How to Avoid Potato Blight

, written by Benedict Vanheems gb flag

Potato blight

Judging by number of queries and enthusiastic feedback relating to potatoes we receive here at GrowVeg, you're clearly mad for these totally tasty tubers! And I don't blame you – they're easy to grow and there's nothing more satisfying than unearthing those nuggets of goodness from the soil at harvesting time. Power to the potato I say!

The trouble is potatoes are notorious for one particularly devastating disease: potato blight. Unfortunately for us, like all good diseases blight has a habit of evolving as quickly as the breeders' efforts to outwit it, always remaining just one step ahead of the game.

Symptoms and spread

Blight in potatoes is caused by a fungus that goes by the Latin name Phytophthora infestans. Its symptoms are unmistakable: small brown-black spots appear on the leaves, often surrounded by a pale halo, while the underside of the leaves may take on a white, downy appearance in wet weather – these are the hyphae by which the fungus colonises. Blight can spread with impressive speed, causing the complete collapse of foliage within a few short days. In severe cases the tubers underground can become infected, giving rise to sunken patches and a brown rot. This usually leads to secondary infection by other bacteria and fungi to give a most unpleasant stink as your prized potatoes turn into a mushy mess.

Infection reaches a peak during 'Smith Periods' – defined as two consecutive days when temperatures fail to dip below 10°C (50°F) and humidity remains above 90 per cent for the majority of the day. Spores can blow in from literally miles away, so trying to stop the spores from reaching your plants is futile.

A potato crop affected by blight

Infection in ideal conditions is almost guaranteed if the recipient leaves are moist, which allows for efficient transfer of the troublesome spores into the plant's vascular system. If it happens to be raining then the spores from blight-bashed foliage will drip down onto the soil to wheedle their way towards those precious tubers.

What to do

There's a lot you can do to avoid blight in the first place, but if it suddenly strikes the first task is to remain calm – don't panic just yet! Cut out the infection as it's possible you may have caught it just in the nick of time. Wipe the blades of your pruners with detergent between cuts to avoid inadvertently spreading the disease from plant to plant. Then pray for dry weather.

If more than 10 per cent of the foliage is infected I'm afraid you'll have to cut away the foliage completely as this is the point of no return. This will clearly stop the tubers underground from growing any further but will equally stop the disease in its tracks (left alone it will have inevitably destroyed your entire crop). Once the foliage is removed, leave well alone for three weeks before excavating your tubers. By this time they will have developed a thicker skin and will be ready for storage while any lurking blight spores should have perished. Thoroughly inspect the tubers for any signs of blight, discarding any that have succumbed. Dry the sound tubers (never, ever wash them clean!) before storing in a cool, dark and dry place.

Potato blight'

Infected foliage is fine for composting in a thriving compost heap. Bury the foliage among other material and keep the composting process progressing smoothly by turning the material to keep it hot. The spores won't remain active for long, so the chances of the finished compost infecting a new generation of spuds is exceedingly remote. The spores can, however, overwinter on potatoes, so keep blighted tubers well clear of your compost heap.

Avoiding blight

As my granny always used to tell me, prevention's better than cure, so the ideal solution is to sidestep blight altogether. There's a three-pronged plan for this: growing outside of the blight danger period, choosing blight-resistant varieties, and meticulous cultivation and hygiene.

Growing outside the danger period: Potatoes are grouped according to planting date and the time they take to reach harvest time. The earliest to latest spuds are in this order: first earlies, second earlies and maincrops. When started off early enough in the growing season, most early varieties and some of the earliest-to-mature maincrops will be harvested well before high summer when the risk of blight increases. One idea to guarantee a potato haul ahead of the blight period is to plant potato growing bags of spuds under cover in early spring, taking care to protect against frost, before moving them outside by late spring. This will almost certainly give a crop by early summer. See my blog entry on growing potatoes in containers for more on this.

Blight-resistant varieties: Some varieties display a reasonable amount of resistance to blight. However, this is a constantly changing picture as varieties once resistant fall susceptible to the ever-adapting fungus. Pick a variety that is known to have both resistant foliage and tubers. Suitable varieties include those in the 'Sarpo' range – such as 'Sarpo Mira' or 'Sarpo Axona'. North American gardeners should also keep an eye out for 'Defender'.

Healthy potatoes

Cultivation techniques and hygiene: Only ever plant fresh, certified disease-free seed potatoes. Saving your own tubers is a false economy and serves to dramatically improve the prospects for blight and other diseases.

If watering during a dry spell, apply the water to the base of plants to prevent wetting the leaves. Do this in the morning so that any moisture left on the foliage evaporates during the warm of the day. Take the time to properly earth up and mulch with organic matter to lock in the moisture at ground level. Extra-thick mulches, for example with straw, will give any spores dropping to the soil surface much further to travel, insulating the developing tubers against infection.

Never allow potato volunteers – plants that spring up from old tubers – to remain. Grub them out so you don't inadvertently carry over problems from one year to the next. In the same vein, ensure you harvest every last potato at harvest time. This will give blight nowhere to hide during the winter or inactive periods.

All of the above may feel like a military operation and in most years you probably wouldn't get blight at all. But forewarned is forearmed with a little knowledge and careful cultivation there is no reason why potato blight should ever dampen your efforts.

