cab
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Got blight yet?Plot to the left of mine has blight. Plot to the right of mine, bloke saw blight about and cut his spuds right back. Plot to the right of his had serious blight, I advised her to do as our neighbour had done 'cos it was getting quite serious. Thus far, I've got a plant or two that are a bit wilty but no visible lesions or marks on the plants, so not yet time to cut the haulm of the spuds.
Anyone else? Stacey, did your spuds recover from the blight they had early on?
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Bebo
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No sign at all on the potato plants (although a couple of the spuds I lifted yesterday were a bit scabby).
A few of the toms in the polytunnel have a bit of browning on some leaf edges. I've been spraying them fortnightly with bordeaux mixture to stave it off and combined with picking off any signs of blightly bits it seems to be staving it off. If I can hold it for another four weeks then I will be happy as I should have had a pretty good crop by then.
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Stacey
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We cut the tops off and the tubers are small but seem to have been spared. We've got 6 months worth of new potatoes   I've never had a decent maincrop haul in 7 years 
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VSS
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given up growing maincrop. Just first and second earlies. on the whole they seem to store pretty well.
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James
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In York
No blight yet on my earlies( sorry, cant remember what variaty- they're either "Rocket" or "Charlotte")
Also no sign in my later harvest of "Anya" or "Pink Fir Apples" .
Both these growing in my garden, and also PFA growing in allotment.
No sign on other peoples plots on the allotment.
But with all the rain we've been having recently, I wouldnt be surprised if we get it soon.
(I had it really badly last year).
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Stacey
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| VSS wrote: | | given up growing maincrop. Just first and second earlies. on the whole they seem to store pretty well. |
How do you store yours?
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judith
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We store our spuds in paper feed sacks in the lean-to at the back of the house. Like VSS, I find that the earlies store as well as the maincrop - assuming the slugs haven't been at them, that is.
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Stacey
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| judith wrote: | | We store our spuds in paper feed sacks in the lean-to at the back of the house. Like VSS, I find that the earlies store as well as the maincrop - assuming the slugs haven't been at them, that is. |
Yeah, the ones that have been dug are in a paper feed sack in a dark shed. The rest are still in the ground.
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VSS
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| Stacey wrote: | | VSS wrote: | | given up growing maincrop. Just first and second earlies. on the whole they seem to store pretty well. |
How do you store yours? |
just in double skin paper potato sacks. dig them on a sunny day and leave on the suface to dry off before bagging. very few go bad. with paper sacks if you do get a bad'un you can spot the damp patch on the side of the sack.
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jocorless
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I always get blight so this year I've grown some blight resistant varieties plus some heritage ones - The only ones showing blight so far are the Mimi - which are first earlies and need to be dug up anyway
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cab
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| judith wrote: | | We store our spuds in paper feed sacks in the lean-to at the back of the house. Like VSS, I find that the earlies store as well as the maincrop - assuming the slugs haven't been at them, that is. |
Yep, earlies left in the ground till they're rather better grown do seem to store as well as main crop, the only problem I have with that is that they're not always as tasty as maincrops after storage.
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marigold
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Not yet, thank goodness. I have been taking a lot of leaves off the tomatoes this year to keep the air flowing around them. I'm keeping a close eye on the spuds and keeping my fingers crossed  .
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vanessa
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Tomatoes are fine so far ... have a box of Bordeaux mixture handy to use at first sightings.
Spuds - didn't sow any this year, but last year's that grew this year (got to 1" last year before getting cut-down with blight) are not looking good. Will cut the tops off today, and hope there are at least a few useable spuds underneath.
Think I'm going to stay spud-free for a few years, except maybe for a few in tubs.
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gil
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Fingers crossed, not yet, despite all the rain.
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mark
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no sign of any blight here 
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yummersetter
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First signs of potato blight on a few leaves on the Lady Christls on Saturday, in Somerset.
It was on three plants only which we dug up to get a bucket full of lovely new potatoes, but now I've had to leave the garden to look after itself for a week, and I'm feeling apprehensive. Especially as my reaction to gloomy financial news is to plant spuds and we have four raised beds coming on beautifully. A heatwave would be welcome right now.
Does keeping fleece on help or hinder blight?
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Gervase
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Some blight on the earlies - Arran Pilot - but none on the mains - King Edwards. I've blitzed them with Bordeaux mix, but may have to lift the earlies later this week if things don't improve.
