Blight - is it worth spraying?

[Cider Boys]

What a laugh; the thread started as a question regarding blight - is it worth spraying?

I answered in good faith with some suggestions hopefully to help forum members who were misfortunate and had encountered potato blight. I listed some steps that I take following years of potato growing when dealing with a blight attack. I also recommended to spray as a precaution to a blight attack and listed the chemical that I now use, based on modern science advice. I also highlighted the reasons that I no longer use the ‘copper sulphate’ spray that the SA approves. I also clearly stated that I do not spray my garden potatoes as a rule, but if blight threatened then I certainly would. These are all facts unless some know better.

Once again if anyone questions any SA organic practise the usual members predictably come out in attack mode.

I still do maintain there is a hypocrisy in the SA’s labelling of organic potatoes but if you are happy with the possible copper residues, good for you.

(I am still waiting for Alan to supply information that organic producers do not spray.)

It does not matter whether you are a commercial grower or not – if you get blight then you get blight - and there is at present no cure unless you know better.

So the choice is yours, if you are happy to get potato blight that spreads across your crop and then onto your neighbours’ crops, so be it. I’m just pleased that my neighbours (organic or not) spray against blight attacks and do know better!

Keep smiling (you blighters)

Barney

[richard p]

we are coming back to the definition of "Organic" (again) as applied to commercial produce available in the shops it means "grown to soil association rules" (or not been caught doing anything against the SA rules ) it does not mean "not sprayed with anything", which is what some of the gardeners on here hope to achieve on their own produce.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Granny, just the one posting is fine thankyou, i'm glad you saw the funny side of it, as i do worry that some people may take me the wrong way sometimes.

[FatB]

On this contentious subject of organic blight or chemical blight, it seems to me that a designated definition of organic expressed as a percentage might be of some use here, especially for commercial growers, (if they were honest enough that is).
What I mean is that products could be advertised as 50% organic, or 75% organic or even 93.75% organic if someone was pedantic enough to split hairs like that.
Us humble gardeners could also describe ourselves in similar terms.
I thought Peter's definition in another thread was as near word perfect as it's possible to get.
I claim to garden organically, but I have been known to use a pinch of growmore here and there, I've used systemic nettle killer on a large persistent patch of them, and I feel that I'm forced to use slug pellets.
So, as an example, how would you rate me? I would rate me about 80%, unless you know better of course!
Regards, FatB.

[Cider Boys]

Hello FatB

I would rate you as a 'pragmatic' gardener; welcome to the club.

Barney

[Johnboy]

Hi FatB,
As Barney has said 'welcome to pragmatic gardening.'
I produce using preventive measures but if for any reason they fail and I am in danger of losing a crop then and only then would I consider using a pesticide. I have used only 1.5L of made up spray in the last 3 years and feel that although I could not be classified as Organic I have used far less chemicals than an Organic Commercial Producer.
I use Roundup on non productive areas and I use Slug Pellets. I place these rather than scatter them. I am trialing the Advanced Slug Pellets at the present moment which are said to be harmful only to Mollusc's. I use netting wherever possible and Fleece
(the heavy duty 40 gram) as well.
I use man made fertilizers because as a retired professional I learned to use their worth.
Having said that my soil is in top fettle and has regular applications of FYM and home produced compost. I have been growing for a very long time and have watched the so-called advancement of Organics which have gone from being something pleasant to something quite heinous over the last few years.
It is only since this advancement in Organics that Potato Blight has become a large problem and I feel that it is at their door that we should lay the blame! Remember it only takes one Organic person on an Allotment who refuses to spray and the whole area is in jeopardy and everybody loses their crop.
Potato haulm used to be burnt but somebody organic all of a sudden decided that it was safe to compost it. Mine still gets burnt.
I feel that Barney has answered the question asked in this thread and I back his every word.
JB

[Granny]

Dear JB, I put my potato haulms, tied in a black bag, into my black bin (normal rubbish) because a) How do you burn fresh, green vegetation successfully? All my rubbish is so wet I've not got any decent kindling. And b) doesn't the smoke caused spread spores? I'm not being argumentative, I really want to know!
-----------------
Granny

[Johnboy]

Hi Granny,
If you stack it to dry out, which in normal years, it takes but a few days.
With main crop Potatoes nature has generally done most of the job for you.
It is not only Blight that affects Potatoes there are a number of things that are unwelcome on your plot. The problem is not normally present with early Potatoes but this year blight has been experienced on those as well. The whole situation is actually getting out of hand. I wonder just how long it will be before allotment grown Potatoes will be a thing of the past.
What I find alarming is the amount of people who are trying to be Organic that clearly do not have the foggiest idea how a particular crop should grow or react to disease.
I will state once again that I am not against organically grown produce and although I am pragmatic my own crops are grown along those lines but in my case common sense plays a very large part and I have been growing more years than most contributors to this forum have been alive and I have had the experience and at a stroke I know what treatment is needed and I act immediately not waiting about wondering what to do. I also know if something needs a chemical treatment to resolve a problem or not. This is why I am Pragmatic and not Organic. I stress it is a matter of the simple application of common sense.
JB.

[Primrose]

I feel Johnboy has a really valid point against Organic growers when he says "it only takes one Organic person on an Allotment who refuses to spray and the whole area is in jeopardy and everybody loses their crop."
I think if we aspire to the Organic way of growing, this also needs to take into account the ethics of not being anti-social to our nearby growing neighbours and whilst I too would prefer to grow my produce without the intervention of man-produced chemicals, I would rather end up with a crop of sorts in return for my hard work. The problem with blight is that once it arrives, it spreads so quickly that there's often little you can do, and only regular spraying beforehand will hold it at bay.

[Granny]

Thanks, Johnboy. To follow up your other point: We grow our veg in our garden and are not particularly near any allotments although there are some at the other end of the village. We got blight on Pink Fir last year but apart from that haven't had any problems with potatoes. I've grown my potatoes on a new patch every year as we are still extending, so that won't be a contributing factor. We are in a veg growing area, however, so that could be making matters worse. Now that we've had it once, are we going to be more susceptible in the future or will a sunny, dry summer sort it out?
-------------------
Granny

[Granny]

Dear OH, to be honest, I thought there was only one way of taking your comments!
---------------
Granny

[FatB]

No comments from anyone about my recognised percentage scale idea then.
Your silence on the matter is very eloquent! Bad idea then.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear FatB, your idea is far from bad, it's just that i keep out of the Organic, Non Organic topics as they always get out of hand.

[Cider Boys]

Hello FatB

To be quite frank, I much preferred reading your interesting blog than your percentage idea.

It is extremely hard to get people to agree what 100% organic is, goodness knows what 65.5% organic would be.

Support JBs pragmatic gardening ideal and keep writing the excellent blog, the modern organic movement will soon wither, science and truth will prevail.

(I would say that wouldn't I?)

Barney

[FatB]

Thank you Barney, much appreciated, have you got one?

And thank you OH, understood.