Potato Blight

[VirGin]

I know this is a regular subject and yes, I have googled it for days on end without a definitive answer, so would appreciate some expert (or otherwise) advice.

Please take a look at the linked picture below and advise if this is blight or not. There are 5 leaves, showing the different stages I am experiencing (my potato plants, that is). Top left shows the first symptoms - little black speckles on the tops of leaves only and mostly on the oldest leaves of the plant. Then the disease progresses to the leaf on top right, followed by bottom left to right, where it then progresses to the underside of the leaf. The last one (bottom right yellow) tends to be found on those branches nearest the ground.

I am trying to avoid spraying with Bordeaux mix, so would appreciate your advice. Many thanks.

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn26 ... blight.jpg

[red]

hi welcome


hmm - its not obvious... blight usually results in black stems and slimey bits....

is it 'early blight' perhaps? which is something slightly different?
I know someone in Cornwall that has been hit with potato blight... which is bad news for the rest of us too

where are you? are you in the uk?

[VirGin]

Thanks for your quick response. I'm in south west France - Aveyron to be precise. Does that help?

[red]

well not in Cornwall! but as its warmer where you are you could be in a position to get it sooner I guess. any of your neighbours having problems?

[VirGin]

Usually you would be correct in your assumption that it is warmer down here, but not this year, not the *&*$% year that I chose to move here permanently. Three, yes, just 3 days without rain since beginning of April. Boy are we having fun or what.

I trust this is useful additional analysis!

[red]

ah well - I'm not a blight expert!
but last year was a blight year here.. cos of the unually cold and rainy weather .... which does not bode well for you... sorry.

still it does not really look like full on blight to me... ...but it might be the begining ....

do you have any tomatoes anywhere? do they have problems too?

I pose in your shoes, I would pick of hte brown bits and see how things developed. but im not keen on bordeaux mixture myself.... others disagree.

[VirGin]

I do have tomatoes and they seem okay at the moment. I'll keep an eye on them and maybe wait a few days to see how the potato leaves progress before taking action.

Please advise which of my shoes you'd like to pose in.

[starchild]

It doesn't look like blight to me (we've had it twice), but I'd just keep an eye on it and take action if it spreads.

Keep checking it every day, which I'm sure you are doing already. Fingers crossed it's not blight.

Although we completely got rid of ours and saved the crop by using horsetail, so you can bear this in mind if you want a natural way of treating it.

SC x

[theabsinthefairy]

starchild - not heard of using horsetail, but always glad to hear of another method to help prevent it.

I allow yarrow to grow between the rows, keeping it in check by pulling the bigger plants, and nettles along the edges of the field, and last year we cropped lots of spuds even though we did have some blighted plants, but they did not seem to get any worse than a few curled leaves.

Although the photo does not really look like blight, which seem to develop with large brown slodges on the leaves, and then hit the stems quite quickly.

[MINESAPINT]

Just run me through how to post a link again?

MINESAPINT

[MINESAPINT]

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/pot17.html[url]

[MINESAPINT]

I was wondering if you are growing a susceptible variety?

[red]

Please advise which of my shoes you'd like to pose in.

I'm sorry - I'm the queen of typos!!

[Annpan]

Just checked out the Veg and herb expert book - what you have is most likely Capsid Bug (1/4inch greenish insects) - the picture looks identical to the one in my book.

Small brown spots which later turn into holes appear on the foliage. Young shoots may be distorted and the crinkling of small leaflets may be severe
Treatment - Damage is usually too slight to affect yield. Spray the plants with permethrin or fenitrothion if attack is severe
Prevention - No practical method available.

A googling might give better organic stylee methods of control, and other information to confirm that it is the bug.

[Annpan]

This might help

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo_now/faqs.php?id=81