[A Reyt Tayty]

What's a man to do? When I say yellow, I mean YELLOW. Is it just the damp/lack of sun, or something more sinister?

Broad bean leaves have also started rotting. I've removed all usable beans and cut down stalks with noo beans left on. Also removed the manky leaves. Will the improved airflow help, or should I be ruthless and whack 'em down?



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[rich24uk]

Is it entire leaves? Are they just lower leaves or also new growth? A few of mine are yellowing on the lower part of the plants due to lack of sunlight and its never caused a problem for me. They still grow perfectly well. Might want to check for blight. I've never experienced this but it is apparently quite rampant this season.

[Paul Plots]

Yellow leaves is not a sign of blight as far as I know.

If it were a dry warm summer I'd say your potatoes are ready to be lifted but with all this rain and wet it could be they are mightily unhappy - not a surprise - I'm getting that way myself.

To begin with I'd have a poke about and see what the spuds look like and take it from there.

How wet is your ground?

[mum23kids]

Hi - I'm not an expert but agree with Paul that it won't be blight - that tends (from my experience!) - to be spotty/patchy.

Yellow leaves could mean many things.

First dig one potato plant up and see what its like underneath, if the potatoes are good they are ready and the tops dying off (unlikely given the weather)

More likely (given the weather) is some kind of nutritional deficiency. Heavy rain apparently washes the nitrogen in the soil down and away from the spuds. Also some people have said magnesium deficiency yellows leaves...

Maybe give them a feed - comfrey if you have it, or growmore or proper potato fertilizer?

Could simply be rotting through too much rain - again digging one up will let you see if this is the case - if the roots have rotted the leaves will die off.

Good luck!

[Salmo]

Exanine the potato stems where they go into the ground. If they are dark brown and rotting they have blackleg. A lot of it around this year due to the wet.

Your problem with bean leaves is chocolate spot. Usually it is small brown spots which do no harm. In prolonged humid warm conditions the disease becomes aggresive and forms big brown areas such as you have. More air will help, a few hot dry July days would be better.

[Paul Plots]

Some information about Blackleg which migh be useful.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Thankyou chaps.

[gowing238]

did youmanure the area where the beans and potatoes were planted. Many manured plots on  my site this year have had the same troubles and it seems to be the manure is contaminated with Aminopyralid herbicide. Plants leaves just look dead.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Yup. Well manuered with well rotted stuff.

[A Reyt Tayty]

I think It's the rain thats washed all the goodness out. The manure was direct from a known source and was not contaminated in any way. I gave the spuds a dose of lawn feed (big on nitrogen), some potash, and some epsom salts. They are looking a lot happier already.

[mum23kids]

Great move - think you covered everything nutritional with those 3 - please to hear its working!

[Yorkie]

did youmanure the area where the beans and potatoes were planted. Many manured plots on  my site this year have had the same troubles and it seems to be the manure is contaminated with Aminopyralid herbicide. Plants leaves just look dead.

Contamination with aminopyralid will cause characteristic stunted and twisted growth, not simple yellowing.

[Paul Plots]

All mine are going yellow now since I chopped the lot off.

Blight has arrived down south.

[fatcat1955]

1 of my plants went yellow and collapsed so i dug it up. Found a huge ants nest below it so i can only guess that they were the problem.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Ah ah! We are always smittled with ants. That may be the trub. I'm still going to wait for the tops to drop before I oik 'em up tho. Had a furtle at the second earlies this aft. Coming on nicely. Gave 'em a feed of potash to give 'em a boost before they hit the chip pan.