Allotments 4 All

This afternoon I found a couple of potato plants with late blight  :'(, walking past I nearly didn't spot it but something made me take a second glance and when I looked more closely I found some leaves and a few stems affected. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too early in the season. The spuds are away from the main potato patch but fairly close to the polytunnel with my tomatoes. I've removed the foliage and bagged it, I'll spray the remainder of the bed if it stops raining.

Really naffed off, hits every year, just when varies. I think I live in blight path central  >:(

Just noticed blight here too. 'Rocket' foliage completely destroyed since I last looked a couple of days ago, and a few spots on other varieties. d**n!
Some varieties of potato (and all the tomatoes) show no sign yet. I'm going to step up deleafing of tomatoes to maximise ventilation.

Just been down to plot and home guard has spots on the leaves not onto the stems yet.  Also looked around site and on another plot one end of a row with pale blue flowers also suffering stems starting to go there.  I will keep a good eye on the rocket.

All other potatoes and tomatoes so far fine. 

Hope it's been caught in time.
So far just the one bed affected here. But with 5 recent full Smith periods and one near miss... :'(

A day later and there are a few spots on Yetholme gipsey.  Elsewhere on site there is one very sick looking row and spots elsewhere.

 :(

I have a sick bed too, lots of spots and am watching like a hawk. Stunted foliage and very soggy bed, they are kestrels but  charlotte in the next bed, which is raised, look very healthy. I think the kestrels are drowning

Had to cut Foremost down completely, most of the Charlotte, some of the Desiree and even resistant Cara starting to show symptoms................. >:( Horrendous year for potatoes.

We dug up all our international kidney yesterday - only a small bed, but shame they had to all come up,at once. 

alison

another full smith period doh, I think I will strip tops off everything tomorrow, then I`ll have a couple of weeks to dig the potatoes out. I`m going to have to do a lot of preserving to keep up

been and cut the haulm. Two blight spots on stem base, phew just in time

I cut all the haulm off last Thursday - missed the Olympic flame passing my village to do so! Gemson was the worst affected so that was all lifted. Luckily I didn't have much of that. Charlotte was the least affected but I cut its haulm anyway. I also did a complete selfset/volunteer hunt round my plot.

Have lost all my Duke of York and Nadine to either blight or the potatoes rotting off.

My main crop are also starting to look sick, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Lets hope the weather improves and rescues the potatoes that are left

Just walked round my plot, no brown spots on leaves, but had to dig up 2 lady chrystl and 1 carlingford due to stem rot. The bottom leaves on disiree are completely yellow. Anyone out there know what this could be. Red fir apple, orla and blue belle all look healthy but of course this could change over night.

Found the early signs of blight on a few tomato plants in the greenhouse and polytunnel  :'(

Hi everyone I am so sorry you are losing spuds to rot/blight.

I have just been to Asda for my shopping & many of the clear plastic bags of spuds have signs of scab or the start of blight in them....one bag smelt vile when I lifted it up  :o

This is the first year I haven't grown any potatoes of any kind - usually at teh very least I grow the ones that are very expensive in the shops like Pink Furs etc. I've got a feeling any basic type will be very expensive indeed in the coming months  ::)

I'm starting to wonder about trying some in sacks or raised beds next year xJane 

I have two half plots the one in the Eastern side all the potatoes are now covered in blight


In the West most are still hanging on.   But it is all around.  75% of potatoes on site are now affected.  No potatoes up wind.

We have cut all the haulms off the spuds, even our early main desiree. The spuds aren't a bad size and , hopefully we've caught them early enough to get a harvest

If you think (hope) you cut the haulm off in time, how long could you safely leave the potatoes in the ground before lifting?

General recommendations are to leave potatoes in the ground for a couple of weeks, so any blight spores present don't infect your crop as you lift them, worked well for me last year. Although I did check them regularly in store. You could leave them longer if needed, slugs can be a nuisance though.