[Marijke Jones]

Dear fellow gardeners,

I have 18 bags with several varieties of potatoes growing at the moment and I am proud to say there is not a mark on any of them. At the moment they started to flower. Amongst them are two old Irish varieties called Arran victory and Irish gold which are less resistant against the diseases while the Alberta is a genetically improved Bintje and well resistant. Would it be wise to spray for blight at this moment to protect all of the potato plants?

[InWarwickshire]

Weather conditions of +10c for 48hour period (day and night) bring on potato blight. There is an early blight around june / july time which I find the the haulms get over ok>the serious blight is usually around august and september. In the UK you need to be registered(DEFRA?) to use an effective spray. There may be alternatives for the armatures but not too effective. They will need to be sprayed every few days during the `period` covering all the leaves,top and underneath.
 

[missmoneypenny]

Bordeaux mix has been banned here, not sure about Ireland but I suspect it’s as InWarwickshire says, only for commercial growers. I nearly always get blight on my tomatoes, but either I don’t get it on my potatoes, or I get it mildly and it doesn’t affect the crop at all. Maybe not worth worrying about?