The best way to ensure earlier harvests is to select earlier maturing varieties, so go for first earlies and early maincrops such as Maris Bard and Orla. Steps to avoid getting blight Harvest earlyīlight pressure increases through the season, so the earlier you can harvest your potatoes, the less likely they are to succumb to the disease. You can still harvest your tubers, but leave them in the ground for 2 weeks, as this will allow the skins to set, sealing them up from disease. Blight spores only live on living plants, so just dispose of tubers or diseased tomatoes in green waste & compost the tops. Dispose of the leaves in your rubbish - you can safely compost diseased potato/tomato foliage. It is best to remove all the tops at this stage as they will shed spores that wash down and infect the tubers, causing them to rot. If you are unfortunate, and the disease becomes widespread throughout the leaves, it might be time to cut your losses. If dry conditions follow, you may be lucky and the crop can be salvaged. If you notice just a few infected leaves, remove them and dispose of them in your household rubbish. Under these weather conditions, it is a good idea to look for signs of infection. The disease is far more likely to take hold if the weather is damp and still, as this is ideal for allowing the fungal spores to settle and germinate on the surface of the leaf. The leaves quickly become weak and watery and rot. These blotches often have a yellowish halo - not to be confused with smaller brown dots which are more likely to be nutrient potassium or magnesium deficiency. You will notice it as distinct brown to grey lesions, about the size of a penny, close to the edges of leaves. As it is airborne, it will infect the leaves first. It can strike from any time after June, and the incidence increases through the growing season. Most of us who have grown potatoes have seen blight (Phytopthora infestans) in our crops. First, we need to be able to recognise blight and how it behaves.
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