[mumofstig]

this is precisely why the daily mail is a laughing stock to most sane ppl 
 

it's not a good idea to suggest I'm insane  - I seems I buy a different paper to you, that's all 

[Aunt Sally]

Steady peeps, this is about potato blight not newspapers.

The story comes from the Potato Council not the individual newspapers.

Back on topic eh .... 

[Aunt Sally]

And it's not a new allegation either.  http://www.potato.org.uk/news/fight-against-blight

So we should all try to do something to help and become a scout.

http://www.potato.org.uk/publications/gardeners-advice-potato-blight

[HHH]

And it's not a new allegation either.  http://www.potato.org.uk/news/fight-against-blight

So we should all try to do something to help and become a scout.

http://www.potato.org.uk/publications/gardeners-advice-potato-blight

I agree that the newspapers are merely picking up on the PC's press releases and the 13 October story in the Grocer. However what is new is that there is a concerted effort to blame gardeners and allotment holders for the problems of the agribusiness industry in the Grocer story, and the effect of this is vastly magnified by the mass circulation of the general media.

Of course we should be more responsible ourselves in care for crops, and in reporting blight incidents. But it does seem that the PC has significantly changed its tack to demonise small growers, whilst ignoring the other issues ventilated in this debate, such as the availability of effective chemicals...and of course, a blooming awful growing season!

[Aunt Sally]

The do blame farmers too

LINK

Allotments are an easy target to blame.  NFU would be up in arms if farmers were blamed

[New shoot]

We had a fair few who left blighted spuds on our site to decay, much to the annoyance of other plot holders, and I know of one who took pictures to show the council he was so cross.  

If you were farming spuds for a living, I dare say you would incandescent with rage to see blighted spuds on plots nearby.  Not saying pointing the finger at home growers is right, but you can understand some of the frustration

[Aunt Sally]

I agree.  That's why I said that allotments and garden growers should accept some of the blame.

Outgrade piles are still the main problem in my opinion.  You only have to look at the blight map to see how many outbreaks are due to those.

[New shoot]

'Scuse my ignorance, but why do they leave outgrade piles    Even if the spuds are not saleable quality, wouldn't they do for animal feed 

Seems a waste and as you say, a disease timebomb 

[Aunt Sally]

Have a read of my link above (and now bellow):

LINK

[Rampant_Weasel]

its easy to point the finger and its probably out of frustration but i think us and the farmers are in the same boat.
we were recently told that the dust on our cars was sand from the sahara desert and being heavier than spores just shows you how far a blight spore can travel!

[Aunt Sally]

This site

http://www.cropinfo.net/Potatoblight.php

says that "Late blight spores have been known to travel over 40 miles under the right conditions."

[allotmentann]

The responsibility falls on all potato growers large and small. Certainly on our allotment site, lots of plot holders did nothing at all about blight. I am relatively new to growing, but I read and research. I spotted the first signs of blight on the plots very early and  checked my own crops daily, removing them at the first signs of blight. My plot neighbours blighted potatoes and tomatoes are still rotting on their plot (they have not been on site since spring).
Aunt Sally, I wish that we had someone as responsible as you managing our site. We recieved no warnings and no information. Many plot holders do not even know about blight, let alone how to deal with it! In fact when I asked one long standing plot holder and  commitee member about the blight on his potatoes, he just looked at me and shrugged and did nothing about it. Irresponsible people are going to behave like this whether they are farmers, allotmenteers or gardeners at home.

[Aunt Sally]

Sadly, you are right 

[rowan57]

In past years we could spray with dithane and this would help to prevent blight and so reduce the sources of infection from allotments and gardens but now there is very little we can do other than remove the foliage at first sight of blight. 

Although Dithane was banned you can use Bayer's replacement product Fruit and Vegetable Disease Control
 
http://www.bayergarden.co.uk/en/data/Products/f/Fruit-and-Vegetable-Disease-Control.aspx

Unfortunately Copper based products have a greatly reduced impact when compared to the Dithiocarbamates (Dithane = Zineb, or Mancozeb based products).

One thing that would help is people using the available chemicals preventatively. It is essentially pointless to spray a potato crop which has blight with a copper product - if I were to grow potatoes / tomatoes, I would be spraying them from the word go on say a monthly basis. Then you at least stand a chance.

[Aunt Sally]

That's why we put up the blight map on the news ticker at the top of the forums.  You shouldn't really spray until the red dots are creping towards you.

With fruit and disease control you can spray every 10-14 days but with a maximum of 4 applications per crop.