This is a sequel to my original posting under the thread of the same name, which, for those of you who have not yet read it is at
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,33814.0.html (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,33814.0.html)
This is now the twentieth day after the blight hit my King Edwards, and this is how the plants now look
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x70/Kepouros/Blight3.jpg)
the continued process of manual removal of infected foliage has resulted in the main stems remaining clean, only 2 or 3 of these having to be cut off to ground level, but the plants have now reached the absolute minimum foliage level and are ready to be cut back to the ground.
On the day blight struck I dug up one plant for test purposes. As I expected there was nothing underneath but the tiny embryo tubers. This morning I dug up another, with this result
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x70/Kepouros/Blight4.jpg)
(the tray has a 9inch square base)
While this is very small compared to the crop I would have had if the blight had appeared a month later, the 35 lbs or so which I now expect to collect from these plants is an absolute bonus compared with the nothing which I would have got if I had simply cut the plants down immediately as is so often needlessly advocated on A4A. Even 20 days grace can make a vast difference to the crop.
The plants have now been cut down, and on the next fine day the bed will be flame-gunned to clear all spores and debris.
I hope that this little exercise will help to convince some of the Doubting Thomases that panic-stricken slashing of the haulm is not necessarily the best answer.
Thanks K. I have taken your advice and have been 'housekeeping' my blighted spuds. I will finally cut down the foliage next week, then forget about them for a couple of weeks. I don't have the luxury of a flame gun, so will rake and make sure I clear everything before digging. My pink fur apples and maxine are yet to be struck down so I will have to keep an eye on those.
Nice looking spuds by the way.
You`ve been lucky with your Maxine. In several years growing of them I`ve always found that they were the first to get the blight, although they still always gave me a good crop. Unfortunately my local garden shop hadn`t got any this year. Keep spraying them and keep your fingers crossed.
When you do dig up your blighted ones don`t forget to show us the results - it may help convince a few more.
The maxine and PFA are seperated from the rest of the spuds by a row of globe artichokes...don't know if that helped acting as a wind break.
Don't worry, I will bore you all rigid with photos of my blighted spuds.
My Dad had an allotment for many years, he is now in his 80's, but when I told him I had blight he told me to lime, he said it kilss the spores on the soil!
Anyone else heard/done this?
Well done on your spuds K.
Certainly very interesting result! My, what stony ground you have got!
You're right, Kepouros. We've had a few spuds with blighty spots on them, and a few toms. My son looks after the spuds, and he's quite laid back about it. He had a good spray with the bordeaux mix, and we've been picking off leaves as and when. All the plants are still looking very healthy. He says the spuds do this every year, and only panicked the first year he grew them. I lost my toms a few years ago to blight, but that year I hadn't been to the lottie regularly enough to check them.
Quote from: SueSteve on July 19, 2007, 05:16:47
My Dad had an allotment for many years, he is now in his 80's, but when I told him I had blight he told me to lime, he said it kilss the spores on the soil!
Anyone else heard/done this?
Well done on your spuds K.
I read something somewhere about lime - though not for blight - think that scab is more common in alkaline soils?
I`m afraid that the lime theory is a bit of an old wives` tale. I have no doubt that Quicklime, as once used by builders for making mortar and plaster, would probably have put paid to blight spores, but I doubt whether the hydrated lime sold today would have any effect.
More to the point, it is not the spores on the ground that damage the plant, but the free floating airborne spores which would not be affected by liming the ground. The spores on the ground would only damage a crop being lifted while they are still alive. Furthermore, any application of lime as a top dressing to growing potato plants would undoubtedly result in a bad attack of scab.