Potato blight??????

[Ruth Rocket]

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping for some advice, I posted this on the Newbie thread a while back this evening (probably only half an hour ago!), but as i am worrying for a solution I am posting it here too.  Sorry if this is over-kill but I am working away for 4 days this week and if there is any chance of saving my potatoes I will have to do it tomorrow!
I dug up one plant today and the pots are awesome (desiree, we just made Bombay Potatoes with them!)  They were still flowering.
Thanks in advance,
Ruth xxxxx


Hi Everyone!
I am a newbie, both to this forum and allotmenting  :)  I have searched around this forum for a few nights and the knowledge and advice is awesome! 
We got our allotment on June 17th 2011 after waiting for 3 years and it looked like this:

currently it looks like this:

Which I was very pleased with until yesterday! ...... apart from all the seedlings being eaten by something, i would say birds but there has been a four legged animal walking all over the beds, which i am sure is a fox (i have seen him spraying on all the plots when he thinks no one is around!)   .....  surely they don't eat veg?
The broad beans seem to have some sort or blight?  Lots of rusty spots and virtually dead plants :(
But the worst thing yesterday was discovering the tomato plants I was given, looked extremely manky, after googling it seemed they had blight, so i dug them up and binned them.  Realising I had planted them next to potatoes I went back today to check the potatoes and they looked like this:



Does anyone know if this is potato blight?  If so what should I do?  Should I also post this elsewhere on the forum as I would love some advice?  I am sure I will keep plodding on even if it is blight! 

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news when saying hello!!!!!
Big hugs and snogs!
Ruth xx

[Ruth Rocket]

[caroline7758]

You'll get an answer soon! ;)

[George the Pigman]

Hi Ruth
brown/red spots on broad beans are very common. It's a fungal disease that attacks them in warm humid conditions. That's why it's best to sow them early in the year as they don't like summer that much!
The spuds could be at the end of their natural growth period and be dying back leaving the tubers to grow next year That's how they evolved to cope with frosts in the mountains of Latin America where they come from originally. You would be expecting that to happen about now.

[Ruth Rocket]

Hi George the Pigman,
Thanks for replying, that would be awesome if that is the case, I am not so worried about the beans so I can deal with that!
Do the pictures look normal, for potatoes dying back then?  I was worrying as the tomatoes went completely rotten, leaves, stem and fruit and they were in the same bed.

[George the Pigman]

It can be difficult to tell in the early stages. Outdoor tomatoes are much much more prone to blight than modern spuds . If in doubt cut  off all the tops of the spuds down to the base and burn the tops. Most spuds would be finishing now anyway.

[Ruth Rocket]

Cool, thanks for the advice,  all the tomatoes were given to me, I always try to say no to them, but I  always end up with some that don't work out..... I will let you know if the potatoes work out.   At what point should I chop the tops off, if it is blight? Sorry for the many questions!

[Alex133]

If you have late blight it will move very quickly and you'll see black splodges on the stems as well as the leaves - you have to cut them down before it can travel into the tubers.
If you look up blightwatch.co.uk you'll have access to masses of info on blight, including pictures, from the Potato Council.

[Ruth Rocket]

Thanks Alex133, I will do that now :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

That does look like the early stages of late blight. If it is, then it has a habit of staying as it is in dry weather, then everything rots overnight as soon as you get rain. This late in the season I'd be inclined to cut all the foliage down and compost it, under cover so it can't spread the spores.

[Pescador]

Certainly looks like Blight. I'd cut the tops off  immediately and burn them.
I'd only compost them if you are confident your compost heap is getting hot enough to destroy the spores; otherwise you'll have a bigger problem next year

[Ruth Rocket]

Thanks Robert_brenchley and Pescador :) i have now murdered all potatoes, very sad day!   But thanks for the advice!  Hopefully we will have more success next year! Xx

[George the Pigman]

Ruth
the spuds themselves should be OK at thsi stage! Hope you didn't bin them - only the tops.!

[cornykev]

As Pigman says the spuds will be fine so its not a sad day.   ???

[MervF]

I usually dig them about 3 weeks after I have cut the haulms down.   I have done this with all of mine this year and the potatoes are fine.

[Ruth Rocket]

I didn't bin the potatoes, just the tops, some were much smaller tho and hadn't flowered yet, so I was being dramatic, felt like I was ordering my babies!  Thanks again for the advice, I don't feel quite as despondent as I did!

just had an email from the allotment shop re ordering seed potatoes for next year, so will buy some of the blight resistant ones and try again! Xxxx

[cornykev]

When did you plant them Ruth, I ask because the flowering should be finished and the plants dieing off by now, as Merv says leave them in for 2/3 weeks before digging them up.   ;D

[Ruth Rocket]

Hi corneykev,
We got the allotment on June 17th and maybe chucked them in 4 weeks later-ish, lots of people said they would clear the ground of weeds and a few people said maybe it wasn't too late!  We have had 2 meals from one of the plants already, and if the others are ok in the ground we will have quite a few more which is cool.
Just so I understand, I will leave them in for 2/3 weeks, why is this? xxxxx

[Ruth Rocket]

Oh and the others which i have still left in the ground, were planted first week of august, from suttons, to plant at this time, not sure if they are ok though they did have 2 dodgy leaves which i have taken off.  I will watch closely and get rid of if needed!

[Ruth Rocket]

I didn't bin the potatoes, just the tops, some were much smaller tho and hadn't flowered yet, so I was being dramatic, felt like I was ordering my babies!  Thanks again for the advice, I don't feel quite as despondent as I did!

just had an email from the allotment shop re ordering seed potatoes for next year, so will buy some of the blight resistant ones and try again! Xxxx

Supposed to be murdering my babies!  Ha!  Predictive text on iPad Gah!

[pumkinlover]

Ruth, by cutting off and removing the haulms you break the cycle of infection. The fungus which causes blight cannot live except on living potato tissue. Take the infected tops away and leave for 3 weeks, then lift  the potatoes and hopefully the blight has not reached them.