Blight Alert

simonj

Very surprised, early crop got hit pretty bad at this time of year

Certified Orla seed, Carna in Connemara, Blight hit about 2 days ago.
Affected foliage removed and burned Dithane 945 sprayed.

Some damage to very small heritage variety, uncertified Mr Littles, but Setanta (certified) and Kerr pinks (uncertified) unaffected sofar as I can tell.

So if you are in Kerry, Galway West, Mayo or Clare I'd say spray with Dithane or Bluestone now

jameswburke

My First Earlies "Home Guard" were grown under black plastic plus some in a metal drum. All are suffering blight as are some gourd seedlings nearby. Didn't spray or anything. I imagine its too late to do anything. Never had any luck with spuds...

qzy

Are you sure is not frost damage - conditions not right for blight....?

jameswburke

I thought that myself - could be frost - I'll leave them for a while to see what develops

dardevle

......


would wager too early for blight ... more likely sub lethal frost damage caused by the large temp differential over the last while (15 degrees or more )....similar symptoms but occurs quicker and given time they will recover.


...

simonj

Definately Blight here, smith period in shelter means 11 degrees for a set period of time in two days, but apparently in sheltered spots blight can develop as low as 9.5 degrees.

Dar, remove and burn as much affected foliage and spray with Dithene 945, respray in 7 days - do not disturb the soil for 2 weeks, and good luck

dardevle

....



definitely not blight here...cold damage, covered all the plants with fleece at night since they got affected and they are making good recovery. ie. no sign of any further damage, also no warning from any of the reporting stations of having anything near consecutive smith/beaumont periods conducive to the spread of blight...too early yet-but give it time it will make an appearence:)



......

dardevle

....


http://www.met.ie/forecasts/warnings.asp



and so it begins:(.


...

simonj

Well, seems to have cleared up a bit after spraying.
Photos n' stuff for the garden can be seen here
http://connemaracroft.blogspot.com/

jameswburke

Met Eirann issued blight warning today:

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/warnings.asp


Time for the Dithane 945...

Prenderb

And again today I noticed.

http://www.met.ie/forecasts/
http://www.met.ie/forecasts/warnings.asp

disco biscuit

I intend to use bluestone this year.I heard someone say that when you mix it with the washing soda you have to use it right away as it won't keep.Someone else said this is not true.Who is right.Also I heard that the mixing ratio is 6lbs of bluestone plus 9 lbs of washing soda per 40 gallon barrell.How often do you need to spray.I heard that you can use powdered lime instead of washing soda but I don't know the ratio for that.

simonj

The mix of bluestone and soda is known as Burgandy mix to the best of my knowledge.

Burgundy mixture is created by mixing......
50 grammes of copper sulphate (bluestone)
60 grammes of sodium carbonate (washing soda) or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
All in five litres of water.

Ive also been told that soot helps in the mix

It is regarded as being semi-organic.

I dont know if it would be wise to use lime, as this will raise the Ph and might cause scab on the spuds

heno55

Believe it or not but the dept of agriculture has outlawed the mixing of home made fungicides aka burgundy mix, i guess someone there is getting a backhander from the likes of monsanto to try to force people to buy there stuff

MayoForSam

heno55 wrote: »

Believe it or not but the dept of agriculture has outlawed the mixing of home made fungicides aka burgundy mix, i guess someone there is getting a backhander from the likes of monsanto to try to force people to buy there stuff

As if the Dept. of Agriculture will go around inspecting every back garden in the country to check :rolleyes:

I bought some bluestone on Ebay and mixed up a few spoonfuls with some baking soda in a 1 litre spray bottle in the correct ratio, had my half dozen rows done in 10 minutes.

kathleenl

1. A Plan.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a small or a large space. Plants, herbs and vegetables can be planted in pots, window boxes or in a big garden.
To make a good plan look first at the following things:
The space you have
The time you have
• 10 minutes a day is enough time to keep a small garden going well.
• 30 - 40 minutes a day will keep a good-sized garden and a small polytunnel going well enough to have vegetables and salads throughout the year.
Many hands
The more help you have, from children, friends or machinery, the more you can achieve.
“Is maith an rud an chomhairle ach is fearr an chabhair.”
2. Advice and knowledge
There are excellent books and magazines available on the subject – have a look in your local library. These internet sites are also very good
http://www.irishgardeners.com/
www.growfruitandveg.co.uk
www.gardenorganic.org.uk
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
3. Buy organic seeds.
Try your local gardening shop. The following websites are useful
www.irishseedsavers.ie/
www.brownenvelopeseeds.com
www.fruithillfarm.ie
www.theorganiccentre.ie
4. Courses.
There are gardening courses available around the country. Check locally and on the following websites
An t-Ionad Glas www.organiccollege.com.
Teagasc www.teagasc.ie
KE.E.P www.gortbrackorganicfarm.com
Nano Nagle Centre http://www.nanonaglebirthplace.ie/
5. Allotments
If you want to start gardening but have no space at home, go to your County Council and ask to rent an allotment. There are more and more of them cropping up around the country. As well as providing you with a space to grow food, allotments help you build relationships with other gardeners, there’s great team spirit and a lot of knowledge.
6. Work Diary for the Garden
Once you’ve decided to start gardening and the elements of your plan are coming together, make a diary with tasks for each week, especially between February and November.
Think about succession planting. That means planting more seeds for the same crop every three weeks during the summer. So, for example, if you plant a small amount of lettuce seeds every three weeks you’ll have a continuous crop throughout the season, instead of it all being ready to eat at the same time.
There’s a lot more information on succession planting on some of the websites mentioned above.
7. Good Practices
• Go out to your garden every day. Morning time is best.
• Regularly spend at least ten minutes working in the garden to keep it under control.
• Plant your seeds in pots or trays, plant your plants in the ground.
• Chat to experienced gardeners. They’ll have a wealth of knowledge to pass on.
8. Do It
Start small and grow organically. You’ll be looking after your health, after your family’s health, and after the health of the planet.
__________________________________________________________________________________


