potato blight - yes I know there is another thread but...

[shona_b]

...That thread won't let me post due to some security certificate missing??!!

Came back from a week away happy that it had rained during my holiday so the lottie should be OK - nightmare - blight - both potato patches have been hit. I was told to cut back all of the foliage right down to ground level leaving just a stump so you know where to dig for the spuds. Any other advice I need to know? I don't really want to dig them all up now - will do the second earlies but would prefer to leave the maincrops a little longer (at least til I clear out the garage for some storage space!)

[rustylady]

Make sure you clear away all the affected foliage and burn it or bag it.

[Kleftiwallah]

There seems to be a train of thought about leaving the tubers in the ground for a couple of weeks to allow the skin to harden off a bit and to allow the blight spores to die on the surface of the soil so they aren't lifted with the tubers and allowed to sit on the skins while in storage.

Cheers, Tony.

[VirginVegGrower]

There seems to be a train of thought about leaving the tubers in the ground for a couple of weeks to allow the skin to harden off a bit and to allow the blight spores to die on the surface of the soil so they aren't lifted with the tubers and allowed to sit on the skins while in storage.

Cheers, Tony.

I've heard this too. I also leave my main crops underground once the haulms have died off naturally and I have cut tim down, which sets skins. You just have to gamble this against possible slug damage.

[dominic10]

Hi Shona B - I'm in Christchurch and on Sunday when I went to our allotment there was a notice stating 'blight in BH23 don't let your outdoor tomatoes be rained on'. We spoke to the plotholder who has blight and he gave us the advice you have been given i.e. cut down all affected foliage and leave for 2 weeks. He said he may or may not have a crop depending on how serious the blight is. He had a text from Blightwatch so cut his foliage down very quickly. It rained here on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - went down today and all my spuds seem to be OK. It would appear we had a Smith period hereabouts. Here gives infor about Smith periods Blightwatch.co.uk - the essential service for professional potato growers Hope your spuds are OK

[shona_b]

thanks all - sadly its blight and bad I started last night cutting back all of the foliage but left maincrop in the gound (I did dig one plant up and potatoes seem OK - will never make a baked spud but on the plus side don't need to resort to a game of marbles with them either!). Seems Bournemouth has got it bad this year - fingers crossed you aren't as bad in Christchurch.