[phillisa]

Hello there!

As a newcomer to allotmenting this forum is great!

Can anyone help with a potato question?  We planted some late potatoes a few weeks ago and they seemed to be going fine.  We went down at the wekend and the leaves seem to have been stripped completely from the plants.   We know that there were some chickens loose...could they have done this?  Or do I have to look at some other pest or disease?

If it is the chickens, will the plants survive, or are they lost?

 :?:
Any help would be most gratefully received!!

[James]

Can you post some pictures?  They'll probably survive, but you'll get a smaller crop.

[gabriel]

Very late. If the plants recover there will not be much time to get to flower, days getting shorter and cooler. I would expect the frost will get there first.  But, cover in horti-fleece and see. I suppose even if the tops do get burnt off then the tubors will still be there over the winter and you should get some early sprouting. If so, again cover in fleece, I've seen too many potato tops frosted in May. Tell us what happens

[phillisa]

Many thanks.  Unfortunately I can't post a picture as I don't have a digital camera, but I'll cover with horti-fleece and see what happens.