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the leaves on my potato plant have turn a black/blue colour and i am very scared i have look through previous posts and nothing mentions black/blue coloured leaves. it seems to have affected my earlies worst. my maincrop is more or less untouched.
can anyone shed any light on this? please. quickly. :-\

A photo might help

Could it be frost?

Blue? That's new!!! Have a look at photos on Google.

Blight? A bit early? I know we got hit in June last year, but I think that that was a bit unusual. I was just going to ask how early one could economically start 'Bordeauxing'.

Hiya,

the weather forecasters here in Ireland were, on Tuesday warning farmers to spray for blight as the conditions were forecast for today, Thursday.

Regards,
Ciaran

think i've got this too, here's a picture anyway


[/img]http://photobucket.com/albums/v465/pmales/?action=view&current=Zoo_Oxford_1st_comunion041.jpg[/img]

oops, let's try that again

Looks like frost to me.... being hopeful for you...

if in doubt - pull it out? :-\

i've removed the affected foliage already, do you think i should dig up the spuds as well?

It certainly doesn`t look like blight, but it also looks rather extensive for frost damage.  Have a look at the base of the stems and check whether they look green and healthy or whether there is any discolouration.  If the stems are o.k. leave them in - it`s probably just foliage damage- but if the stems are yellowed, or show signs of withering, or have a purplish brown discolouration I would dig them up and destroy them.

However, if in doubt please report back.

the leaves on mine are similar except much darker - a black/dark blue colour. however encouragingly the stems are untouched. im tempted to bring the potatoes out now though as i have had a sneak peek and they look big enough - they were in around st.patricks day.

If they are earlies by all means start using them if they`re big enough.

However, if you lift them immediately the spuds won`t keep for any length of time - the skins have to `set` in the ground before they will do this

OK - here's another one for you.

Lady Balfour - blight resistant!!
Comments please? I won't publish mine!!

so, is this what blight looks like then?

Not by the book!

Tim,

Sorry for not replying I don't normally look at this section, I haven't grown Lady Balfour but it was advertised as being "blight resistant" In trials by NIAB in 2003 in Lincolnshire it didn't do well but the same trial held in Warickshire it was better

I don't think you can rely on any variety to really resist blight - except for the Sarpos

Looking again, it doesn't look completely like blight more like a scorch - wind, frost or sun

Blight has the typical round brown blotches see below



Phil

Thanks, Phil - that's what I thought.

But panic!!