Topic: Blightwatch

[Jayb]

Had my first warning email today for a full Smith Period in my area. Oh joy.

For anyone not aware the British Potato Council site has a map with incidents of Late Blight through the season http://www.potato.org.uk/fight-against-blight/blight-incidents
You can also register to receive warnings when conditions are right in your area for the spread of blight 'Smith Period' http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Home.asp

[Jeanbean]

For goodness sake this is earlier isn't it or does your area of the country usually get blight at this time of year?Not sure I could cope with a Smith period in Essex at the moment, so busy trying to stop our crops being decimated by the magpies and pigeons. particularly bad this year so all fruit needs netting. Amazing that every pice of net we possess is the wrong size and in yesterday's wind nigh on ompossible to peg dowm. Hope you don't suffer any damage to early potatoes and this is just a blip.

[small]

That's horribly early, isn't it, you must have had warmer weather than we have here. It doesn't bode well for the season, does it, and I was hoping to risk some outdoor tomatoes this year. What's the earliest anyone has actually been struck by late blight?

[Jayb]

For goodness sake this is earlier isn't it or does your area of the country usually get blight at this time of year?Not sure I could cope with a Smith period in Essex at the moment, so busy trying to stop our crops being decimated by the magpies and pigeons. particularly bad this year so all fruit needs netting. Amazing that every pice of net we possess is the wrong size and in yesterday's wind nigh on ompossible to peg dowm. Hope you don't suffer any damage to early potatoes and this is just a blip.

Yes Blight often hits this area early, traditionally Gower used to grow early potatoes, not quite as early as the Pembroke ones which were a week or so earlier and Cornish a little before them. I just used to think it was because it was that little bit milder climate here, but perhaps Late Blight made it impracticable to grow later crops before the introduction of sprays?

Lol, know the feeling, I think netting has its own 'Murphy's law'!
Good luck protecting your crops   

[Jayb]

That's horribly early, isn't it, you must have had warmer weather than we have here. It doesn't bode well for the season, does it, and I was hoping to risk some outdoor tomatoes this year. What's the earliest anyone has actually been struck by late blight?

I'm hoping all this rain and wind will just blow itself out and we get some drier weather to enjoy?!
June is about the earliest here, knocked out my spuds a couple of years ago in mid June 
Last year was exceptional no blight until mid August.
Generally it hits potatoes the earliest and hardest. Tomatoes often get it a 2-3 weeks later.

[chriscross1966]

AN isolated full Smith in May is not really anything to get bothered about, a cluster at the end of June is, if only cos it means it'll be p**ing down with rain on me at Glastonbury ....

[Jayb]

Maybe not for most places, but for wet areas that regularly get L. Blight quite early in the season I think it's worth keeping an eye on smith periods to know when my spuds have been at risk. At least if I spot it early and remove affected haulms it can slow the spread giving a little better chance of having something to harvest.

[Ian Pearson]

I see there is a confirmed (7th May) blight case in NR11 (Norfolk).

[Jayb]

The rate it has been blowing here, wouldn't take long to arrive from Norfolk!!!

[goodlife]

 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2625661/Problems-growing-tomatoes-Feed-ASPIRIN-say-scientists-fight-disease-boost-yield.html
 

...off to shops to stock up with the stuff....

[Jayb]

Interesting read. I think I'll try some Willow branches and Meadowsweet in a water butt. Amazing the different uses plants have, I know Willow water http://www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm is meant to be good for rooting and germinating older seed
How much knowledge have we lost by relying on the 'big boys'! Though Historically there does not seem to be much to prevent Late blight attacks.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Unless you've got blight on your doorstep - on an allotment site where everyone treats volunteer potatoes as an extra crop rather than a source of infection, for instance - then a single Smith peiod is nothing to worry about. A string of them is as it gives the disease time to spread. Since last summer was dry, much of the disease will have burnt itself out, and it'll take time - hopefully lots of time - to get established again.