Desiree or Charlotte? And are they normal??

[Penellype]

I've had a google and I think it looks rather like this:

Young leaves fail to enlarge, new leaflets roll upward and turn reddish purple color, or topmost leaves, become yellow. Potato purple-top wilt is synonymous with aster yellow; it is a viral disease spread by leafhoppers. Plant certified disease-free seed potatoes. Remove and destroy diseased plants. Keep the garden clean of plant debris. Control leaf-hoppers.

The above comes from this page: Potato Growing Problems: Troubleshooting - Harvest to Table

If you are wanting to grow a maincrop potato, why not try Sarpo Mira or Sarpo Axona, both of which are not unlike Desiree and are blight resistant. I wouldn't plant them in the same soil as the damaged ones though.

Stick a couple of bean seeds in where the potatoes are to check for aminopyralid. This comes from contaminated manure due to the horses eating grass or hay sprayed with the weedkiller, which passes unaltered (and therefore still damaging to plants) through the horse into the droppings.

[bario1]

That's where I would be most tempted to plant some Beans.

But then where will my courgettes go??

[Bigmallly]

But then where will my courgettes go??

If it's contaminated, you may not have any Courgettes..............You only need a few Beans & they are quick to germinate.

[bario1]

I've had a google and I think it looks rather like this:

Young leaves fail to enlarge, new leaflets roll upward and turn reddish purple color, or topmost leaves, become yellow. Potato purple-top wilt is synonymous with aster yellow; it is a viral disease spread by leafhoppers. Plant certified disease-free seed potatoes. Remove and destroy diseased plants. Keep the garden clean of plant debris. Control leaf-hoppers.

Surely if it was a bug problem, then all plants in the vicinity would be equally affected? I have bags touching each other, some with healthy growth, some with this weird looking growth. Out of 13 bags, only 4 look like they will be worth keeping.

[Bigmallly]

Looks like it's pointing to a problem with your compost looking at those stats.

[Scarlet]

Plant your courgettes in some big buckets. Plant your beans in the manures patch to find out if it's contaminated.

[bario1]

I'm baffled. I want to get to the bottom of this!

[bario1]

And if my soil is contaminated, what do I do with it?

[Martin H]

I'm baffled. I want to get to the bottom of this!

People keep mentioning beans because they are the simplest test for Aminopyralid poisoning of your compost (from the manure). This is because beans germinate very quickly and if they come up all distorted then that's all the proof you need of the problem. If they look normal then you've just proved what the problem isn't (as per one of Mr Edison's famed successful experiments).

[bario1]

Ok, thanks for all the help, folks! As per your suggestions I will:

Dig out the dodgy spuds
Put some spare sweet corn seedlings in the bags instead
Put my courgettes on hold for now
Plant up my courgette area with test beans

Would broad beans be a better option than French? I've found French bean germination difficult this year, and they've often come up with manky distorted seed leaves anyway, which might confuse matters.

[marchogaeth]

I think the recommendation is to use runners, presumably because they are quick and a bit more robust. It's always advised to do a control pot alongside ie completely clean compost. You can do it in a pot inside you will only need to see the first true leaves to know so Frenchies should be fine and it should be quicker than outside.

Do keep us posted.

[marchogaeth]

And if my soil is contaminated, what do I do with it?

You need to get some professional advice - maybe even contact the manufacturers or you local council waste disposal. Look back through the threads I linked to. Might be worth pm-ing Zaz, I know she doesn't post any more but she does drop in occasionally.

If I get time I'll see if I can find out more - I don't have many contacts in the industry any more and the farmers round here look at you blankly if you ask about spraying grassland or even corn.

[Nicos]

Don't start worrying about what to do with it yet...first of all you need to check if it is!
You could be worrying for nothing

As far as I am aware however that council made compost from garden waste will contain grass cuttings from peeps using 'weed n feed' type products- and they are an accident waiting to happen.

you say.....

They are in a mix of re-used commercial compost, my own compost, new commercial compost, well rotted manure, and potato fertiliser pellets, in bags and barrels. Again, the same mix was used for whatever the other variety is (pretty sure they are the Charlottes), and they are thriving.

reused compost....surely you would have been aware if you had this problem last year? ( depends I suppose what had been growing in it before?

Your own compost....did you used a weedkiller on your lawn?

New commercial compost...maybe email them to see if anyone had mentioned this prob and can the guarantee it's Aminopyralid free?

well rotted manure... horse/cow????...can you contact the farmer to see if he used Aminopyralid? Or speak with other peeps who had manure from that sourse?
Or- have you had it for ages and had no probs before?

Potato fertiliser pellets...somehow doubt that should be the cause- or could you have used too high a concentration????


Zaz hasn't been active on here for over a year and just nipped in for a look in February.
I doubt she'd receive your pm in time to advise you. No harm in trying though....she may be happy to help you.


As the others have suggested, plant up some beans- try a mixture of types if you wish- that's going to give you the fastest/ most accurate results.


Any more piccies please- the more the merrier ( if I can say that)

My neighbour had it badly when we were in the UK , and I'm not 100% yours looks the same at the moment.

Most importantly- don't panic!

[marchogaeth]

Zaz hasn't been active on here for over a year and just nipped in for a look in February.
I doubt she'd receive your pm in time to advise you. No harm in trying though....she may be happy to help you.

That must have been when I spotted her then - can't believe it was February but there you go.

[bario1]

I've had a busy day firefighting at the allotment. I'll post more pics and discuss tomorrow. Thanks all for your interest/concern!