[Jay The Digger]

I have just got back from my plot after spending hours pulling infected leaves and spraying with Dithane.  My Accent Potatoes are showing the early signs, but so far my Charolottes and Maris Pipers seem unaffected.

Is there anything else I can do to prevent this spreading? 

[mumofstig]

Sorry i don't know of anything to help, but where are you Jay?

[Jay The Digger]

Basingstoke, Hampshire.

[Aunt Sally]

It certainly looks like blight

Remove and burn the infected haulms.  Leave the potatoes in the ground for 10-14 days before lifting.

[Jay The Digger]

I was hoping to avoid lifting them, but if it's the only way, then I suppose it's better to lose a couple of rows than the whole crop.  I have 48 affected plants (so it looks as though my second earlies are being promoted to my earlies !!!)

Each of the affected plants has only had 10 or so leaves removed and the remianing plant looks fine. so I think I have caught it early.  I don't want to play a waiting game and make it worse, but I don;t want to drastic action unnecessarily.

I dug up one plant but it only yielded 4 or 5 decent size new potatoes, with many many more marble sized ones.

[upert]

can you get blight from spores remaining in the ground then? i wasn't aware of any smith periods with this weather we're having.

[Aunt Sally]

There is no reported blight on the potato council site

Picture of early blight here

[Jay The Digger]

There is no reported blight on the potato council site

I'll be sure to tell that to my potatoes 

[Aunt Sally]

 

Picture of early blight here

[Aunt Sally]

Have you sprayed with dithane ?

[Jay The Digger]

Yep.  Completely soaked them in it.

Your picture does look very similar 

[Iain@JBA]

I think I have been caught out with blight today. I will use my blight checker kit tomorrow to either confirm or deny the possibility of infection. It is only one plant. I can see another youtube video coming up for the results.

[Swing Swang]

Blast Jay - I'm also in Basingstoke so don't send your spores my way!

Got blighted last May in B'stoke so maybe we've got a unique microclimate or a reservoir of nasties very close to us.

My spuds are all first earlies and are just coming into flower so at least I'll have a crop if they fall victim.

Going away on hols until second week in June so who knows what I'll find when I get back...

Regards,

SS

[Aunt Sally]

That's early for Scotland Iain   

[Paul Plots]

Hampshie is just too close for comfort - I really cannot do with having blight so early in sunny Sussex just up the coast