Should I dig them all up?
Maybe.
http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Smith.asp
No - I think digging them all up because of a Smith period may be what is classed as a gross overreaction.
so, what should i do ~ nuffink or anyfink?
If you are into spraying - all sorts if you are not bothered about chemicals, Bordeaux if you are 'organic' then spray. Other than that, keep an eye out for the tell tale marks of blight - if you see them, remove affected leaves. If it gets too bad, remove all the foliage but leave the potatoes (for storage) in the ground for two weeks - then dig them up. Potatoes for immediate consumption can be dug up as normal.
As Red says keep an eye on them and spray if need be, last year blight wiped out my toms but never touched my spuds. ??? ;D ;D ;D
My dad's allotment neighbour on PO11 is adamant he aint got blight. He's wrong. So it's out there, the conditions are right... but there's no point in digging up spuds until you start seeing blight on the haulms.
QuoteFull Smith Period in PO12
Could anyone assist my senile old brain and explain the heading ???
Tee Gee,
fyi ... see here for an explanation of Smith periods
http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Smith.asp (http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Smith.asp)
People who are registered with blight watch specify which geographical areas they are interested in ... they do this by postcode (the first part that is) ... hence PO12. You are automatically emailed if a full Smith period occurs. You can log on and look at the stats for your postcode at any time.
On the general theme of the thread I agree with redclanger. A full Smith period is only an indication that the conditions are right for blight to occur .. which is not the same as saying that blight has occurred. We had one alert here at the beginning of June but no blight resulted from it.
I treat a single alert as an indication that I should carefully inspect potato and tomato foliage over the next week or so for signs of blight. If multiple Smith periods occur close together then I may consider spraying tomatoes with a copper fungicide (my main crop potatoes supposedly have fairly good blight resistance.
Right, I shall be on guard over the weekend.
I signed up to Blight Watch this year as i lost spuds, toms and aubergines last year, it was really demoralizing.
Thank you BAK for posting and i hope Tee Gee that you are now 'with it!'
PO11 is not that far from here Ollie C so thanks for the info.
A Smith period doesn't mean blight, it just means you've had the right conditions for spuds to get infected. There isn't much around yet, so keep an eye open, but don't worry too much. If we get a string of Smith periods, and it starts spreading, that's really the time to worry. But don't panic and start lifting the spuds. Even if you get it, all you have to do is cut the tops off and burn them.
Can someone explain to me what the right conditions are for Blight? Yesterday we had a months worth of rain in the space of 24 hours and today has been torrential downpours if that helps?! ???
posie,
it is explained in this link ..
http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Smith.asp (http://www.blightwatch.co.uk/content/bw-Smith.asp)
Hmmm, can't say it made a great deal of sense to me - never was good at the science stuff - but I've signed up so I can keep an eye out.
It just means two days of mild damp weather. The spores need some warmth to germinate, and they need a bit of moisture on the leaf surface. Two days gives them time to get down into the plant tissue, and once there, the plant has had it.
Plain english! - Thanks for that Robert, now I understand! Seem to have had a few full periods in June this year but thankfully nothing seems to have happened on my plot so far.
This map on the potato council site is much easier to follow.
http://www.potato.org.uk/department/knowledge_transfer/fight_against_blight/blight_incidents.html?podlet_id=88
Hope it helps :)
With no more blight about than that most of us have nothing to worry about, yet. If this weather goes on we will, in a few weeks' time.
Re the blight incident maps that Sally A mentions, their usefulness depends on the number of commercial growers in your area who might be affected by blight and hence are likely to report it when it occurs.
We have very few (if any) such growers in our area and therefore the map for 2007 showed no sign of blight ... but of course we had lots of it from late June onwards.