It's potato blight weather this week in the Emerald Isle.
My cheap Homeguard seed potatoes from the discount supermarket do not appear to be blight resistant. Next year I will grow the Hungarian Sarpo Mira blight resistant seed potatoes again.
Being organic gardeners we don't use chemicals. This is what we did on inspection of the blighted haulms before and after:
Yellowy turning black foliage. I wore a pair of gloves and cut off the foliage with a pair of garden secateurs and piled it in a heap and covered it with grass and weeds.
I will leave the seed potatoes in the ground for a fortnight before lifting them. Hopefully when Scorchio returns next week any blight spores will be killed off with the heat.
On hindsight I deeply miss my polytunnel and starting the seed potatoes off in the polytunnel in February early March.
We're digging and eating early potatoes for our tea every night. Even Diesel and the other four legged pals love our new potatoes π₯ π.
Have your potatoes got blight? How do you deal with in a organic none chemical way?
You'll have to get a new polytunnel for next winter Dave, It's a necessity for an avid tiller of the earth like you. In fact you need a big glasshouse. I hope you can arrange something
ReplyDeleteI have worked hard and got all my materials ready for my new greenhouse/potting shed Linda. I am just waiting for someone close to us to weld it and help me construct my man cave come growing building.
DeleteOh what a shame. Has the blight not affected your new potatoes too?
ReplyDeleteOur spuds don't seem to be doing much yet. I hope they haven't been blighted too! We are expecting a deluge any minute now, set to last until tomorrow morning ⛈️☔
The potatoes are great and we are eating them every night JayCee. I just keep digging too many and J caters for an army with her portions. I wish they were ready to harvest when it is cooler in Autumn. It's mixed here and then next week it's supposed to be Scorchio again. It's been a good year.
ReplyDeleteMy potatoes are blight free at the moment, I will dig out my first bag tomorrow, hubby is going make a roast dinner this weekend using veg from our garden. We had a huge storm this morning, now it's very humid, there are thunderstorms around but not for us.
ReplyDeleteYour very lucky not to have any signs of blight on your potatoes Marlene. The misty and dewy and showery conditions at the moment here are perfect for blight on potatoes and their cousins the tomatoes. Hopefully the hot blast forecast next week will burn out the blight spores. Traditionally in Ireland bonfires were lit on Saint John's Eve to bless the gardens and ward off any blight with the smoke.
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame, Dave. I'm not growing potatoes, so no such problems here. I didn't realise you can get blight resistant varieties.
ReplyDeleteWe did not plant potatoes this year. We figured to not waste the space until we know how the blight situation will work out for us with the raised beds. I know I will miss them. A lot of gardeners have discovered that has been so wet and cool that the potatoes rotted before the even sprouted.
ReplyDeleteThere are several or more blight resistant potatoes Jules. Orla a lovely salad potato originating in Scotland and Sarpo Mira are a maincrop potato from Hungry. You pay more for them but they are more blight resistant than the cheap ones I bought in ΔΉidl in March.
ReplyDeleteNow we are thinking what crop to follow the potatoes? Peas or cabbages and kale probably. Green manures are worth growing. I have grown mustard and winter vetch. Mustard are members of the brassica family. So you need to be careful with your follow on crops. Thanks Jules.
The rotation I was taught puts legumes after spuds to build up soil nitrogen and then follow that with brassicas (including turnips and radishes) that are heavy nitrogen users. (After that roots like parsnips, carrots and celeriac which don't enjoy nitrogen rich soil, and finally a fallow year under grass (I grow corn or maize instead in that year and just cut the stems at the end leaving the roots in the soil - the stems get buried under wherever the beans will next grow and have disappeared by the time the beans have finished with them). Interestingly in this rotation beets and allium share space with potatoes. Salad crops and tomatoes go with root veg and although squash both summer and winter are meant to share with legumes to feed on the nitrogen being fixed there, I put my winter squash under the corn and let them wind all around that. I also add a 6th bed in my rotation for NZ spinach, artichokes, yacon, tomatillos and oko (called yams in NZ)
DeleteHats off to you Tigger's Mum. You know your stuff. I always think with vegetables gardening. It's one step forward and one one step backwards. Just to reiterate you know your stuff. π
DeleteYou could grow salad crops like lettuce, spring onions, peas and carrots. Brassicas like cabbage are worth growing and I always plant about 50 leeks for winter use Debby. Celery is originally a marsh plant and it loves damp conditions. Veg gardening is horses for courses Debby. The weather and our climates are unpredictable. Thanks
ReplyDeleteOh dear Dave - I hope you are going to have to emigrate across the pond. Do what we may spud blight lives in the soil forever it seems. Over here someone worked out that altitude plays a part in where it strikes. One of my dad's cousins grew certified blight free seed spuds (before blight resistant varieties were developed) in the foothills of Mt Hutt. You need a mountain.....
ReplyDeleteThe heavy rock music, route 66 and the Amish and the red Indians would definitely attract me across the pond TM. Oh can I add Nashville and Gracelands and Britney Spears? Donald Trump would blame the blight on Peru.π
ReplyDeleteWhen a gardener notices blight does that make him a rotten blighter?
ReplyDeleteMaybe YP. We are eating a lot of spuds at the present time.
DeleteWe are told to always used seed potatoes and not one that we got from the supermarket. The seed potatoes are blight resistant. We also get told to not plant potatoes in the same spot year after year. So that if you do get any disease it breaks the cycle
ReplyDeleteI hope you get rid of the blight and are able to get a good crop of potatoes
It's the Irish climate Angela. Even when it's sunny the land often steams. Some people call it the 'Kettle'. We bought certified seed potatoes but they are not blight resistant. Some people say even seed potatoes can carry blight. I try to rotate my crops. Thanks for your advice Angela.
ReplyDeleteI grew some nicola this year , which are 2nd early, Their leaves died down about 3 weeks ago and I thought they had a disease, they were actually re ady for harvest. I hadnt even topped the soil up. However they have a good crop, but tend to break up quickly when boiled . I understand this is because I didnt dig them early enough !! Many of my charlotte are also in flower and ready. I shall certainly miss my 4 tunnels when I have to move.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprises me is how little soil in a bucket, is needed to grow a crop of potatoes.
Kathy
We were thinking similar thoughts Kathy last night. The leaves are Yellowy and blotchy but they don't smell of blight. Wales and Ireland are very wet climates and you need somewhere dry to start things off and grow and potter about when it's raining. I miss my polytunnel so much. Good luck in your new home Kathy.
ReplyDelete