Hello,

Has anyone else been caught by blight this year? I'm in Staffordshire.
I had some tomato plants outside and one day they were green with
small fruit on and the next day they were like brown skeletons. I
presume that is blight? I could not find any good descriptions or
photos of blight on the internet to confirm this.

A week or so later my potatoes started to look a bit sorry for
themselves; they had gone from lots of tall green foliage to green
foliage lying down that looked more bare, and then the stems changed
from green to brown. I tried to harvest the potatoes before it spread
into the tubers but they had not been growing for long, so I only got
small new potato-sized potatoes. I noticed the original tubers that I
planted were brown and rotten and just a squishy mess. Is that blight?
I'll look into growing the tomatoes in a greenhouse next year and a
more blight resistant variety of potatoes.

Thanks,
Stephen.

On 01/09/2016 18:41, Stephen wrote:
Has anyone else been caught by blight this year?

Gardener's world had an article about some tomato trials a week or so
ago. Trial was ruined by blight...

Andy

Stephen wrote:

Has anyone else been caught by blight this year?

Yes, but not too terrible since the dry weather came (here in Herts).

I'm in Staffordshire. I had some tomato plants outside and one day they
were green with small fruit on and the next day they were like brown
skeletons. I presume that is blight?

I think one day is too fast even for blight, but if it is possible there
were smaller brown patches you missed on the previous day then I suppose
so.

A week or so later my potatoes started to look a bit sorry for
themselves; they had gone from lots of tall green foliage to green
foliage lying down that looked more bare, and then the stems changed
from green to brown.

Also sounds plausible.

I tried to harvest the potatoes before it spread
into the tubers

It is said you should instead cut off the foliage and leave the potatoes
under the ground for a couple of weeks and then you are safe to harvest
the potatoes as normal. The idea is that the spores shed from the
leaves cannot survive outside living material for long.

I noticed the original tubers that I
planted were brown and rotten and just a squishy mess. Is that blight?

No, that at least is normal in my experience (though it doesn't always
happen like that).

I'll look into growing the tomatoes in a greenhouse next year and a
more blight resistant variety of potatoes.

Early potatoes are not much troubled by blight - because they have done
enough growing by the time it arrived.

Peter

On Thu, 1 Sep 2016 18:41:14 Stephen wrote:

Has anyone else been caught by blight this year? I'm in Staffordshire.
I had some tomato plants outside and one day they were green with
small fruit on and the next day they were like brown skeletons. I
presume that is blight? I could not find any good descriptions or
photos of blight on the internet to confirm this.

A week or so later my potatoes started to look a bit sorry for
themselves; they had gone from lots of tall green foliage to green
foliage lying down that looked more bare, and then the stems changed
from green to brown. I tried to harvest the potatoes before it spread
into the tubers but they had not been growing for long, so I only got
small new potato-sized potatoes. I noticed the original tubers that I
planted were brown and rotten and just a squishy mess. Is that blight?
I'll look into growing the tomatoes in a greenhouse next year and a
more blight resistant variety of potatoes.

Haven't been caught by blight on potatoes and tomatoes because I haven't
grown any for many years now as I was getting it every year. So I
decided to leave it for a couple of years and then never went back.

However, what I have noticed this year is some sort of fungal disease on
the leaves of things like sycamore (which I'd never seen before) and oak
(which I have) inter alia. Also, despite spraying my vines with Bordeaux
mixture against downy mildew I haven't bothered for a year or two with
adding dithane to the spray against powdery mildew and so that has
spoiled the grapes on a number of my vines this year.

David
--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

"Stephen" wrote
Has anyone else been caught by blight this year? I'm in Staffordshire.
I had some tomato plants outside and one day they were green with
small fruit on and the next day they were like brown skeletons. I
presume that is blight? I could not find any good descriptions or
photos of blight on the internet to confirm this.

A week or so later my potatoes started to look a bit sorry for
themselves; they had gone from lots of tall green foliage to green
foliage lying down that looked more bare, and then the stems changed
from green to brown. I tried to harvest the potatoes before it spread
into the tubers but they had not been growing for long, so I only got
small new potato-sized potatoes. I noticed the original tubers that I
planted were brown and rotten and just a squishy mess. Is that blight?
I'll look into growing the tomatoes in a greenhouse next year and a
more blight resistant variety of potatoes.



Sounds like Blight although a bit quick IME, perhaps you missed the early
signs. The old potato going mushy is normal, it's when the new main crop
potatoes go the same way and smell alarmingly you know you have a serious
case of the Blight. Once you smell blighted potatoes you never forget it.

Yes we have already suffered with Blight this year despite the very dry
weather. Some self sown cherry tomatoes got it a week or so ago and were
grubbed up and destroyed. Our main tomatoes are all blight resistant (
Ferline, Fantasio and Crimson Crush), we don't even try to grow any other
types these days.
No sign of it on the potatoes, two of ours are also blight resistant Sarpo
varieties.


--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK