[tangojulie]

I'm wondering whether they're any way to tell whether tubers are blighted other than waiting for them to go obviously rotten.

My last 6 plants showed signs of blight. I cut off the tops and waited a couple of weeks and I'm now lifting the tubers.

The first two plants yielded tubers that look fine as far as I can see. But this is the first time I've grown Ambo (thanks DD) and I'm not really sure what they should look like.

On the third plant I accidentally sliced through a tuber and it was completely rotten inside. Another tuber from this plant had a soft patch on the outside, and again it was a hollow rotten mass inside. Other tubers from the same plant look fine but I've kept them separate. I haven't lifted the rest yet.

Just wondering what's the best thing to do now. The plants I've lifted so far have an absolutely massive yield - bigger even than Picasso which always impresses me - and there's no way we'll be able to eat them all right away. Can you tell by looking if a potato has blight? If I can't see any signs on the outside, what's the best way to clean/store them? Or would I be better off binning the lot and not putting my other spuds at risk?

[JayG]

If you Gurgle pictures of 'potato tubers with blight' you will see more examples than you could ever wish for  about what it looks like on tubers at all stages of development.

It's just possible that the few you've found already rotted have done so because of pest damage which has allowed the rot to set in.

Don't be tempted to wash them clean - inspect them carefully and keep the sound ones as dry (and dark) as possible, and preferably not touching each other, although that's probably difficult to achieve with a large crop.

I'd try to keep the tubers from suspect plants separate, but I'd watch them all like a hawk for a few weeks before risking storing them somewhere more out of sight.

[tangojulie]

Thanks. I can't say it looks a lot like any of those pictures - it's more like a firm but hollow shell with a nasty deliquescent black centre. A bit like a horrid Easter egg. Perhaps it's something else, but I dare say that I need to treat the tubers the same way.

 Looks like a use for the apple trays then, that should keep them separate. I have an old black sheet that could go over the lot.

Luckily although the yield per plant was huge, I only had 6 plants. And the potatoes themselves are giants so they'll be easier to keep apart.

Thanks again, fingers crossed!

[Nobbie]

I made the mistake this year of washing my potatoes in a big drum and the blight got them all Last year when I got blight, I didn't wash them and stored them in an old dog basket so they were only two or three potatoes deep and gave them a good inspection every couple of weeks. I hoiked out any that were going rotten and the I used up the last ones in about Feb. I think I only lost half a dozen, but you soon know when one has gone by the smell. Didn't seem to spread to nearby ones. Good luck.