Friday, July 08, 2011
Blight...
Despite spraying with Bordeaux mixture in June, I noticed several stems wilting and turning black over the past week or two. The warm damp weather are perfect conditions for blight spores to increase and even on Sante, a foliage and tuber resistant potato, they found a good breeding ground. So I have pulled the tops of all our spuds, the second earlies that we'd just started digging, and the mains that I was hoping would see us through the winter. Probably not this year. I am dismayed at this turn of events, particularly as potatoes are my staple food, and I was just getting to the stage of being able to grow enough to last a year. So what to do when disaster strikes? Dig what we can and hope they survive.
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2 comments:
hi
a bit late now but if you keep the furrows earthed up really well so preventing any cracks at the to of the furrow, this will stop the spores from hitting tubers and should at least delay the onset of tuber blight. You are correct to cut the tops as soon as you see the signs of blight on the leaves as the tubers become infected from spores landing on tubers and via the stem of the holm.
Good luck Phil
Hi Phil,
The problem is the site where our allotment is had most of the top soil skimmed off, so we have very little to earth up with. I pulled all the haulms which has at least allowed us to harvest a few spuds, but not enough to last through the winter.
Nice to see you're posting again, I'm waiting for more news on the Radnors!
Simon
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