy x

[Robert_Brenchley]

Be ruthless with your volunteers. Blight is an annual event on my site, and I'm convinced it's surviving on the site. Once we get a certain plot sorted out and re-let I'm thinking of starting a campaign and see whether we can do something to stop at least some of the outbreaks.

[amphibian]

I'm thinking of starting a campaign and see whether we can do something to stop at least some of the outbreaks.

If only we could eradicate potato outgrade piles, blight would become a shadow of its destructive self.

[ceres]

If only we could eradicate potato outgrade piles, blight would become a shadow of its destructive self.

Yes, it's interesting that the very first outbreaks of blight reported on Blightwatch were on outgrade piles.  I guess the farmers don't care because they're going to spray anyway.

[Digeroo]

Be ruthless with your volunteers

Not always very easy. 

But I have a blight resistant desiree I feel it is my duty to keep it alive.  It is the only potato I have grown in my garden for years.  Will definitely be ruthless down at the lottie.  Modern desiree not the same as the originals which were blight and scab resistant.  Sometimes you get a packet of the orginals in the supermarket, they are a different shape and taste much better.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The first ones reported were on outgrade piles, but I wonder how many gardeners report their outbreaks? We may be dealing with information bias.

[ceres]

The first ones reported were on outgrade piles, but I wonder how many gardeners report their outbreaks? We may be dealing with information bias.

Blightwatch is a service primarily for commercial growers, not gardeners.  It's a useful  indicator of when blight starts to appear on a large scale and of how it's moving.

As has been talked about on here multiple times recently, many gardeners can't reliably identify blight so their input would not be useful.