By Benedict Vanheems.

Photographs courtesy of: Thompson & Morgan, Kai Hendry & Scot Nelson

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Comments

 
"Great set of tips!! But, didn't you forget a really important one, always rotate your crops from year to year such that potatoes are not planted in the same space for at least three years. Here in Germany, it was always traditional to burn the potato foliage at the end of the season, as some compost heaps are not really hot enough."
Marsha on Tuesday 30 July 2013
"Hi Marsha. Crop rotation is indeed essential - at least three years and as much as five years to give soil-borne pests and diseases a hard time. Alas, potato blight is air-borne, so while crop rotation will help control other diseases, it won't make any difference for potato blight. But that doesn't mean cropr rotation isn't essential - it is!"
Ben Vanheems on Thursday 8 August 2013
"Ah ha! I didn't know that. Thanks for the information, ya learn something new every day!"
Marsha on Thursday 8 August 2013
"I disagree about using "certified" tubers. There was no such thing for thousands of years. Our ancestors kept their own seeds. And many still do. heck. Many still use supermarket ones with great success. There's a big lie going around about risk. And it was all started by the seed companies."
Joe M on Monday 9 March 2015
"Hi Joe M. I take your point, but certified tubers guarantee a disease-free start, whereas saved seed could, in theory, carry any traces of disease through to another year."
Benedict Vanheems on Monday 9 March 2015
"I am of the same thinking as Joe M, Certified seed does not guarantee blight free potatoes, I think its a marketing thing for the seed producers, it does not guarantee better yields, or better anything."
suzanna 123 on Tuesday 1 September 2015
"The leaves on our potatoes look okay but each year the potatoes get scabbier and mushier so now they can't be used. I have rotated the spot in the garden where they grow each year. They only get natural rain. They are on the west side of a tree belt so the ground air dries and gets good heat."
Dsch on Sunday 13 September 2015
"Hi Dsch. It could be that your potatoes are getting potato common scab each year. This disease is worse in dry conditions, so this could explain its presence. Make sure you keep the ground watered but the foliage dry - this way you'll encourage good strong growth with a reduced risk of blight."
Ben Vanheems on Monday 14 September 2015
"I'm having a terrible time with blight. What are blight resistant potatoes that are available in Australia?"
Carol on Thursday 28 April 2016
"Hi Carol. I'm not sure what would be available in Australia - it's worth doing an internet search perhaps, checking Australian-based seed companies and suppliers of seed potatoes. I hope you find something."
Ben Vanheems on Thursday 28 April 2016
"Could you recommend a safe chemical which helps to combat blight attacking potatoes?"
Tom on Tuesday 14 June 2016
"Hi Tom. Unfortunately by the time blight has got at your potatoes treating with chemicals is a bit late. Best to dig up and 'rescue' what remains of your crop. "
Ben Vanheems on Thursday 16 June 2016
"Thanks for information ,very helpful.johnQ"
John Quinn on Sunday 19 June 2016
"I bought some seed potatoes from a small grower and it would appear they have early blight (it's only July 10th, the plants are small and haven't even bloomed yet) Only 4 out of 10 plants have it, can I salvage them? Also, my inlaws have a different type of potatoes in the same garden about 20 feet away. do you think theirs will catch the blight too? "
SSkinner on Tuesday 11 July 2017
"Hi SSkinner. If you completely dig out and remove the blight-infested potatoes there may be a chance that you can contain it. However, blight is very closely tied to the weather and the spores do travel a long way on the wind, so there is a fairly high chance that if some potatoes have it in the garden, others will get it - whether from the infected plants or from general spores carried in the air and the accompanying weather. My advice would be to clear and remove the infected plants then keep your fingers crossed that's it!"
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 11 July 2017
"Thank you Vanheems! I was thinking back to last summer,and my in-laws potato plants were annihilated late in the season, and now I realize it was blight (it was my first season having potatoes in the garden) they would just pick the potatoes and left all the blight covered leaves to decompose in the garden over winter, so I'm guessing that's why its popped up this year too. I will take put the 4 badly affected plants but when I checked last night I think I saw signs of blight on their potato plants as well so this years crop may be a write off. Now the challenge will be to try to get the in-laws to listen to the control/prevention steps so we can attempt to have a good crop next year. Thanks again!"
SSkinner on Tuesday 11 July 2017
"That is disappointing. I hope you have better luck next year. It may be worth trying the blight resistant varieties next season. Good luck!"
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 11 July 2017
"I've heard that lime water can help protect the leaves. Is there any truth in this?"
John on Tuesday 29 May 2018
"Blight used to be treated by a mixture of copper sulphate, hydrated lime and water, which was known as 'Bordeaux Mixture', but I've never heard of lime water being used on its own to protect the leaves. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has any experience of this."
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 29 May 2018
"I have searched for Sarpo Mira seed potatoes in Australia but by the looks of it we cant get them. Is this correct"
Richard Allan on Tuesday 18 August 2020
"Hi Richard. I'm not totally sure if I'm honest, but there are significant variations in what varieties are available according to what country you're in, so there is a good chance that they may not be available in Australia, sorry."
Ben Vanheems on Tuesday 18 August 2020

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