Have you ever grown a potato from a potato?

[zigs]

And since 1845 science still has no recourse against this pathogen at all?

Only thing I know of is Bordeaux mixture as a prophylactic

 

[ChanellG]

No, and no

And since 1845 science still has no recourse against this pathogen at all?

I have been recycling my soil from certain edible plants by using it for my non-edible perennial flowering plants. I don't have plots so I don't practice crop rotation, that's a little too complicated for my busy city lifestyle. I still don't get though how seed potatoes are 100% risk free.

 

[zigs]

I have been recycling my soil from certain edible plants by using it for my non-edible perennial flowering plants. I don't have plots so I don't practice crop rotation, that's a little too complicated for my busy city lifestyle. I still don't get though how seed potatoes are 100% risk free.

Moving it about so it's not the same plant families is just as good as rotation, it doesn't give pathogens the time to build up in the soil, unless you were moving soil from an onion bed to ornamental alliums or tomatoes to nicotianas for instance.

Just some common sense like that and you'll be fine

Seed potatoes aren't 100% risk free, just far less lightly to be infected. The Potato Council take disease control very seriously.

http://www.potato.org.uk/

You can sign up to their Blightwatch in the uk which will send you Text alerts telling you when the conditions for blight are right in your area, so you can spray in time.

Don't always work though as half the time it's raining

 

[ChanellG]

Rains a lot here too, @zigs. I'm preparing for the next phase of the restaurant herb garden so my own stuff is about to go on the back burner again. In a few weeks though, I may start some potatoes in a hamper just to see how it goes. Someone in my plant swap group uses peroxide to battle bacteria in the soil. Don't suppose that could do anything toward preventing blight?

 

[zigs]

Bacteria is usually a good thing in soil, wont touch blight spores as they're fungal.

Best preventative is Bordeaux Mixture, spray that on the plants and it helps stop the spores from taking hold when the rain splashes them from the soil up onto the plants

 

[ChanellG]

Bacteria is usually a good thing in soil, wont touch blight spores as they're fungal.

Best preventative is Bordeaux Mixture, spray that on the plants and it helps stop the spores from taking hold when the rain splashes them from the soil up onto the plants

Maybe it was fungus. He says it kills bad stuff in the soil that could harm the plants. I'll have to ask him about it again.

What exactly is Bordeaux mix? Is it something you can create yourself or do you have to purchase it?

 

[zigs]

It's a mixture of lime and copper sulphate.

Invented by a French farmer who was unhappy with folk pinching the grapes from his roadside vinyard so he found some orrible tasting stuff in his shed and sprayed it on the grapes, it dries blue so you can see things have been sprayed.

He noticed that the sprayed vines didn't get the powdery mildew like the rest of the vines, he'd accidentally invented a brilliant fungicide

You can make it yourself or buy it. But that'll be another Chemical the CIA will be making a note of in their little black book on you

 

[zigs]

 

[ChanellG]

It's a mixture of lime and copper sulphate.
...But that'll be another Chemical the CIA will be making a note of in their little black book on you

LOL

Could you treat the soil before you plant the potatoes?

 

[zigs]

Not thought of that, but the copper would be available to be taken up by the plant, don't think you'd want that happening.

Just spraying the right amount lets it sit on the plant, you wash it off before use. That's why we get the text alerts from the potato council, so we spray when it's needed and not over do it.

They (the EU) nearly banned Bordeux mixture a few years back.

 

[ChanellG]

I was wondering about that after you mentioned copper. The last thing i would want would be to suffer from some kind of heavy metal poisoning from my very own organic garden. I'm really careful about what I use, and I'm not reusing soil from strawberries or potatoes for anything other than flowers, and that is mixed with fresh soil to renew it.

 

[zigs]

Yep, you really only want enough to sit on the plants, then wash it off before use. It's the one chemical I do use. Not sure if there's an effective organic product. Unless anyone knows otherwise?

 

[headfullofbees]

Blight is windborne, spraying the soil would be pointless.

Bordeaux mix is organic approved.

 

[Rub]

I guess it's quite Ok if you plant the potato from the store. If it is too big then you can cut it into 2 pieces and plant them. I've been planting potatoes for 20 years.

 

[ChanellG]

I guess it's quite Ok if you plant the potato from the store. If it is too big then you can cut it into 2 pieces and plant them. I've been planting potatoes for 20 years.

Do you only use purchased seed potatoes or have you planted a sprouted potato from a grocer or farmer's market? Have you ever had any problems with blight? Do you practice crop rotation?