Potato blight
Richmc
Posts: 4
I've inherited a veg patch with loads of problems, so you could be seeing a few posts from me!
First one, the patch is mainly raised beds, so that at least keeps some problems localised. I tried planting Red Duke of York potatoes early spring earthing up etc. they started up quite well then suddenly started to die off, I got very few potatoes and the seed potatoes had turned to mush, when digging I found one or two "foreign" potatoes so I had accidently broken the first golden rule by having the ground used for spuds twice. Now I left the ground for a month and put in some cauliflower plants that are now dying off laving lost their roots, so I'm assuming the soil is blighted.
Is there anything I can put in this bed that will be safe to grow next year?
My second potatoes are now being grown in containers a long way from that area!
Posts
Anything other than other members of the solanum family (i.e. potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers) will be fine.
Cauliflowers will not have been affected by blight - they could have been affected by club root or vine weevil but we'll need more information for a real answer.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's a pretty dire area so I'm thinking of weeding it thoroughly and covering it with black plastic for the winter, next year it can be my onion patch as they seem pretty tough.
The roots of the cauliflower have turned to just the tap root with nothing else, so I've given up on them for this year.
It does sound to me like Club root http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=128
Liming can help if you want to grow brassicas agan, and there are some varieties that are reputed to have some resistance.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.