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Slim
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| yummersetter wrote: |
Does keeping fleece on help or hinder blight? |
Seeing as the disease isn't transmitted by insects, I would think that keeping your crops covered would lead to more blight, if anything. (though maybe nothing  ) Good airflow - allowing aerial parts to dry off - is beneficial in preventing most diseases.
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wellington womble
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My greenhous tomatoes are looking really leafy. Never had any trouble with blight before (spuds are really rare, round here) but I wondered if I reduced the general lushness, it would affect the crop. I probably planted too many in the first place!
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Slim
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Do you prune off the suckers? I often leave one sucker right below the first fruit cluster so I have two leaders.
If you've got a lot of foliage it's perfect acceptable to prune off some of the lower leaves. If they're overcrowded then they are reducing air flow, and not getting enough light to photosynthesize more sugars than they're using. (I wouldn't bother leaf pruning if you've given the individual plants lots of space though)
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ksia
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No blight yet. Here's hoping for none this season.
Last year was so depressing.
Also no colorado beetles this year which is odd, we always have them - not a complaint but just strange.
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wellington womble
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| cpg03 wrote: | | Do you prune off the suckers? I often leave one sucker right below the first fruit cluster so I have two leaders. |
Aha - is that what they are! Should I?
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lottie
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Totally surrounded by no blight for the first time in years, clearly there are some advantages to living up a Welsh hill--if the Irish could raise families of 20 on potatoes before the famine clearly we are set fair
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vanessa
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| ksia wrote: |
Also no colorado beetles this year which is odd, we always have them - not a complaint but just strange. |
I wonder if their life-cycle was somewhat disrupted last year by the amount of blight around? Everyone round here lost their spuds to some degree, and no-one had foliage on theirs after mid-July.
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colour it green
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think we might have some. watching the crop with paranoia
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Slim
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| wellington womble wrote: | | cpg03 wrote: | | Do you prune off the suckers? I often leave one sucker right below the first fruit cluster so I have two leaders. |
Aha - is that what they are! Should I? |
Suckers pop out at pretty much every node. Right in the crotch where the leaf comes out from the stem. Conventional wisdom says remove all, or all but one of the suckers. (Not nearly as important on a determinant variety however) Best to do the job on a dry day, just in case, as you're still opening up a wound.
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vegplot
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I don't think I've ever seen blight here. It's often windy so that may have helped.
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VSS
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just spotted one plant with a touch of blight. if the weather is good i shall dig the whole plot tomorrow!
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Mr O
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None here on my plants yet, which are next to 20 acres of contract spuds to mcain oven chips.
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alison
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Hello MrO, I was wondering where you were.
How are you?
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gil
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First signs of blight on 2 Arran Pilot. Rest OK.
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Jamanda
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I've a bit on the toms in the greenhouse. The ones outside look OK so far. Spuds have all been eaten, so no worries there.
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Green Rosie
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You can add me to the "Got Blight" list  . Cut off the haulms from the affected spuds (a variety called Bintje) and will dig them up later today. I'm watching the others very closely.
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cab
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The few odd looking ones I had have been dug up, the others are fine, and those people who were unaffected by the first blight onset seem still fine around our way. Conditions are warm and humid now though, so it could well return.
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judith
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No blight. Just slugs.
At least with blight you can still harvest some intact spuds if you're quick.
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Green Rosie
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I'll probably dig all mine up this week-end (we have friends visiting so they can help ) and at least I should have beaten the slugs to them. Then with all that lovely space I can plant the leeks I bought at the market (to make-up for my pathetic onions) and loads of winter cabbages. I might even put in some green manure. Not all bad news then.
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tahir
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NO blight so far, amazing 
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wizz
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I was feeling just a tiny bit smug and incredulous on Weds as i surveyed my seemingly blight free allotment... and was particularly impressed by the out door toms .... pride before a fall... Last night it was as if they'd been directly showered with it! Spots and yellowing leaves all over! the potatoes also showing signs of succumbing. Obviously somewhat distressed by the rapid deterioration and sorry state of them!
wizz
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wellington womble
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I think my international kidneys have got it. Brown spots and general wilting? Am I right in thinking the best thing to do is cut off all the folliage and eat the spuds. No sign of it on the later varieties - is it worth spraying them with Bordeaux mixture?
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oldish chris
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Got it! Just chopped to haulms off! Varieties are: Remarka, Milva and Verity, all described as "blight resistant". They must have resisted for an hour or more!
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Soapnutter
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Is it or isn't it?
Off to chop off the tops and dig up spuds......
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