Blight

Hi Ive got blight on my 2nd earlys in my polytunnel Ive sprayed them with Bayer & every time I go into the poly I cut off any branches that have leaves that are starting to rot. The plants seem to be healthy growing like crazy they,re about 18 inches to 2 feet high I noticed yesterday some flower buds on some of the plants. The thing is am I flogging a dead horse or if I keep on doing what im doing ie removing infected leaves will I get a crop at Xmas or should Icall it a day & dig them up & burn them ? any advice please. Mick

 

Hi depends how bad it is, if they are flowering then some crop isn't to far away.
Unles you can grow something else I can't see the point of digging them up. I would keep watering to a minimum, spray more than one brand of spray, make sure you get under the leaves and cover the soil to protect the tubers as much as you can, and try not to create a humid atmosphire which blight thrives in so well.
Good luck.

 

I forgot to say that the plants have only been in about 6 weeks so I dont think any tubers will have formed yet or will they ?

 

I planted Charlotte in mid august last year, the tops were hit off by the blight about this time, I left them thinking they wouldn't have had time to set a crop, then discovered new spuds when I dug the bed over in feb.

 

If they are coming on flower there should be tubers forming and they will soon swell if the blight isn't to sever. You could dig one up and have a look.

 

Hi Blacksmith the blight is,nt real bad just odd leaves on odd branches every time I find one Im cutting off the branch & hoping it dosn't spread Ive been cutting between 6 to 10 branches off per day except yesterday only 5 & today only 4 I hope its slowing down ? will spray Bayer again tonight & just prey