potato blight

[fixit]

Over the last two years my allotment site has been affected by blight, which has resulted in all of use burning the affected plant tops, however, one member has now informed us that he had heard it is safe to compost the affected plants.
has any one got any coments on this please

[snuffer]

Compost

In the past (including last year) I have put blight affected potatoe haulms into the compost bin.

In Monty Don's 'The Complete Gardener' page 299 he says that as long as the heap gets hot it is perfectly safe to compost blighted potatoe top growth.

I always grow my tomatoes on the compost heap. If the potatoe foliage posed a problem it would surely infect any toms. growing in the compost that is, at least, partly made from it but I've never had a problem.

[rainbowminx]

Thank goodness for that! I've just realized that dearest hubby has added the pile of blight affected potato tops to my precious compost. Phew!

[Two_Sheds]

A hot compost heap should destroy the spores on the leaves, but it is probably not worth the risk. Any infected tubers should definitely be burned. Phytophthora infestans - Everything on Phytophthora infestans (information, latest news, articles,...)

[Two_Sheds]

I got blight on the lotty, but not at home.

The plants share the same air, but not the same soil.

[MaureenHall]

I've got this horrible feeling that the potatoes I planted at home for Christmas have got blight . We did have a torrential hailstorm a couple of weeks ago and that damaged a lot of the top growth so at first I put down the brown markings on the leaves to that. Now, some of the stems have gone totally brown and when I tried to pull some of them off, they're really slimy. Some of the stems that still have undamaged leaves are starting to go a bit lime green / yellowy in the centre. Can anyone reassure me?

[Flummery]

Probably not Maureen. However, the only time I put a whole bed of Autumn potatoes in my old allotment I got them struck down with blight. I removed and destroyed the young haulms but it didn't seem worth digging the bed - they'd not been in long. The following spring, however, they shot up again. Good crop too!

[allotmentlady]

I always burn mine, dont want to take the risk. I have also started only growing 1st and 2nd earlies and no maincrop. But, sadly, this year our seed potatoes already had blight so we never stood a chance, not one spud touched our lips......