(Possible) Potato Blight warning in west

simonj · Last edited by simonj on Thu May 13, 2010 12:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

Very surprised, early crop got hit pretty bad at this time of year

Certified Orla seed, Carna in Connemara, Blight hit about 2 days ago.
Affected foliage removed and burned Dithane 945 sprayed.

Some damage to very small heritage variety, uncertified Mr Littles, but Setanta (certified) and Kerr pinks (uncertified) unaffected sofar as I can tell.

So if you are in Kerry, Galway West, Mayo or Clare I'd say spray with Dithane or Bluestone now

Sb · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 10:53 am Post subject:

Not being smart, but its a bit too early for blight. You sure it wasnt frost. Any pics.

simonj · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 11:09 am Post subject:

deffo not frost, blight.

Should have taken pics but just cut and burned old folliage and sprayed ASAP.

Started out with leaves with dark, soft 'bruising' and quickly developed into black/brown/rust wilting, and spread fast.

Based in Connemara, so asked two neighbours who would know about blight - these guys are real croft farmers.

Also, we have not had frost here since the 3rd qtr of April, very far west, near the sea.

Lowest recent temps about 4 deg C at worst.

Did look into it, and the Smith Period searches did show that blight can develop at temps as low as 9.5 deg C on occason.

I will try to get pics, but the worst affected were removed pronto

michael brenock · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 12:17 pm Post subject:

I would be extremely doubtful if this was blight. blight must have high humidity and high temperature. different varieties can show a different response to frost as well as to blight, the wilting could also be caused by Black leg a bacterial disease.
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)

simonj · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 12:46 pm Post subject:

Is there treatment for blackleg? and what other symptoms should I look for?

I did a quick search - found picsof blackleg, but there is no evidence of any stem wilt or discoulouration

foxxx · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 1:07 pm Post subject:

hi.am very new to gardening so bear with me. my dad is away on holidays and asked me to look after his little plot.but i just noticed today the potatoes leaves are black/yellow i thought it was blight but not sure.could be frost?my question is would it be ok to leave things as they are until sunday when he comes home or should i be cutting away leaves and spraying? im in the midlands

breezyacre · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 1:50 pm Post subject:

Agree with Michael Brennock.... and that is not just a safe bet! Weather has been extremely dry and cold not suitable for the proliferation of blight. Also there was no met eireann warning and there usually would be if they thought we were going to have blight

monkeynic · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 6:47 pm Post subject:

What is the best way to deal with frost damage? Our first and second earlies have been hit quite badly. We have covered with fleece but what should we do about the damage?

paul5000 · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 10:37 pm Post subject:

I was affected by frost on potatoes also, Well relay the sun. The morning sun on frozen leaves is what burns them. Sad

No sign of the cold period to end.

SorchaBC · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 2:52 pm Post subject:

My potatoes were flying along. Today I went out and a lot of the leaves look burned (they were fine day before yesterday). I'm thinking it's from frost, even though I've not noticed any (ah the joys of a lie-in!). Should I leave them as is or remove the damaged leaves?

slugsaway · Rank attained: Hazel Tree Joined: 20 Apr 2010 Posts: 16

Just say on met.ie that there is a blight warning in effect from tuesday to friday next. says there will be a chance to spray tomorrow and maybe monday. I've sown Colleens and Lady Balfour (both organic seed) which were listed as having good resistance to blight. Do I need to spray them? I was really hoping not to put anything on them, would do the nettle tea thing, but don't have the 3-4 weeks to make it! Last year I sowed Sante potatoes and never sprayed them and had no problems with blight...

monkeynic · Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 9:05 pm Post subject:

We sprayed on Thursday after all the frost damage, do we need to spray again? Also with all the frost damage how could we tell?

raisedbed · Rank attained: Hazel Tree Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Posts: 20

I was given a tip by the man who runs the local vegetable nursery regarding frost,he said if u go out in the morning before the sun comes out and water off the frost the sun will not burn the leaves, this is a method he swears by so i tried it and havent had a problem with burning yet (touch wood lol)

James Kilkelly · Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:16 pm Post subject:

Now it is upon us........

Weather conditions conducive to the spread of potato blight will occur in parts of the southwest, west and northwest of the country at times from Tuesday through to Friday. There will be some opportunities for spraying on Sunday and possibly on Monday also.
Issued at 13:00 on 15-May-2010

monkeynic · Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 8:00 pm Post subject:

Would you recommend us spraying in the midlands after spraying on thursday?