brown speckled foliage on early potatoes

QuestionsHow to growVegetable GrowingPotatoesbrown speckled foliage on early potatoes
Anne O Leary asked 15 years ago

I have been told this could be blight & if I cut away affected leaves I can save the potatoes I am an organic grower so what do you say ?

1 Answers

Gerry Daly Staff answered 7 years ago
Potato blight looks like brown spots on the leaves, sometimes, in damp weather, with a white fungus on the back of the leaf. Blight rots the leaves and often it can be smelled.

Removing the first few affected leaves can work for a time but too many to pick off usually develop. Then you can cut away the tops to prevent spores washing into the soil and affecting the tubers. 

Apparently, organic growers can use bordeaux mixture which is based on copper.

Other smaller spotting can be caused by sunscald, drought (unlikely), viruses and nutrient deficiiencies.

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