Kitchen Garden Forum

Just pull main crop of spuds up as was told it has blight and found some had succumbed to scab.

Does anybody have any tips on preventing it happening again?

Hi Colin,

I read that putting shredded newspaper in the trench helps, but I've since seen that only applies to old fashioned newspaper not current types of ink on our papers. I know when choosing them though the description of the seed potatoes varieties from some suppliers does mention whether they have some scab resistance. You might get lucky but 'resistance' is not a guarantee & you might not like the taste of those particular ones.

Interesting Colin. Never heard of the newspaper theory. Certainly wouldn't work with the current "new fashioned" Telegraph paper which is thinner, less manageable from a folding and crumpling perspective and also seems to be less moisture resistant!

Hi Colin,
Many years ago I was getting scab on my potatoes. I used to cover the seed with some soil then I was putting a layer of farmyard manure in the trench and then filling with soil.
A local farmer said it was too much manure causing this. I am unsure if this is true, but when I cut down on manure things did improve.
Regards,
Der.

I have always thought that too much lime in the soil causes scab. Perhaps you limed the ground last year and it's still in there?

You should remember that the ideal soil condition for potatoes is in acidic soil and what Monika has said is so very true.

Have they been dry? I think that makes it worse.

I was always told that insufficient water causes scab. As Geoff has asked, have they been dry?

Thanks for all your help.

Did not water as nature took care of that, the bed was only dried out on top below was still damp.

These were grown in homemade compost on sang soil with year old manure on top.