Blue danube, sold as blight resistant but in reality having a resistance number of only 4. I found blight spots this morning, appeared overnight, so have cut the haulm and will now leave the tubers to mature underground. No rain as such here, maybe just a shower or two but consistently been humid
Anyone else?
I think that's why the Sárpo name wasn't included, the leaves don't have the same blight resistance as the 'Sárpo' named varieties, although the tubers are quite resistant. I grew either Sárpo Mira or Sárpo Axona last year and although they did show signs of having blight on the foliage, they grew through it. The splodges on the affected leaves just didn't spread and grow like they do normally on infected potato leaves.
I took part in the crowd funding and was glad to do so but am not impressed with the mis-advertising of blue danube by the retail seller. I recently bought Alan Romans book, the potato book and the standard blue danube rating for foliar blight is given as 5 and tuber rating is given as 3.
I won`t be growing them again, there are potatoes that have far better ratings. Sarpo axona has ratings of 7 and 5 and mira 7 and 9. Trouble is I don`t like what I have read about taste and performance when cooking. There are others that might appear to be better overall, none of them sarpo btw
Have bought Dutch bred Carolus at Hampshire potato day. They are not ready yet, so cannot comment on flavour, but look at their resistance claims:
http://www.agrico.nl/index.php?a=82&rassenID=522
I am afraid I am too tight fisted to buy 'blight resistant' varieties after all they are only 'Resistant' not immune, meaning if the conditions are right even these will succumb to 'blight'
Just for the record I have noticed my Kestrels have been hit which is the first time this has happened in many many years!
What I am not sure of is; this has happened on my 'new plot'
I have described the poor soil conditions elsewhere in the forum so I am considering that this could be a factor, as the soil is poorly drained, and therefor potentially could create humid conditions under the haulms.
I have also looked at the potatoes growing in the plot I swapped to take on this plot and they are free of blight, which I put down to the condition of the free draining nature of the soil which I worked hard on for twelve years to get it as I wanted it.
Perhaps it will take me a similar time to get this plot 'fettled'
As I have mentioned a number of times over the years on this forum " I never water my potatoes" as I believe this practice can produce the conditions that promotes blight!
" But that is only an opinion"!
I think about it this way; if I wet the leaves of my plants during dry conditions when the spores are flying about in the air I have created in effect a 'glue' for the spores to stick to the leaves, whereas if I had left them dry, there is the possibility the spores would be moved on elsewhere!
Well that's my theory and I am sticking to it! :toothy9:
Quote from: strawberry1 on July 13, 2014, 12:42:31
I took part in the crowd funding and was glad to do so but am not impressed with the mis-advertising of blue danube by the retail seller. I recently bought Alan Romans book, the potato book and the standard blue danube rating for foliar blight is given as 5 and tuber rating is given as 3.
I won`t be growing them again, there are potatoes that have far better ratings. Sarpo axona has ratings of 7 and 5 and mira 7 and 9. Trouble is I don`t like what I have read about taste and performance when cooking. There are others that might appear to be better overall, none of them sarpo btw
A baked Sarpo Mira is lovely, but it doesn't like being microwaved, you have to oven bake it.. It's OK chipped, and if treated with care roasts OK too... no use for boiled, salad or mash IMHO, though I'll put it in with other things for mash when I'm clearin down smaller tubers and throwing them through the peeler rumbler on my Kenwood (if you have a Kenwood chef adn grow potatoes get the potato peeler, it turns all your undersized spuds into mashable product with no effort, and mash freezes...
In previous damp years, I almost expected blight down here in the wet West. But last year and this year, I experimented with different types, they all blighted. This year especially I went a step further and tried 8 different types of early, 3 tubers of each, no blight resistant types (as noted in a previous post, they are only resistant, not blight free). Even in this drier and sunnier summer, all have blighted, except for some PFA, which are hanging on in there. (Yes I know, not a first early but then....). As a controlled experiement I also grew potatoes in a bag on my allotment. They also blighted. New Compost, strict hygiene...go figure.
So I am presuming that blight spores are (a) airborne as well as (b) soil retained and (c) active in sunny dry conditions as well as the miserable 6 years we had 2007 to 2013.
I don't grow my spuds on the same patch of ground, I try to give them ideal conditions. Its heartbreaking to go up on one day to see a wonderful crown of green, then two days later they look as if they have been nuked.
Should I give up growing 'em and rely on Tesco?
Thanks in advance for any help here, I am most despondent, specially as I thought it was our wet summers which was the cause of my blinking blight...not so.
Carosanto
Most of mine went some time ago, not that we have had that much rain. The only ones doing well for me are I think blue Danube. They have stunning flowers. They are volunteers planted by the previous plot holder. They are amazing, everything dieing around them. I have a few desiree which are just about hanging on with a bit of green.
I agree about the watering, I try and persuade people not to water the leaves. Simply creates the damp conditions for the blight. But even unwatered potatoes have had their chips.
The best potatoes on site are volunteers, I strongly believe the blight comes in with the seed potatoes.
0.2% of blighted seeds are permitted, so most allotment sites must get the odd blighted spud every year, and we probably underestimate this source. Volunteers are a known source of the disease though.
I think that is really bad luck- I have only 2 blight alert texts this year -(10th May and 6 July) as opposed to 10 at this point last year-I'm in East Sussex.
i managed to avoid blight on my potatoes. I have has 2 blight alerts and nothing manifested itself, thankfully. This was our first year on the allotment and fertilized with chicken manure, will be preparing next years bed in a few weeks with lots of well rotted horse manure.
