Those of us who took history in secondary school remember Potato Blight as being one of the causes of the famine in Ireland back in the late 1940s. The potato crops failed and as the potato was the staple diet of the working classes, farmers and tenants. People were forced to emigrate for their livelihoods.
Yesterday, we sprayed our small crop with a Copper Sulphate solution. Copper Sulphate is an inorganic compound that combines sulphur with copper. It can kill bacteria, algae, roots, plants, snails and fungi. It is used by potato growers as a preventative measure against the potato blight fungus. We used a formulation called 'Burgundy Mixture' which uses Bluestone (copper sulphate), washing soda and hot water. The mixture is applied to the plants using our pressure sprayer, a small spray to both the top side & underneath the leaves. See here for information on the different spray solutions.
This exercise encouraged me to remind myself about what Potato Blight actually is.
I started on the Teagasc Website, I also checked out a post on the Clonmel Garden Center Website and ended up on the Quickcrop blog.
Potato blight disease is caused by a fungus-like organism ‘Phytophthora Infestans’. It spores spread quickly in the wind during warm humid weather to the leaves of other nearby potatoes (and outdoor tomatoes) causing collapse and decay of the leaves of the plant. It falls down off the leaves onto the ground below and then infects the potato tubers the actual ‘spuds’.
Potato blight is still the most serious disease of potatoes in Ireland despite recent advances in fungicides, improved varieties of potato and better disease forecasting (occasionally, you will hear the weather forecaster mention a blight warning certainly on the farming forecast).
There is still no way of eradicating an outbreak of potato bight. Therefore, prevention is the key.
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