You're more likely to come across this sickness during a wet season. At the soil level, the leaves will turn yellow and light green, while the stems will become dark brown and black. This disease will very certainly destroy your plants and cause the tubers to rot before to or after harvest. To prevent developing this illness, the simplest method is to grow your potatoes in well-drained soil. Avoid planting potatoes during a very rainy season.
Blight is a constant hazard to every potato producer. It is more likely to occur during rainy summers. It affects the leaves first, causing dark spots, and then spreads to the tubers, causing brown patches and rapid decomposition. There is nothing you can do to prevent blight except choose resistant cultivars: the "Sarpo" variety created in Hungary are considered to be among the most resistant, but not immune. If your crop is infected, cut up and burn the remaining plant material to prevent the illness from spreading. However, do not be put off by blight. The advantages of producing potatoes greatly outweigh the drawbacks, and the moment when you dig out the season's first and sweetest fresh potatoes is one of the highlights of the vegetable year. www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk has a nice selection of seed potatoes. West Dean Kitchen Garden (www.westdean.org.uk) is open everyday and is located near Chichester.
Potatoes may also be grown in small quantities in huge, deep pots. This is an excellent approach to get an early crop of young potatoes. Fill the container to a depth of 15cm (6in) with potting soil and plant one seed potato directly underneath. Continue adding compost as new stems emerge until the container is completely filled.
This was the Inca civilization's primary food crop, and its importance was not missed on the Spanish conquistadors who discovered South America in the sixteenth century. In the second part of the sixteenth century, they brought this root tuber to Europe. The rest of Europe recognized the potato as an extraordinary crop and spread it around the globe. Students of history will be acquainted with the potato blight that decimated Ireland and Scotland in the mid-nineteenth century, and readers with a multi-ethnic palate will discover that the spud is a staple in global cuisine.
