Is It Blight?

[zazen999]

Blight here too...toms at the lottie...found a couple of dodgy leaves on tuesday afternoon, sprayed late tuesday afternoon and a couple of toms had already gone blackish - so I've taken all the ones big enough off and its been raining ever since so I don't hold out much hope.

Gonna cut all the potato foliage back this weekend...

[T-lady]

You know how blight develops over time on tomato fruits, not always hitting them all at once?

What happens if I cook with the tomatoes or use them for green chutney? Will the food go off?

[T-lady]

and more questions....sorry....
I cut the potato foliage off from teh bucket that was next to the bed with blight as I saw it on one set of leaves at the end of a stalk. The usual thing [I read] is to leave them in the compost/earth for 3 weeks to avoid blight getting into the soil but...
If the blight was already on the tomatoes, won't it be in the soil anyway as spores? SO if this si the case, can I empty the potato container into this bed and just not grow any toms or spuds in it? And roughly how long do you think I can't grow toms in it? I do have 8 beds so far, so it'll take quite a few years before I'm back to that one, but just asking....I worry about stuff sometimes

Bob Flowerdew reckons that you can put the blighted foliage on your compost heap because the spores only survive on living plant material. He's an expert but, I confess, mine get burned. Paranoia rules OK.

[Comfreyfan]

Well - blight again! For a couple of days I'd been taking the odd classic blight leaf off the potatoes, every day. Friday night I thought I was winning, only a couple of leaves to take off. 12 hours later every leaf in the bed was infected, I just stood there looking in disbelief. Cut every plant off. I only had first and second earlies and even the seconds had flowered so the crop is looking good. Now I'm snipping away at suspect leaves on the tomatoes in the greenhouse, hopefully I'm just paranoid now!
Although I'm pretty sure my runner beans have halo blight - apparently more common in wet seasons - that would be right!

Last week a work colleague, growing potatoes for the first time, asked what blight looked like. I sealed an infected leaf in a poly bag and showed her. She decided to take it home and show her friend (I warned her not to open the bag). By the time she'd got home the leaf was completely black!

[taff]

thanks Sarz

It's just like Uncle Buck...What's your record for consecutive questions in a row?

[SarzWix]

Errrrr.... I dunno taff... The bed I had blight on last year won't come round in my rotation for about another 4 years! I guess you could spread the spent copmpost on one of your beds if it's going to be a long rotation, and you're absolutely certain that there's no volunteer spuds in there (even teeny tiny ones )
I'm not sure about the root balls... Soz! Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along soon.

[taff]

and more questions....sorry....
I cut the potato foliage off from teh bucket that was next to the bed with blight as I saw it on one set of leaves at the end of a stalk. The usual thing [I read] is to leave them in the compost/earth for 3 weeks to avoid blight getting into the soil but...
If the blight was already on the tomatoes, won't it be in the soil anyway as spores? SO if this si the case, can I empty the potato container into this bed and just not grow any toms or spuds in it? And roughly how long do you think I can't grow toms in it? I do have 8 beds so far, so it'll take quite a few years before I'm back to that one, but just asking....I worry about stuff sometimes

[taff]

Got a couple more questions...
I've cut off all the green tomatoes, bagged up the foliage and any affected tomatoes ready for burning.
Once this has all been burnt, can I use the ash on the compost heap? Logic says yes, but just in case I thought I'd better ask for a definitive-ish answer.
And..I've pulled up the rootballs of the tomatoes [there was no blight up to the stem at the bottom, only starting about halfway up], what do i do with these? Can they be composted, or shall I landfill/recycle dump them?

[SarzWix]

That's all Bordeaux mixture is - a preventative. Once you have it, it can't get rid of it, unfortunately

After my little panic I cut off all my brown leaves and nothing further has materialised. However I was wonderin if it would be ok to use Bordeaux mix just to try and keep blight away? I've ordered some so I'm thinking I'll be giving them one spray anyway, but I was wondering is it could be used prophylactically.

Angela

[JenFeet]

Welcome to the Vine Jen
I'm sorry it's not a more auspicious welcome, but, those plants do look decidedly iffy
I'd be cutting off every piece of affected foliage you can see - you might not get much crop from those particular plants, but you may be able to keep the others healthy until they get a bit bigger?! I guess it has to be worth a go at saving the others and spraying them, if they aren't showing any signs...
It's very disheartening when it happens, but don't let it put you off - maybe try some blight resistant types next year, or plant salad types a bit earlier so as to harvest before the main blight hits?

Hello again.

I just wanted to update you about my blighted tatties. I did as you suggested and took off each affected piece of foliage and left the tatties in the ground. The humidity eased off so it did seem to calm down but I noticed the last couple of days the stems seemed to be getting affected so decided to dig them up this afternoon.

WOW! It stank! Disgusting - exploding seed tatties which had turned to jelly / goo which was rank and smelled foul BUT the tatties themselves were fab (or seemed to be?!) We dug up about 30kg of tatties and some were huge - absolute stonkers but I am worried about keeping them now? Will they start honking too? It's hard to describe how bad the smell was but I swear the tatties are lovely (had some for tea!).

Again I'd be grateful for your advice. I think I need to make sure the tatties are dry and dark and just keep a check on them - apparently I'll smell it before I see it - but they should be ok to eat?

Thanks.
Jen x

PS OMG. The smell....

[SarzWix]

How long have they been planted? You might well still get a crop, albeit a bit smaller than normal. Fingers crossed for you.

[tattiep]

I think they are very suspect... Get all the affected foliage chopped off, and keep a close eye on them, if it looks like it's spreading, take the whole top of the plants off and then wait for a dry day in 2-3 weeks to dig them up.
Rotten luck for you

I've just been out to take the leaves of that have the brown circles. I cant complain as this is my first year of growing anything outside and I have had and still have beetroot, carrots, sugar snap peas, onions and sprint onions that will keep me going for a good while,

Thaks for the info.

[SarzWix]

I think they are very suspect... Get all the affected foliage chopped off, and keep a close eye on them, if it looks like it's spreading, take the whole top of the plants off and then wait for a dry day in 2-3 weeks to dig them up.
Rotten luck for you

[tattiep]

I am pretty sure that this is early blight on my mayan potatoes. Can anyone confirm this for me. I am brand new at growing veg. I also have 'blue' potatoes but they have no marks on the leaves at all and are planted next to the mayans.