[plum crumble]

Good grief! I know there are some mean-minded folk out there - if it really is sabotage, that is truly appalling. How awful. I am sorry you are going through this.

[Yorkie]

The timings would seem to fit with what you describe, sadly 

[Apostrophes]

My earlies that suffered most from frost damage in May have in the last few days turned yellow and collapsed. Some have withered and died. The yields are very, very low. So I am wondering if it is an after effect of the frost.

[Yorkie]

My earlies that suffered most from frost damage in May have in the last few days turned yellow and collapsed. Some have withered and died. The yields are very, very low. So I am wondering if it is an after effect of the frost.

Personally I'd doubt it.  Was the stem black / slimy near ground level?

[missycat]

Sorry..I'm  abit confused here   I thought you found insects in the tubers...that doesn't fit in with chemical poisoning or are the deformed tubers and the eaten ones from different plants?

[vron]

The minute white insects that I found, were very like the ones you find in house plants when there is a white/grey mould on the top of the compost from watering from the top of the pot, and when disturbed there are these tiny white insects aprox 1.5mm - 2mm long in amongst it.  
They can also be on the house plants themselves but I don't know what they are called, but I think they are harmless and just because of top watering the pot plants.

Sorry it was not the seed tubers with the insects in, but one of the baby tubers that was cut open as it to was soft and there was minute white insects inside.  I did not post a pic of it.

There were 5 plants all next to each other, 3 in one row and 2 in the other, but the rows were along side each other and at the beginning of the rows. All international kidney.

The large tubers were the seed tubers and you can see from the pics what has gone wrong, the small deformed tubers were the new potatoes growing on these tubers.
The small deformed tubers when cut in half are just spud inside and the smallest about the size of your little finger nail and not  pinhead size of the potato cysts.

On all 5 plants it was the same, deformed new tubers and yellow haulms, the rest of the potatoes are ok, will be checking them out today and lifting some of them to see.

I am wondering if this is what has also happened to our runner beans, see page 1 of these posts.
Vron
  

[zazen999]

Right - I take it we are now talking about 2 completely different problems? Very confusing....

Vron; not Aminopyralid - from what I can see the symptoms are nothing like it. Looks chemical and unfortunately I think you are going to have to report this [or threaten to] as it could be construed that someone is trying to poison your crops...and possibly you....do you have any idea who it could have been?

Apostrophes; are you now saying that you know what your problem is?

[Yorkie]

Right - I take it we are now talking about 2 completely different problems? Very confusing....

Quite agree, have split Apostrophe's query onto another thread 'cos I was getting confused too 

Vron; not Aminopyralid - from what I can see the symptoms are nothing like it. Looks chemical and unfortunately I think you are going to have to report this [or threaten to] as it could be construed that someone is trying to poison your crops...and possibly you....do you have any idea who it could have been?

Apostrophes; are you now saying that you know what your problem is?

Will copy this post across onto Apostrophe's thread 

[wise old gardener]

The erratic nature of your problem tends to argue against ACCIDENTAL poisoning, plus other people sharing the same manure with no problems tends to argue against it as well. However the events you describe do raise the possibilty of non-accidental poisoning, for which I have no suggestions ( mantraps???) The pictures you posted DO look loke chemical/hormonal poisoning and I wonder if you are could get advice from the RHS, free if you are a member. If you take/send a sample in to them, in a plastic bag to avoid contaminating their plants, they might be able to send it away for analysis.

[vron]

Sorry if I have confused anyone, but the 2 are linked together potato and runner bean problems, and I have only just made the connection because of the vandalism incident on the 12/6/10.
So I believe that they are all linked together.

Our committee recently had to terminate a tenancy, I was ask by the tenant to put their case to the committee, which I did and without going into all the details, the committee decided that they had had enough chances and went for termination.

The tenant feels I did not put the case fairly.  And as they say the rest is history, then brassica cages being slashed, runner bean A-frames pushed over, and then about 10 days later the potatoes were affected and the runner beans dieing and foliage looking very very pale, does this not smack of being poisoned.

The vandalism was reported to the Bham City Council Allotments Dept and also to the police.  The poisoning has only recently come to light as originally I just thought it was magnesium deficiency and treated accordingly.