Hutton Period.......BLIGHTWATCH...!!!

[Bren In Pots]

Just had my 3rd full Hutton in a row and tomorrows a predicted one.

[Martin H]

Down here in South Essex (driest county in England, don't you know) I got my first Blightwatch alert this morning. Fingers crossed! At least my outdoor tomatoes are sheltered from the rain.

[It never rains..it pours]

There isn't a great deal you can do - I think the alerts are designed to warn farmers to spray their fields with fungicide. Some people spray with epsom salts or aspirin, but as the foliage needs to be wet for the spores to germinate it seems silly to me to spray them at this point. I think the most useful aspect of the alerts is to make you aware that there is a possibility of blight and therefore to keep an eye out for signs of it.

If your plants are in a greenhouse the risk is less, and you can help keep it low by watering the soil and carefully avoiding wetting the leaves. Covering outdoor plants may actually increase humidity.

Penellype, have you any experience or research links on using asprin as a fungicide ?

[It never rains..it pours]

Found something

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...d-9349916.html

[sandfields]

Got a blight warning this morning, (what's the story, morning glory?), for my corner of North London. Should have known the humidity levels were up when I spotted the slugs on my Broad Beans last night. They looked like starlings roosting in a copse. Had to call the wife to delay picking me up from the allotment while I picked the blighters off. 45 minutes later I had over a hundred in a ziploc frozen pea bag.

Thing is, as Penellype points out, there's nowt you can do about it. Just praying for some dry weather. Then we can worry about drought.

[Derbydal]

can I ask a question about blight ? i'm under the impression that blight is wind born and the spores fall on to damp leaves and stems and atack the plant cells, will these spores live in water collected and stored in water butts ? last year I watered a row of outdoor toms from my IBC tank on thursday evening and by saturday they where showing signs of blight and I lost the lot ! so should we avoid watering toms and spuds with rain water collected and stored in butts ? atb Dal.

[Stan79]

I've had alerts for the last 3 or 4 days (Oxfordshire/Wiltshire/Berkshire boundary) and i think at least two of my tomatoes are done for!!! Yellowing leaves and spots.

Every year! It's not worth growing them outdoors...

[Penellype]

Penellype, have you any experience or research links on using asprin as a fungicide ?

I haven't used it myself, and I see you have found a link - I can't do better than that.

[Chippy Minton]

Got our alert today for both south Cheshire and Staffordshire moorlands. Lawn is like a dust bowl but it is very humid tonight. Outdoor toms went out on Monday and there's a full bed of spuds and the spud tower. It all takes its chance, like everything. Suspect the Lady C's have probably got something worth harvesting if worst comes to worst, would like the Waitrose Apache's kindly donated by my ex-boss to mature though.....

[Aberdeenplotter]

Dreaded emails arriving here as well and some of my spuds aren't even through the ground. I have to delay planting to try to avoid the late frosts we get up here. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

For information, JBA have a new preventative treatment available. Have a look at their FB page.

I have some Dithane and my spuds at home were sprayed earlier. The plot spuds will be done tomorrow.

[geepee]

can I ask a question about blight ? i'm under the impression that blight is wind born and the spores fall on to damp leaves and stems and atack the plant cells, will these spores live in water collected and stored in water butts ? last year I watered a row of outdoor toms from my IBC tank on thursday evening and by saturday they where showing signs of blight and I lost the lot ! so should we avoid watering toms and spuds with rain water collected and stored in butts ? atb Dal.

Was/is the IBC open topped or do you have the original screw cap on it ..???,
Unless its open topped its unlikly that Blight spores have 'Infected' your IBC.
Could be that Blight conditions, ie Hutton period was in place by coincidence, at the time you watered, therefore you would have an increased chance of spores infecting wet/damp foliage.
Gp

[geepee]

Dreaded emails arriving here as well and some of my spuds aren't even through the ground. I have to delay planting to try to avoid the late frosts we get up here. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

For information, JBA have a new preventative treatment available. Have a look at their FB page.

I have some Dithane and my spuds at home were sprayed earlier. The plot spuds will be done tomorrow.

If they arent through the ground yet, Those ones are unlikely to get infected, would you say...??.

If you are a confirmed user of Commercial type fungicide/s such as your Dithane, provided you keep up your Spray programme , you should be as safe as commercial growers/farmers.
Gp

[WalterWhite]

Your garden worms are certainly going to be rather p***ed off with you for spraying Dithane.

[1Bee]

Bah. I would curse if I wasn't trying to be good.

Full Hutton period here yesterday. *eyeroll*

[Aberdeenplotter]

If they arent through the ground yet, Those ones are unlikely to get infected, would you say...??.

Yet !!!!!!!!!!!!!