blight watch 2012

[Westi]

We've got blight down here on the coast - only on the earlies so far! Sprayed my toms & my main crop with the last of my dithane - fingers crossed! Everyone is digging theirs up but it doesn't seem to have a really good grip on the whole plant just odd leaves so just cut these off and will watch and wait to see if I have to cut the whole of the foliage off.

Westi
PS: Sunny & warm day finally but have other commitments so potentially missed the best day to be on lottie.

[ken]

Oldherbaceous asked whether early blight is the same as late blight, only, well, earlier...
According to Simpson's Seeds Tomato Book, early blight is caused bythe Alternaria family, whereas late blight is caused by Phytophora Infestans.
The book goes on to say: "Early Blight is different to Late Blight. The symptoms are spots as in Leaf Spots [also caused by a form of Alternaria] but they are more angular and generally surround by concentric circles. The main difference from Leaf Spots when diagnosing is that sunken spots and a dark, rotting fungus appears on stems and sometimes on the calyx end of the fruit. Unsightly as it might be, it rarely interferes with the harvest. A measure of control is to spray with copper fungicide or Mancozeb. Infected leaves should be removed and burnt as the spores can remain in dead foliage or compost for several years."
I don't know - always something to worry about..

[oldherbaceous]

Thanks for that infomation, Ken, very much appreciated.

[Johnboy]

If you go onto Google and type in Early Potato Blight there is a very good thread, but strangely no web details, showing some very informative pictures.
JB.

[farmer jon]

the problem that will happen after this devastating summer of blight is next year. on allotment sites in particular there are people who put diseased potatoes on the compost heap or miss some in the ground when lifting. these will harbour blight spores over winter & come spring & new growth, may infect healthy crops next season.
people need to be clinical & remove from site all blight infected tubers & ensure neighbouring plotholders do likewise.

[Johnboy]

Hi FJ,
I have 2 allotmenteers on my plot and they are both horticulturally trained and they both riddle the soil where the potatoes have been growing. It is amazing just how many volunteers they find.
With the earlies they riddle and leave the bed ready for planting Leeks.
JB.

[Chantal]

I've now had alerts for 12 Full Smith Periods over 15 days but still no incidents found!

I'm hoping the change in the weather will make all the difference, forlorn I know, but hope all the same

[farmer jon]

up here , tops cut off marfona due to blight spots, just waiting for them to set skin before lifting. bonnie are looking well,the dithane has held blight at bay. the problem on the allotment is that a lot of plotholders don't actually know what blight looks like. one guy said his were ok when all lower leaves had fell off & the stems were starting to rot off at ground level,just because the tips were still green.people need to be educated about the signs of disease & what action to take.downy mildew on onions is a fav,one neglected plot can infect the whole site if the wind is right. thank heaven for santero !!

[Primrose]

Haven't been on here for a while as have been out of the country but returned home a few days ago to find most of my tomatoes are showing early signs of blight, including the Ferlines. Have sprayed with Dilthane but it got washed off almost immediately by rain so have sprayed again and wonder whether a double dose of it is over the top? I suspect I've probably locked the stable door after the horse has bolted and that I'll lose the lot. My yellow bush tomatoes are already starting to ripen too so it's doubly annoying.

[Colin_M]

Virtually all my spuds (salad & maincrop) have blight. They were slow getting going so I don't expect we've got much.

Double irritation as I usually rely on spuds keeping a good bit of our plot covered and clear of weeds

[John]

My potatoes have all gone down with blight - the first signs appeared several weeks ago. My neighbours have all had the same happen to their potatoes. However I keep getting cheery messages from Blightwatch about full SP and no incidents found. Where do these people get their information from? Do they ever go outside and look at what's happening to potato crops in the field.

John

[Primrose]

Perhaps it because although people receive the Blightwatch information they don't actually go onto the website and report incidents for their own area. I get the blightwatch information but haven't investigated the site in detail to know how easy it is to actually report an incident.
Has anybody on here reported blight and how easy is it to report it?
The site seems mainly dedicated to professional potato growers rather than amateur potato or tomato growers and there doesn't appear to be any user friendly "Report Blight in your area" button for amateurs to click to report it.

[peter]

Considering its run by a trade h marketing promotion organisation for the benefit of commercial growers it is pretty good that they let amateurs and societies register, especially as text warning do still cost them.

However although it might help them to have notifications in from more growers I suspect they only want them from people who really can 100% tell blight from other diseases and can also tell whether potatoes are ailing or not. I base my comment on posts earlier this eek about blight going unnoticed.

[Johnboy]

For the very first time ever we have gone down with blight on Potatoes with the exception of my Sarpo Axona which, a week on, are growing about 50ft from any other potatoes on the plot and as yet totally unaffected.
I suffered blight on outdoor Tomatoes a few years ago for the first time.
I live in an exceptionally rural area and there are no commercial potatoes within about two miles in any direction as the cow flies.
We were very vigilant earlier on and any volunteers from last years crop were swiftly dealt with.
Those that suffered first were from organic stock, which I am afraid I have never trusted, and they will not be used again.
All the haulm was cut and bagged and sealed because I have 18 acres of Barley growing alongside the plot and fires of any type are forbidden by me. When the Barley is cut then we will burn all the infected matter.
JB.

[Chantal]

There is now blight on two allotment sites near us, but we are unaffected as yet. I have little doubt with this rain, it'll be running rampant in the tomatoes by the weekend. I've cut the tops off the potatoes, but I'm not planning on spraying the tomatoes this year. Normally they would be laden with fruit and worth the expense of the Bordeaux mixture, but there's only the odd tomato so far, so it will be a long and expensive haul to get a decent crop. There's 120+ tomato plants, so I'm currently thinking it's just not worth the effort. I'm hoping the two greenhouse crops (in the garden) will be OK and at least provide enough for salads; just nothing left over to preserve.