Paul :coffee2:
I've got what looks like blight beginning. I'm not completely certain, and I've cut off the affected foliage, but I'm expecting my spuds to keep over next time it rains.
d**n it - most of my toms are affected. I have cut off what I can and sprayed with BM but I think they whole lot are a gonner. Spuds looking OK at the moment.
Double drat, my ferline tomatoes have been affected and I have removed a lot of my crop. My outdoor strillo fruits look ok but the leaves are very poor this year. I am going to have to decide whether to grow tomatoes next year, they have taken a lot of time and watering twice a day. The sudden bursts of heat have not helped them and they are getting stressed on a regular basis. It will be cheaper both in money and time to just buy tomatoes next year
I had 3 kinds of potatoes on the plot, Lady Crystl, Charlotte and Desirée ... I only have the desirée left - and some of them are beginning to look less than healthy with the occasional leaf yellowing with a dark patch of brown in the middle - but it doesn't seem to be spreading with the speed of blight I've experienced before - I seriously don't know if it's blight or some kind of deficiency due to all the rain earlier in the season.
Keeping an eye on them at the moment. Ready to hack them down if it gets worse!
Quote from: strawberry1 on July 16, 2014, 15:05:31
I am going to have to decide whether to grow tomatoes next year, they have taken a lot of time and watering twice a day. The sudden bursts of heat have not helped them and they are getting stressed on a regular basis. It will be cheaper both in money and time to just buy tomatoes next year
I am not sure why you are watering twice a day? In my mind this may contribute to the blight problem. Tomatoes grow in very hot climates remember and they get strong roots and vines if you water copiously but not all the time. I bury bottles with a hole in the top and fill the bottles so they drip into the soil. But certainly not every day and mine are outdoors and in a warmer clime than Britain... Mulch heavily and remove foliage regularly to get good air circulation. Don't let them get too tall and remove the superfluous tender growth; You need to be tough with them!!!
Hi what are people spraying their blighted potatoes with now that Bordeaux Mixture is no longer available? On our allotment we have just seen the first signs of blight. Would Dithane work as well? Many thanks in advance. :BangHead:
too late of blight has got there, bordeaux is a preventative, I don`t know about dithane. I don`t spray with anything. I have lots of bordeaux in the cupboard but couldn`t face putting all that copper in the soil, I have worked hard to build up the worm population. Potatoes should be ok underground and the small toamtoes are fine. I have removed all blighted bits from ferline, so we`ll see as plenty more fruits are still green. I have had superb tomatoes the last 2 years so it must be that there are more blight spores around. I am not surprised after the very wet winter here
Quoteam not sure why you are watering twice a day? In my mind this may contribute to the blight
I agree I water well every other day and never at the weekend as. I don't go to the plots on these days as a rule!
When I do water I fill the one litre pot I have sunk into the soil at the base of each plant, allowing it to slightly overflow so that it just wets the soil where the feeding roots are located.
At least this method of watering ensures that the plants each get the same amount of water at each watering and that the soil around the plants is generally dry thus reducing the humidity around the plants!
I feed once a week (Monday) and even here I work to a routine and that is, I firstly apply a normal watering to each plant,after all they have not been watered since the Friday before!
I allow this water soak in for a while then I water/ feed around the base of each plant this year I am using Vitax vita feed 102 ( the number is the NPK) although any high potash feed would do!
My watering rate is 2 gallons of feeding mixture to 6 plants.
I never use a hose or pour water on the leaves as this wetting can act as a glue for blight spores that are potentially flying around in the atmosphere.
I keep my greenhouses as well ventilated as I can,ideally I would like to leave the door open all day long, but generally this is limited to the couple of hours or so I spend on the plots.
My theory is; the commercial people are very cyclic in their methods (they have to be) and quite often their aftercare processes are computer controlled so I try to subject my plants to a regular routine, hence the methods I have described above.
My methods might not be very scientific but they work for me, and usually my tomatoes are problem free, and long may this continue!
Sadly the same is not true of my potatoes, three of my four varieties have been blighted, only Pink Fir Apple ( my own seed) is free of the disease :(
Now wait for it"............ Now that I have related all this what are the odds that "Sods Law" is going to kick in and prove me wrong!
Ah well! Such is the trials and tribulations of gardening...Tg
Thanks Strawberry - I'll bear that in mind next year.
Quote from: antipodes on July 17, 2014, 10:12:52
Quote from: strawberry1 on July 16, 2014, 15:05:31
I am not sure why you are watering twice a day? In my mind this may contribute to the blight problem. Tomatoes grow in very hot climates remember and they get strong roots and vines if you water copiously but not all the time. I bury bottles with a hole in the top and fill the bottles so they drip into the soil. But certainly not every day and mine are outdoors and in a warmer clime than Britain... Mulch heavily and remove foliage regularly to get good air circulation. Don't let them get too tall and remove the superfluous tender growth; You need to be tough with them!!!
I use growpots and any water does not touch leaves, I removed the lower leaves. I don`t give them a lot of water but the water trickles down into the holes, which makes it more consistent. They are in growpots standing on soil in buckets. I have had wonderful crops year after year but not had blight until this year. Farmers not far away lost whole fields full of potatoes last year and I believe blight spores have moved around
Quote from: strawberry1 on July 17, 2014, 13:02:34
too late of blight has got there, bordeaux is a preventative..
Spraying with BM even after blight has taken hold will certainly slow down the rate of infection.