Had to report potato blight :(

[Bubblingbrooks]

Last week, the Extension office announced that blight had hit two farms in Palmer.
Today, I went to inspect our big patch, and found Brown Spot on quite a few of the plants.

I used certified seed potatoes for that plot too.
The only ones not affected, are the purple ones located on the other side of the property.
And the rest of those are being harvested tonight.



I emailed the head of AG at the extension office.
I expect an inspection will happen.

At this point, I have pulled quite a few of the plants, and contained the plants and the mulch in tubs.
We will have to get a hot fire going in a barrel and set a grate on top to dry the stuff out enough to burn.

Those poor little potatoes still have 3 weeks of growing time

Thank goodness we have a source for good taters for the cellar.
$20 for large gunny sacks full.

 

[BarredBuff]

Sorry BB! Our taters are horrible this year as well, the bugs are rampant...

 

[Marianne]

blight sucks! I have fought blight on my green beans forever. I'm not going to plant them next year. That stuff lives in the soil and over winters, doesn't it?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

blight sucks! I have fought blight on my green beans forever. I'm not going to plant them next year. That stuff lives in the soil and over winters, doesn't it?

Yes. The ideal thing to do, is to skip a year planting, and then plant them in a completely different spot the next year.
Also, you have to burn the offending species, roots and all.

 

[Marianne]

That's the truth. I didn't have blight this year, but I tried a different variety and it sure didn't perform well. Last year I picked every 'iffy' leaf as soon as I saw it, faithfully, trying to be careful not to touch any other leaf. oh har. But eventually I ended up with some decent looking plants and some beans. But it was a challenge. I put all the affected leaves in a plastic bag, that went into the burn basket and I'd zip into the house to scrub my hands and arms before heading back out to the garden. It got old, fast. When we finally called it quits for the season, all the litter went into the burn basket and I'm a real snob about composting. I hope nothing else gets it in my garden.

You have my sympathy.

 

[pinkfox]

I'm sorry, th,at really sucks