great blight resistant spud

[Rainy]

Just thought Id share this ready for next year.
This year I planted a variety of potatoes - King Edward, Desiree, Golden Wonder, Kestrel, Red Duke of York and Sarpo Mira.
In late June we were hit by blight really badly losing the King Edwards first then Kestrel, Desiree and the others in swift succesion almost before our eyes. With the exception of sarpo mira. Its still out there now, looking as lush and fresh as ever - spuds are big and pinky red and taste lovely!
I know which spuds I'll definitely be planting next year.

[Thurston Garden]

I got some free Sapro Mira and Sapro Axona and was looking forward to scoffing them.

My other spuds (all free too!!), Edzell Blue, Ulster Chieftan, Sharps Express, Marfona, Estima, Cara and Dunbar Standard all show signs of blight. None of the Sapros do, but due to the excessive rain and my heavy clay soil, all varieties drowned and are slowly dying..... all 1000 plants.

[Rainy]

Our soil is about a spade or so of lovely black loam with solid brown clay underneath so I can sympathise with the water problem. Ive got swedes and betroot still underwater. Two weeks ago I was digging up some Red Duke of York and it sounded like I was sucking them out of the ground because it was so muddy and sticky !
This rain is so depressing - Ive obviously not planted anything like as much as you - it must be soul destroying. I really feel for farmers and smallholders who rely on their crops for income.

[ina]

This year, I planted Milva and Pink Fir Apple; the first one is supposed to be blight resistant (was fine last year), and has succumbed to blight; the second is supposed to be susceptible to blight, and is still standing.

[Cheezy]

So far my Maris Piper have been OK. I've got half a row still in and OK. I'm surrounded by people on the allotment all with bad blight. I suspect my 20cm high raised beds have helped the situation, cos I'm thinking of watering soon!.

Sits back feeling smug after all the bloody hard work and sarcie comments whilst I double dug and remove all the couch grass and marestail under the 7 raised beds so far constructed, while still not looking forward to digging the rest of 3/4 of the plot!.

[Jarmara]

my potatoes all turned to mushy slime and some of the ones that looked ok when i dug them up turned into slim afew days later is that blight?

[Rainy]

If your haulms were all brown it sounds like blight to me. I pulled some up without wearing any gloves and put my fingers through a rotten one still in the ground - the small was nauseating - the worst smell on my plot by far!
Getting rid of it all is my problem - your not supposed to compost it but its rained every day here so Im waiting for it to be dry enough to burn all of it.

[red]

thats the funny thing.. our spuds were ok really.. went a little 'is that blight? could be' then we dug them

the toms are going fast and they are in greenhouses

[Cassiepod]

Cheezy, are you supposed to dig over the ground below deep raised beds I was hoping to get away with mulching and filling them up and no digging....

[SueSteve]

I heard that the Sapro were the only Blight resistant pots., but was also told that they dont taste as good.
The only pots left in the ground are Remarka - at home - no blight.
All the allotment spuds got blight, they were highly resistant, but once I saw the first signs I chopped the tops off straight away.
The Toms have also secumbed to it at the allotment, just hoping that it doesn't find its way home!

[chadspad]

My friends used Charlotte pots and said they were the only ones that withstood the blight, all their others died.

[Cheezy]

Cheezy, are you supposed to dig over the ground below deep raised beds I was hoping to get away with mulching and filling them up and no digging....

It is better to dig the area where raised beds are going to be, even if it's just to break up the soil to reduce compaction and improve drainage by forking it. It also encourages worms to come up into the bed.I think you could get away with it if the bed is say 30cm deep, and the soil under neath isn't clay.
My plan is then a no dig bed (ever! ), so long as you don't walk on the beds and compact them. I will be heavily mulching this autumn with manure, I will not dig this in , but let the worms get on with it ready for the Spring. I'm also going to trial some green manure, this will have to be dug in , in Spring.
The reason I have double dug is because the lottie is riddled with marestail , couch grass and thistles, and top soil is only a spades depth, under that is a silty clay (where the marestail tends to run along.)

[blathanna]

Can anyone thll me if Sarpo Mira are a main crop or a first or second early?

[Thurston Garden]

Sapro Mira and Sapro Axona are both late mains. I think the Sapro people don't see much point in trying to do a blight resistant early as they are generally out of the ground before blight hits.