Post potato blight cleanup actions?

[peter]

Right, definitely got blight on my potatoes.
On digging clean looking spuds go into a plastic two-handled bucket, bags of stinking slime and dodgy spuds go into a plastic wheelbarrow.
At the end of a row the foliage goes in the wheelbarrow and the whole lot gets tipped into the recycling wheeliebin.

Other then picking over the ground to find next years volunteers, what else can I do to "clean up"?

The area will now have two years of non potato / tomato crops.

[Colin Miles]

Peter - you said

the whole lot gets tipped into the recycling wheeliebin.

This is what always worries me about municipal compost. What is/is this the correct way to dispose of rotten potatoes?

[peter]

Peter - you said

the whole lot gets tipped into the recycling wheeliebin.

This is what always worries me about municipal compost. What is/is this the correct way to dispose of rotten potatoes?

Colin, yes I'm concerned about this route.

However, councils fine people for putting "compostable waste" in the wrong bin and due to the volume of waste available the composting process should achieve a heat level that the average gardener can only dream of.

[Beryl]

I sealed mine in a compost sack then took them to the tip and put in the household bin which I assume goes to landfill.

Beryl.

[Tony Hague]

Getting out as many potatoes as possible is a good idea, as is being sure to remove any volunteers next year, as volunteers from overwintered tubers are a likely vector for blight. Interestingly, though I have (frequently ) heard blame levelled at organic gardeners for not spraying for blight, the really rather large numbers of potatoes left by the mechanical harvesters of commercial growers are a significant issue too.

According to Garden Organic, it is OK to compost blighted tomato and potato tops:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/compost ... post_3.php

The actual potatoes themselves are a different matter, because some might survive a cool heap. I would put them in green waste, which I imagine will get composted hot enough to kill the tubers, without which (if Garden Organic are right) the blight won't survive.

I have never understood the advice to burn blighted material. You cannot burn something which is 90% water. You certainly don't want to leave it lying about to dry and spread spores.

[peter]

Woohoo, November edition.......

[John S]

- followed by a good dosing of lime where the blighted potatoes were growing to sterilise the soil! It isn't guaranteed to work but is a fairly effective method of dealing with blight.

[Johnboy]

Hi Peter,
Do you consider that you rotation to be of sufficient length of time?
We here leave four clear years for potatoes and plant again in the fifth year.
I do appreciate that we possibly do have a little bit more available space than you but to me two clear years is cutting it too fine.
JB.

[Tony Hague]

I imagine it depends on what you do with it in the intervening time - if you are sure you've got rid of the volunteers, it may be OK - the Garden Organic link I posted above claims that blight cannot survive long without a host, but does not say how long that is !

I thought that liming ground for potatoes was a bad idea ?

[Geoff]

My seed potatoes from JBA arrived today. All looked excellent until I unpacked the Sarpo Mira. This potato smells exactly like it looks, difficult to believe it isn't blight. How is that possible on "the most blight resistant potato variety"? I have asked them!

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Geoff, mine were here when i got back from work, but i haven't checked them yet. I wonder if the Sarpo Mira have caught the frost, and that is what has made them rot.

[Beryl]

Or perhaps stored in a damp sack OH. I shall be helping to bag up our allotment orders tomorrow so I shall be interested to see what ours are like.

Beryl.

[Geoff]

I got an almost immediate response (17:21->18:44) :

Sorry about that. The potato is suffering from waterlog. Basically the potatoes have sat in water for so long that they have started to break down once they have been graded and exposed to air.

Its not blight for sure.

I am glad everything else was ok as it has been the worst harvest season ever.

Happy planting.

I hope they are right.

[Beryl]

That is reassuring Geoff. My Nicola has come from JBA and they are very good. In fact all that I saw today at the allotment 'bag up,' and we had in excess off 60 sacks delivereded, were very good considering what a year it was last year. Don't think there will be any complaints from out lot.

Beryl.

[Tony Hague]

I have a tuber looking just like that (and smelling bad) in my pack from Marshalls. They have not responded to my e-mail of several days ago I hope that it is indeed not blight.