Read if you grow Potatoes or Tomatoes - BLIGHT 2012

Sorry Strongy....

 

Sod's Law, our first veg plot, and our first taters and blighted!
Hope the toms don't go the same way, they look healthy at the moment, if over crowded. Our courgette leaves are already covered in mildew, not going to be a great first season.
Should I dig them up now and dispose of them? Would the the spuds ok?

 

Don't give up Strongy, i've remembered something John told me, he said spray with bordeaux mixture even if you've got it as it slows the blight down.

Def worth spraying the Toms if they haven't come down with it yet. They normally get it before the spuds. Its very early this year.

You can still eat the spuds, its just that they probably won't store.

Saying that, my Charlottes that I planted in August for new spuds at Christmas got the tops knocked off them by the blight. I thought the tubers would have sucumbed too so didn't find them till I was digging the bed over in February. They were fine left in the ground.

 

My old Dad, who was a potato farmer, used to tell me that only the tops were affected.

However, I grew some Rattes one year, delicious, but a martyr to blight. They were fine till I dug them up but were then inedible after a few days. So the moral is, only lift as much as you can scoff in one go.

 

I have just bagged up the infected foliage, and dug up about 12 spuds.
How long will they keep?

 

I'd eat em soon Strongy, the skins won't have hardened yet so just treat em as you would new potatoes.

 

I've used 25% of my stock of copper fungicide spray and I'm now getting 'Full Smith Period' blight alerts every day:



If this keeps up I'm thinking about marking them as 'spam', buying my toms from Aldi's 'Super Six' and having a big bonfire at the plot with a few bottles of homemade wine.

 

Hiya Scrunge.

Don't you think the spray will work? Or, is it the cost?

 

I'm getting alerts every day now, its far earlier than normal.

Just made 5 gallons of wine Scrunge, might join you for the bonfire.

Sprayed all the Toms & Spuds this afternoon.

 

If I run out I'll have to buy the stuff at full price! And it'll probably just get washed off by the next downpour. Putting another 6 galls of HB on tommorow.

 

Sorry for those infected with Blight, BUT, just because we go through a "Smith Period" doesn't mean you will get Blight, chances are you won't!

But spraying with Bordeaux mixture will help give you peace of mind?

No, not really, growing blight resistant varieties is far more effective, spraying will help but by the time you notice it, the damage is done?

We just don't get enough notice to make spraying effective?

 

I wouldnt want to pay full price considering there`s less than 60p worth of chemicals in the box

 

Got another Full Smith Period alert Sunday and yet another one today.

 

Got a 'Near Miss Period' today (Tuesday), which sounds rather screwy considering it follows 2 'Full Smith Period' alerts over the last 2 days. Is it just me that thinks creating multiple, overlapping, differing alerts doesn't make sense - like as if the alerts of the last 2 days have now been somehow downgraded?

 

Just been out there, to discover my Arran Pilots are blighted! No warnings either...