If anyone is interested in finding out more about An t-Ionad Glas, they are having an open day on the 18th July 2010, Jim McNamara and Sinead Neiland will be giving tours of the College and the gardens, if anyone is interested in doing courses as day students you can speak to Jim or Sinead about it.
Tom Atkins will also be at the College, he is the course coordinator for the distance learning, this is suitable for people who don't have a lot of time on their hands and would like to get FETAC level 5 Certificate in Horticulture. If you go to www.organiccollege.com you can get all the information on distance learning or the college itself. Anyone interested in getting more information on distance learning can email the college at dl@organiccollege.com or you can register your interest on the form in the discance learning page of the website.

skywalker_208

kathleenl wrote: »

1. A Plan.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a small or a large space. Plants, herbs and vegetables can be planted in pots, window boxes or in a big garden.
To make a good plan look first at the following things:
The space you have
The time you have
• 10 minutes a day is enough time to keep a small garden going well.
• 30 - 40 minutes a day will keep a good-sized garden and a small polytunnel going well enough to have vegetables and salads throughout the year.
Many hands
The more help you have, from children, friends or machinery, the more you can achieve.
“Is maith an rud an chomhairle ach is fearr an chabhair.”
2. Advice and knowledge
There are excellent books and magazines available on the subject – have a look in your local library. These internet sites are also very good
http://www.irishgardeners.com/
www.growfruitandveg.co.uk
www.gardenorganic.org.uk
www.kitchengarden.co.uk
3. Buy organic seeds.
Try your local gardening shop. The following websites are useful
www.irishseedsavers.ie/
www.brownenvelopeseeds.com
www.fruithillfarm.ie
www.theorganiccentre.ie
4. Courses.
There are gardening courses available around the country. Check locally and on the following websites
An t-Ionad Glas www.organiccollege.com.
Teagasc www.teagasc.ie
KE.E.P www.gortbrackorganicfarm.com
Nano Nagle Centre http://www.nanonaglebirthplace.ie/
5. Allotments
If you want to start gardening but have no space at home, go to your County Council and ask to rent an allotment. There are more and more of them cropping up around the country. As well as providing you with a space to grow food, allotments help you build relationships with other gardeners, there’s great team spirit and a lot of knowledge.
6. Work Diary for the Garden
Once you’ve decided to start gardening and the elements of your plan are coming together, make a diary with tasks for each week, especially between February and November.
Think about succession planting. That means planting more seeds for the same crop every three weeks during the summer. So, for example, if you plant a small amount of lettuce seeds every three weeks you’ll have a continuous crop throughout the season, instead of it all being ready to eat at the same time.
There’s a lot more information on succession planting on some of the websites mentioned above.
7. Good Practices
• Go out to your garden every day. Morning time is best.
• Regularly spend at least ten minutes working in the garden to keep it under control.
• Plant your seeds in pots or trays, plant your plants in the ground.
• Chat to experienced gardeners. They’ll have a wealth of knowledge to pass on.
8. Do It
Start small and grow organically. You’ll be looking after your health, after your family’s health, and after the health of the planet.
__________________________________________________________________________________


If anyone is interested in finding out more about An t-Ionad Glas, they are having an open day on the 18th July 2010, Jim McNamara and Sinead Neiland will be giving tours of the College and the gardens, if anyone is interested in doing courses as day students you can speak to Jim or Sinead about it.
Tom Atkins will also be at the College, he is the course coordinator for the distance learning, this is suitable for people who don't have a lot of time on their hands and would like to get FETAC level 5 Certificate in Horticulture. If you go to www.organiccollege.com you can get all the information on distance learning or the college itself. Anyone interested in getting more information on distance learning can email the college at dl@organiccollege.com or you can register your interest on the form in the discance learning page of the website.

Whats this got to do with Blight?

Blight alert this past few days by the way according to met.ie
As soon as the rain came back the alert was up there.
I have sprayed with Dithane a couple days ago just in case.

kathleenl

Hi Skywalker_208
My apologies for giving out the above info. I got my pages mixed up.